Grantmakers In Health (GIH) is saddened to learn of the recent passing of Patricia Mathews, a longtime fixture in health philanthropy and a former member of the GIH board of directors.
For more than 18 years, Pat served as the founding President and CEO of Northern Virginia Health Foundation (NVHF). In an NVHF interview conducted just before her retirement in 2024, Pat reflected on her time with the foundation and her commitment to improving the health of Northern Virginia communities. She noted several successes during her tenure, including bringing financial stability and growth to health care safety net clinics, supporting collaboratives between nonprofits and local governments, and commissioning data that allowed nonprofits and local governments to reassess their programmatic and funding priorities.
Prior to her tenure at NVHF, Pat served for more than seven years as Executive Director, Community Relations at Kaiser Permanente—Mid-Atlantic States, as Vice President of the National AIDS Fund, and as a member of The Washington Post Editorial Board.
“I thought the world of Pat Mathews,” said Robin Mockenhaupt, a philanthropy consultant and former leader at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, as well as a former GIH board chair who served with Pat. “She was a savvy, strategic, smart leader who understood the realities and opportunities afforded to health funders—especially those focused on equity—and she had an outsized impact regionally and as a leader in Virginia and beyond. As a friend, I appreciated Pat’s directness, her dry wit and sense of fun, her encouragement and mentorship, and her wisdom.”
“I first met Pat in the fall of 2019, when I began interviewing for GIH as Pat was a member of the selection committee, and I was with Pat when it was announced that I had been selected,” wrote GIH President and CEO Cara V. James in a message to GIH staff. “After I started, Pat was someone I could always count on for advice. As chair of the Governance Committee, Pat was always supportive of GIH’s mission. Pat was also committed to advancing health equity in Northern Virginia and beyond, supporting important research and programs through the foundation. I will miss her.”
Please join us in celebrating Patricia Mathews’ memory, as well as her many contributions to the field of health philanthropy and GIH.