The Box Problem: Why Health Philanthropy Keeps Missing 34 Million Americans

A few years ago, I sat down to fill out a routine intake form at a doctor’s office. I got to the race and ethnicity question and did what I have done since I was a child: I paused. Not because I didn’t know who I am, but because the form didn’t know what to do with who I am. Black or White. Asian or Hispanic. Choose one. I am Indian and White, and I have spent my whole life being asked to leave part of myself in the waiting room.

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Lessons from a Year of Disruption: What’s Worked So Far as We Help Michigan Prepare for H.R. 1

By now, the health philanthropy field is familiar with the potential harms posed by H.R. 1, the budget reconciliation act signed into law in 2025. In Michigan, possible impacts from the legislation include up to 355,000 people losing Medicaid coverage, $32 billion in projected reduced federal Medicaid spending over the next decade, up to 796,000 families with reduced or lost SNAP benefits, and up to $2.3 billion in reduced annual provider tax payments to hospitals.

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Transitions

Philanthropy @ Work – Transitions – October 2026

The latest on transitions from the field.

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Requests for Proposals

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund: October 2026

The Burroughs Wellcome Fund (BWF) has announced the next cycle of its Next Generation Pregnancy Initiative (NGP), significantly expanding its investment in researchers working to deepen understanding of pregnancy and address some of the field’s most persistent challenges.

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GIH Health Policy Update Newsletter

An Exclusive Resource for Funding Partners

The Health Policy Update is a newsletter produced in collaboration with Leavitt Partners 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.

Gladys Vega of La Colaborativa to Be Honored with the 2026 Andy Hyman Award for Advocacy

Gladys Vega, President and CEO of La Colaborativa in Massachusetts, will receive Grantmakers In Health’s 2026 Andy Hyman Award for Advocacy.

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Mark Constantine of the Dogwood Health Trust to be honored with the 2026 Terrance Keenan Leadership Award

Mark Constantine, Senior Vice President of Community Investment at Dogwood Health Trust in North Carolina, will receive Grantmakers In Health’s 2026 Terrance Keenan Leadership Award.

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GIH Joins Amicus Brief Opposing New Citizenship Verification Requirements

GIH joined organizations filing an amicus brief for the case brought by NY and other states seeking to stop the administration’s attempt to expand citizenship verification requirements under the Personal Responsibility and Work Opportunity Reconciliation Act of 1996 for programs administered by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Agriculture, Education, Housing and Urban Development, Labor, and Justice.

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Remembering Patricia Mathews, Founding President and CEO of Northern Virginia Health Foundation

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. Please join us in celebrating Patricia Mathews’ memory, as well as her many contributions to the field of health philanthropy and GIH.

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Responsible Exits: Insights from Three Funders

Grantmakers In Health’s Maya Schane spoke with Stephanie Teleki of The California Health Care Foundation, Laila Bell of The Skillman Foundation, and Jaime Vazquez of The Pew Charitable Trusts about their recently published article in The Foundation Review, “When Shift Happens: Navigating Toward a Framework for Responsible Philanthropic Exits.”

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The Keys to Successful Collaboration Between a State-based Health Foundation and a National Funder Collaborative

Discussions about firearms in the US are often focused on urban gun violence and mass shootings. But firearm injury and death is a public health crisis that touches every community—urban and rural, red states and blue—and it intersects with issues many health funders care about: mental health, suicide prevention, and health equity.

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