Healthier Information Ecosystems: Strategies for Health Philanthropy
Our information environment is transforming—including the places and people who help us make decisions about our health. Those health information ecosystems are fragmented; filled with information from a wide range of expertise and sources; and platform algorithms exert tremendous and unseen control over what messages are seen, shared, and amplified. These changes have many of our traditional health information sources racing to learn new skills to ensure they remain trusted and relevant.
Beyond Innovation: How Philanthropy Can Strengthen Systems to Improve Rural Health Outcomes
Sometimes innovation in philanthropy is associated with breakthrough technologies or new medical discoveries. But some of the most impactful investments fund something less visible: the coordination of people, protocols, and institutions already in place so they work together seamlessly to save lives.
A Philanthropic Tree of Life: Seeding Health Equity through Influence and Innovation
Philanthropy can function as a living ecosystem for change rooted in equity, nourished by trust, and bearing the fruits of community well-being. The Direct Relief Fund for Health Equity (DRFHE), launched with $50 million in initial investments, exemplifies a transformative philanthropic model supporting nearly 200 community-based organizations across the United States. Acknowledging DRFHE as a “Tree of Life” offers a framework grounded in community-led, trust-based, and unrestricted giving that challenges traditional philanthropic paradigms. Therefore, this article describes the fund’s origins, strategic priorities, and outcomes, and introduces the DRFHE Tree of Life framework as a replicable model for equity-driven philanthropy.
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 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.
The Health Foundation of Central Massachusetts: January 2025
2025 Activation Fund grant opportunity is now open, which provides capacity-building support for organizations working to address the community-identified health needs of Central Massachusetts residents and workers. With grants typically ranging between $60,000 and $125,000, the Activation Fund supports discrete, one-year projects in Central Massachusetts aimed at helping organizations advance to their next level of capacity and effectiveness that can be sustained over time.
Philanthropy @ Work – Grants and Programs – January 2025
The latest on grants and programs from the field.
Postpartum Care Systems: Strategically Collaborating to Advance and Align Solutions Across Sectors
As state policymakers began extending continuous eligibility for postpartum Medicaid coverage from the 60 days following birth to the 12 months following birth in 2022, a small workgroup of
funders connected to explore what philanthropy’s role could be in strengthening maternal health outcomes
and how we might support effective implementation of the extension
Older Americans Act Renewal Approved by Senate
This an important and time-sensitive update on the Older Americans Act Reauthorization. The bill passed the Senate on Dec. 10th. It now needs to go through the House.
The National Council on Aging (NCOA) has an easy way for organizations who are legally able to lobby congress to reach out. Click here to complete a very brief form which will be automatically routed to your representatives. And please share with your networks!
Grantmakers In Health Welcomes Three New Members to Board of Directors
Grantmakers In Health (GIH) is pleased to announce the elections of Kenneth Jones, Senior Vice President, Chief Operating Officer, and Chief Equity Officer at the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation; Susan Mims, President and CEO of the Dogwood Health Trust; and Hilda Polanco, Market Managing Principal at BDO to its Board of Directors.
Q&A: How the Chicago South Side Birth Center is Championing a Better Approach to Maternal Health
Grantmakers In Health (GIH) recently spoke with Jeanine Valrie Logan, Founder + Lead Steward of the Chicago South Side Birth Center, and Shruti Jayaraman, Chief Investments Officer of Chicago Beyond, to learn how the Chicago South Side Birth Center and Chicago Beyond are working together to improve maternal health outcomes for mothers in one of Chicago’s most underserved communities. This interview has been edited for style and clarity.