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.
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.”
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.
GIH Health Policy Update Newsletter
The Latest
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.
Quick Poll Results: Voter Engagement Efforts
GIH’s August/September 2020 Quick Poll asked foundations if they fund voter engagement efforts.
Voter Engagement Messaging and Activities for Private Foundations
The Alliance for Justice’s Bolder Advocacy initiative has released a new collection of resources specifically geared to help private foundations get engaged in the upcoming election. Private foundations can help get out the vote in a number of ways and these guides clarify what activities are permissible.
Creating A Force Multiplier – Why Advocates for Rural Health and Health Equity Should Work Together
Investment in rural communities and in organizations led by people of color is disproportionately low compared to their population size and need. There are relatively small groups of dedicated researchers, advocates, and policymakers committed to progress in each area. Funders can bring these groups together, thereby creating a force multiplier effect that could lead to significant improvements in health for all.
20 Years of Progress – Two Tobacco Ways in Indian Country
In order to respectfully and effectively address the harmful epidemic of cigarette smoking among American Indian adults, ClearWay Minnesota listened carefully to Native communities and adopted a model that focused on the dangers of commercial tobacco use while honoring the traditional healing traditions of tobacco. This model is referred to as the “two tobacco ways” framework and serves as an instructive illustration of how context is important in addressing health disparities and heath equity across communities.
The Air That We Breathe
We and many colleagues believe that, in order to strengthen responses to the pressing crises we face, we must consider some converging determinants of health—racism, climate change, and COVID-19—together. Doing so is essential, not just for crisis management, but also for building resilient systems and infrastructure that enable everyone, particularly Black, Indigenous, and people of color communities, to breathe.
Managing America’s Crises Means Addressing the Political Determinants of Health
Too often we stop at these social drivers of inequities, however, and miss the link between social determinants of health and their political roots. Every social determinant of health is preceded by a political action, inaction, or impetus. Political determinants of health create the social drivers—including poor environmental conditions, inadequate transportation, unsafe neighborhoods, and lack of healthy food options—that affect all other dynamics of health.