Remembering John W. Murphy, Former Leader of the Flinn Foundation and an Early Supporter of Grantmakers In Health
Grantmakers In Health (GIH) mourns the loss of John W. Murphy, a founding member and former board chair of GIH, and 1999 recipient of the Terrance Keenan Leadership Award. He died on October 22, 2025, at age 88. Murphy was a visionary leader and transformative force in health philanthropy, serving as the former President and…
Advancing Health Beyond Health Care: How Policy Wins in Texas Reflect Philanthropic Strategy
At Episcopal Health Foundation (EHF), our vision is to build healthy communities for all by focusing on health beyond the walls of the doctor’s office. In 2024, we launched a new strategic framework that centers on three major action areas: health and health care services, healthy communities, and health policies. Across these areas, we also are prioritizing food and nutrition security, maternal health, and diabetes prevention, as these are critical levers for improving health outcomes in Texas.
GIH Health Policy Update Newsletter
An Exclusive Resource for Funding Partners
The Health Policy Update is a newsletter produced in collaboration with Leavitt Partnersi and Trust for America’s Health. Drawing on GIH’s policy priorities outlined in our policy agenda and our strategic objective of increasing our policy and advocacy presence, the Health Policy Update provides GIH Funding Partners with a range of federal health policy news.
States Are Getting Ready to Distribute COVID-19 Vaccines. What Do Their Plans Tell Us So Far?
KFF has released an issue brief reviewing the preliminary vaccine distribution plans submitted to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention by the states and the District of Columbia.
Weaving DEI Into a Foundation’s Everyday Work
At The Colorado Health Foundation, we are relentlessly committed to advancing health equity and believe it exists when there are no avoidable, unfair or systemically-caused differences in health status. To live into this, we have implemented principles of diversity, equity and inclusion into our vision and cornerstones, and our daily operations. While we are not experts, we can offer a glimpse of what some of this experimentation looks like in practice in our grantmaking, evaluation, and communications functions.
Supporting Clinics to Serve as Community Hubs for Health in Central Texas
In Texas, the lack of access to health care, coupled with inadequate and under-resourced systems, has had a profoundly negative impact on communities of color and underserved areas. COVID-19 has laid bare the severity of these issues even more so. These factors, and our commitment to achieving health equity, have informed the St. David’s Foundation’s primary care safety net strategy.
Philanthropy Uniquely Positioned to Address Innovations in Safety Net Health
Health Forward Foundation is celebrating 15 years of grantmaking. In this time, the foundation has anchored access to safety net health care for those most in need in the Kansas City region. Along the way, we have learned valuable lessons about maximizing our investments through innovations and partnerships to benefit those most in need.
Maximizing Impact in a Limited Time: Time-Limited Programs and Foundations
Some foundations institute time-limited initiatives to maximize resources. Others adopt a spend-down approach to have impact within a short organizational lifespan. Both situations provide opportunity for a health-focused foundation to accomplish goals with urgency, but pose the challenge of doing so without the luxury of time. ClearWay Minnesota and Missouri Foundation for Health have embraced strategic and tactical advantages of being life-limited and having time-limited programs, respectively, to address persistent health issues.
Growing Local Philanthropy to Improve Health
Community foundations are often in the best position to bring partners together, across sectors and geographies, and to tackle the complex set of issues facing their residents. They represent a network that can serve as a powerful force, including to improve health outcomes. Recognizing this, Kansas Health Foundation launched the Giving Resources to Our World Initiative with the goal of strengthening local philanthropy in communities across Kansas.