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
Aligning Your Company’s and Foundation’s Social Impact Strategies
We will explore how the Florida Blue Foundation and its parent company conducted a social impact strategy refresh related to corporate social responsibility and environmental, social, and corporate governance.
Local Impact Investing Models for Health Conversion Foundations
Join LOCUS Impact Investing and Grantmakers In Health for a virtual – and conversational – learning session designed to identify guideposts for best practice by health conversion foundation local investors.
Upcoming Convenings
Birth Equity Funders’ Summit: It’s Time for Collaborative Action on Birth Equity
We invite you to join an action-oriented national convening focused on informing and mobilizing funders that are concerned about birth equity. The Birth Equity Funders’ Summit will take place on October 26, 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.
President
The President will be responsible for leading and advancing HNF’s vision, strategic initiatives, and priorities. With HNF expected to grow over the next three to five years, the President will be responsible for the development and successful execution of an annual plan to grow the Foundation. Reporting to the Board of Directors, the successful candidate will manage and oversee fund development, grant management, marketing and communications, finances, and overall operations.
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.
Chief Financial Officer
The Chief Financial Officer (CFO) oversees the financial, investment, and business planning for the organization, and advises the chief executive officer (CEO) on financial decisions. The CFO’s responsibility includes the Sunflower Foundation and the newly opened Sunflower Nonprofit Center. The CFO reviews financial reports to manage the organization’s budget and ensure that everyone is adhering…
Controller
The controller shall have responsibility for collaborating with and assisting the vice president & chief financial officer (CFO) in supervising and coordinating the financial functions of The Colorado Trust.
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.
ADD AN OPPORTUNITY
Connect and collaborate with peers, learn about opportunities to develop your staff, browse professional growth opportunities, and more.
Browse trustee-tailored content related to governance, strategy, and effectiveness.