Much has changed since Grantmakers In Health (GIH) last convened in 2019. Over the past three years, more than 1 million Americans have lost their lives due to COVID-19. Large cracks are apparent in our public health infrastructure, health care systems, and safety net programs. In addition, pervasive inequities across all facets of society have increased. The country is divided, and this division continues to hamper our ability to address one of the greatest health challenges our modern world has ever faced.
Latest from GIH
The Impact of COVID-19 on Aging and Older Adults Grantmaking Survey
To better understand how philanthropy has responded to these challenges over the course of the pandemic, Grantmakers In Health and Grantmakers In Aging launched a joint survey in November 2021 to learn how health and aging funders are addressing COVID-19 related needs among older adult populations and potential long-term impacts on future grantmaking.
Civic Engagement Is a Social Determinant of Health
What is the civic health of the communities you serve? Are community members equitably engaged in democratic processes and civic life? How might increased levels of civic engagement influence the distribution of public sector resources, population health outcomes, and health inequities? Is it possible to imagine transformative changes in community health absent a meaningful shift in community power and civic participation?
Funder Approaches to Youth Behavioral Health Equity
Even before the pandemic, the mental health and well-being of adolescents and young adults was worrisome and worsening. COVID-19 has exacerbated these trends and heightened existing disparities. GIH surveyed its Funding Partners in October 2021 to better understand how health foundations are addressing youth behavioral health equity. The survey results are summarized in an infographic that provides a useful snapshot of primary funding areas, types of populations supported, and top funding strategies.
Improving Data on Race and Ethnicity: A Roadmap to Measure and Advance Health Equity
The second of two reports, Improving Data on Race and Ethnicity: A Roadmap to Measure and Advance Health Equity, provides more details about race and ethnicity data collection in federally administered health programs and an expanded list of recommendations for improving the data. The recommendations consider actions for states and the private sector as well as actions for the federal government.
Federal Action Is Needed to Improve Race and Ethnicity Data in Health Programs
Grantmakers In Health, in collaboration with the National Committee for Quality Assurance, interviewed a variety of stakeholders across the country, representing all levels of the health system. Federal Action Is Needed to Improve Race and Ethnicity Data in Health Programs, identifies tangible actions to help improve the completeness, accuracy, and usability of race and ethnicity data.
Public Private Partnerships to Strengthen the Public Health Infrastructure
How strong is your organization’s relationship with local health departments in the communities you serve? Do you view governmental public health as an essential partner? How can you best increase and improve support for state and local public health departments? What types of investments are most likely to yield transformative change? As the future of public health hangs in the balance, philanthropic organizations must renew their commitment to governmental public health agencies and reimagine strategies for strengthening these partnerships.
Featured Resources
Reflecting on the Intersections Initiative
For organizations like the St. Joseph Community Partnership Fund (the Fund) and Prevention Institute (PI), GIH conferences have served as a critical space to bring together advocates across sectors and spark new ideas to address complex health issues. Inspired by a PI-led session on upstream prevention and health equity at GIH’s March 2016 annual conference, the Fund noted the promising landscape for a grantmaking initiative that could focus on root causes of poor health and dismantling systems of inequity, and a partnership was born.
Will We Hear the Voices of the LGBTQ Community?
Across the United States we are seeing a coordinated campaign to restrict lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights and limit access to affirming, lifesaving health care. According to the Equality Federation, nearly 400 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced across the country in 2021, and over 240 bills have already been filed in 2022. These policies directly impact the health and safety of members of the LGBTQ community. Recent data from The Trevor Project show that 66 percent of LGBTQ youth, including 85 percent of transgender and/or nonbinary youth, report that recent debates around state laws to restrict the rights of transgender people have negatively affected their mental health.
It’s Time to Converge on Narrative Change for Racial Justice and Health Equity
Philanthropy is increasingly embracing narrative change as a tool for building public and political will to advance equitable policies and structural change. Yet philanthropic narrative investments to advance racial justice and health equity are still relatively new and disparate. The work is often siloed, lessons and insights are not often shared across efforts, and there is also a wide range of definitions of narratives, perspectives, and approaches on how to shift them.
Multiplying Funder Impact Through Multisector Collaborations: Models for Creating Racial and Health Equity
Multisector collaborations epitomize the expression “the whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” Working together toward common goals, organizations from different sectors that listen and work directly with communities can multiply their impact compared to what they can accomplish working separately. Because of this, funders too can expand their impact by investing in and encouraging these multisector collaborations that serve as engines for lifting up community voices and promoting equity.
Reducing Pollution: Critical Pathway for Cancer Prevention
Health professionals and health advocacy groups are learning how they can elevate environmental chemicals as an important element of cancer prevention, including in research design, clinical practice, policy advocacy, and in cancer initiatives such as the Beau Biden Moonshot and states’ 5-year cancer prevention and control plans. When health leaders are given the opportunity to examine barriers to cancer prevention, including those they may contribute to, they gain confidence in their ability—and responsibility—to use their power as trusted messengers to call for dramatic reductions in carcinogens.
Metro Health Foundation
Metro Health Foundation is currently reevaluating its grantmaking direction in the wake of learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic. The foundation has also permanently shifted to remote operations and had a leadership change in summer 2021. We are reviewing our bylaws and considering what we should be and how we should be structured, both now and in the future.
Upcoming Webinars
Advancing State Data Collection on Opioid Treatment
Join this webinar to learn about a national initiative that offers states a core set of metrics to track opioid treatment access and use.
Upcoming Convenings
2022 Fall Forum
Each fall, GIH offers programming designed for funders with a strong interest in health policy. These meetings, collectively known as the Fall Forum, are an excellent opportunity for funders with a strong interest in health policy to get up-to-speed on current issues, interact with leading thinkers, and connect with their grantmaking peers.
Coordinator of Programs
The Coordinator of Programs is an integral member of Michael Reese’s program team and will work closely with staff who direct grantmaking, incubation and advocacy. The position includes responsibilities for program administration, including management of incoming and outgoing grants, database management, meeting coordination and general project management.
Director, State and Health Policy
CHCF seeks a visionary, innovative, and highly collaborative Director, State Health Policy to lead the Foundation’s work with policymakers, legislative and department staff, trade associations, and other thought leaders in California. This individual will develop and advance a strategic vision for CHCF policy priorities to maximize impact on the health of Californians.
St. Petersburg Anchor Initiative Executive Director
The St. Petersburg Anchor Institutions Initiative has an ambitious mission, and therefore seeks a self-driven executive to lead and influence this Initiative through its development and beyond, and to design and direct strategies that support this complex collaboration.
Executive Director of the Center for Health Equity
The primary function of the Executive Director of The Center for Health Equity is to maximize and organize the consistent, scheduled use of the Center, cultivate grass roots/grass tops relationships, and engage with a diverse community of stakeholders, especially those representing Lived Experience.
FEATURED
Director of Finance and Operations
This position is responsible for the oversight of the organization’s financial activities and internal operations. The Director is the principal liaison with all external entities who have an interest in GIH’s financial affairs and works closely with the senior leadership team in pursuit of organizational goals designed to help the staff and trustees of foundations and corporate giving programs learn, connect, and grow
Program Director
Grantmakers In Health (GIH) is looking for a dynamic professional who enjoys delving into health policy issues and designing programs that help the staff and trustees of foundations and corporate giving programs learn, connect, and grow.
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