Reimagining Health Philanthropy, Together
During Day 2 of the 2025 Annual Conference on Health Philanthropy, attendees across sectors worked together to identify the intersections of their work and co-created solutions for healthier, thriving communities. Sessions spanned a wide range of topics, from exploring business’ role in health equity to strategies for supporting staff in uncertain times.
Remarks on Defending Philanthropy’s Freedom to Give
President and CEO of Grantmakers In Health (GIH), Cara V. James, delivered opening remarks at the 2025 GIH Annual Conference on Health Philanthropy in New Orleans.
Building a Collaborative Vision of the Future
Today, over 840 funders and thought leaders, representing 440 organizations, gathered in New Orleans for the largest Annual Conference on Health Philanthropy ever. Conference attendees started the day with site visits around the Crescent City and newcomer and networking lunches, rooting the week ahead in connections with the New Orleans community and each other.
Virtual Focus Groups to Inform GIH’s Policy and Advocacy Activities
This resource from BoardSource and the Building Movement Project offers insight and advice to boards about how to avoid pitfalls leading up to a transition and after a new leader is hired.
Letter to President Biden Offers Support and Recommendations for the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health
Organizations in philanthropy sent a letter to President Biden in support of the White House Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health. This letter outlines four recommendations for the Administration and federal agencies to adopt leading up to and following the conference.
Wishing GIH’s Vice President a Fond Farewell
It is with a mix of joy and sadness that we announce that after 18 years Osula Evadne Rushing, Vice President for Program and Strategy at Grantmakers In Health, is leaving to rejoin the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) as Senior Vice President for Strategic Engagement.
Reflections on the 2022 GIH Annual Conference and the Road Ahead
It was so wonderful to see everyone in Miami at the 2022 Grantmakers In Health Annual Conference, especially those who joined us for the first time, and to learn more about the work you are doing to achieve better health for all through better philanthropy. The conference occurred at an important moment for our country. As Admiral Rachel Levine, U.S. Assistant Secretary for Health, said during our strategy session on advancing LGBTQ health equity “even after decades of social progress, the most vulnerable among us continue to suffer.” The conference provided an opportunity for us to reconnect, to reflect on the considerable health challenges facing the United States, and to learn and grow together as we explore and share solutions.
Lessons from a Long Season of Disaster Response
By the time this article is published, we’ll be marking several anniversaries of devastating natural disasters in Louisiana, all of which arrived late in summer. Hurricanes Katrina and Rita infamously decimated the Southern Louisiana area in 2005. Fifteen years later, in the span of just two consecutive summers, Hurricanes Laura, Delta, Zeta, and Ida battered a weary state still mired in the thick of COVID-19.
Activating the Potential of Residents to Lead Community Transformation, Collaboratively
In 2019, the Virginia-based Danville Regional Foundation (DRF) set a new strategic vision—to help more people believe in the transformation of the region and embrace their role in achieving it. A region formerly dominated by tobacco and textiles, the Dan River Region has made great strides toward reinvention. DRF recognized that increasing collaboration and building the civic capacity of the region would be critical to its economic transformation.