Fall Forum 2022
November 16-18, 2022
Washington, DC
Better Health Policy Through Stronger Communities
The 2022 Grantmakers In Health Fall Forum will provide policy-engaged funders with information on current issues, access to leading thinkers, and connections with grantmaking peers. This year’s theme is Better Health Policy Through Stronger Communities, and the forum will feature programming focused on what funders can do to strengthen community engagement, advance LGBTQ health equity, and support policies to achieve better health for all.
Now Streaming
GIH is pleased to share plenary presentations and strategy session highlights from this year’s GIH Annual Conference on Health Philanthropy.
Letter to President Biden Offers Support and Recommendations for the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health
Last month I had the distinct pleasure of visiting Georgia and North Carolina with key partners in rural health. Our “rural road trip” was a refreshing journey that provided inspiration for philanthropy’s work and a reminder that ensuring better health for all must engage all rural communities.
Read More →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
Strengthening Social Connection and Opportunities in Rural Communities
This brief describes an unfolding learning journey intended to strengthen social connection, resident voice, and agency to address inequities in rural health and well-being. Along the way, we have come to realize the important lessons for each of our institutions and ways in which we are better off for having taken this approach to our work.
Rhode Island’s Health Equity Zones: Rethinking Community Investing to Create Measurable, Sustainable Gains in Health Equity
In 2015 the Rhode Island Department of Health (RIDOH) launched a project called the Health Equity Zones (HEZ) initiative, with the goal of creating a new public health approach. Rather than prioritizing specific health outcomes, Rhode Island’s HEZ initiative was designed to shift investments upstream to improve the social, environmental, and economic determinants of health by intentionally investing in community infrastructure and resident empowerment. The HEZ initiative has grown over the past seven years to become an internationally recognized model for operationalizing health equity, and during that time we have learned a lot about the role of community investments and how our approach needs to be rethought if we are truly going to invest in health equity.
Centering Racial Justice to Address Climate Change: Learning What it Takes
In 2018, the Kresge Foundation launched the Climate Change, Health, and Equity (CCHE) initiative as a 5-year, $22 million commitment to accelerate action on climate change and climate-related inequities in health. Since its inception, the CCHE network has worked in distinct, yet aligned strategies that focus on health institutions, practitioner and professional societies, and community-based organizations. The priority was to bring together diverse grant-funded partners at different points along their equity journey, with initiative partners providing evaluation, technical assistance, and support to sustain the network.
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.
Merck Foundation
No one strategy is sufficient to reach people from underserved communities who are living with diseases like cancer, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS with the high-quality health care they deserve. That’s why the Merck Foundation has focused on making longer-term and more flexible philanthropic investments that support an array of promising and comprehensive approaches. Further, collaboration is critical to tackle complex health disparities and build healthier communities. Through our initiatives, we bring together health care providers, community leaders, and academics from across the United States and around the world to test and expand innovative solutions to improve the delivery of health care in their communities.
Upcoming Webinars
Leveraging Federal Funding for Climate Justice in Midwestern Frontline Communities
This meeting will discuss pathways for federal resources with high relevance for climate justice work in the Midwest, with a focus on funding managed by the US Environmental Protection Agency.
Resourcing Midwest Health Sector Work on Climate Change and Health Equity
This meeting will explore the current landscape of federal funding for Midwestern health-focused work on climate impacts and solutions.
Upcoming Convenings
Birth Equity Funders’ Summit: It’s Time for Collaborative Action on Birth Equity
Join us for a free-to-attend, action-oriented national convening focused on informing and mobilizing funders concerned about birth equity. The Birth Equity Funders’ Summit will take place October 25-27, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia, following the Mom and Baby Action Network (M-BAN) Summit on October 24 and 25.
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.
2023 GIH Annual Conference on Health Philanthropy
We are excited to announce that the 2023 GIH annual conference: Advancing Philanthropy’s Commitment to the Long Game, will be held on June 7 – 9 in Minneapolis, Minnesota at Hilton Minneapolis.
Learning and Evaluation Officer
The Foundation is pleased to announce the position of Learning & Evaluation Officer. The officer supports several of the Foundation’s strategies. They play an integral role in helping the Foundation assess its progress and impact for these strategies and supports staff in the design and refinement of organizational strategies.
Program Officer
We are seeking a colleague who will identify, engage, and support our grantees and other partners to cultivate systems and policy change with a specific focus on developing a more robust and diverse health care workforce to meet the primary and behavioral health needs of everyone in North Carolina.
Program Director, Health
The Program Director works closely with the Highmark Delaware BluePrints for the Community team to ensure resources invested in the community have maximum benefit toward improving quality of life and health outcomes throughout Delaware.
Program Director, Science, Innovation, and Higher Education
The Program Lead will support the founder, leadership team, and critical stakeholders, both internally and externally, to manage projects and represent the foundation’s vision. Based on the foundation leadership’s directives, support strategic planning efforts, development, implementation and oversees program and service delivery. Demonstrates a strong financial and business acumen to understand the complex project structures and grant agreements.
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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