NJ SNIP: Supporting Behavioral Health Access Through Trust-based Grantmaking
Amid shifting federal health care funding, grants that enable health care safety net entities to respond to the changing landscape can unlock immense value. This form of grantmaking puts daily program-related decisions in the hands of people doing the work, allowing organizations to develop and sustain staff positions, workflows, and programs that reflect their priorities.
Leaning Into Radical Collaboration Will Advance Your Focused Mission
At this year’s GIH annual conference, I found myself surrounded by hundreds of philanthropic leaders deeply committed to improving the health and well-being of their communities. Again and again, I met funders whose work was grounded in a particular place, population, or issue. These funders know their communities intimately. They understand local history, relationships, and the needs of their communities. Their focus is one of their greatest strengths.
Changing the Vaccine Conversation Before It’s Too Late—What Can Philanthropy Do?
In July 2026, the United States reached a grim milestone when the number of confirmed cases of measles exceeded the total for all of 2025. On August 10, 2026, the White House issued an executive order directing changes to the federal childhood vaccine schedule and categories, and calls for availability of separate measles, mumps, and rubella vaccines. The science has not changed, but the new framework could significantly slow down the delivery of protective immunizations from these serious diseases.
Community Focused Strategies to Improve Health in West Baltimore
For far too long, residents of west Baltimore have faced continuous uphill battles to access basic amenities, services, jobs, and quality of life. Racism, redlining, eminent domain, disinvestment, school closures, poverty, violent crime, chronic health conditions, failed affordable housing, and the outmigration of businesses and residents have left behind vacant housing and dilapidated commercial corridors. These challenges result in a 17-year difference in life expectancy between residents of west Baltimore neighborhoods compared to other parts of the city.
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.
Grantmakers In Health Announces 2024 Award Winners
Grantmakers In Health (GIH) is pleased to announce Billie Hall of the Sunflower Foundation in Kansas, as the 2024 recipient of the Terrance Keenan Leadership Award in Health, and Joan Alker of the Georgetown University Center for Children and Families in Washington, DC, as the 2024 recipient of the Andy Hyman Award for Advocacy.
Grantmakers In Health President and CEO Cara V. James Appointed to District of Columbia Commission on Health Equity
Cara V. James, President and CEO of Grantmakers In Health (GIH), has been appointed as a voting member of the District of Columbia Commission on Health Equity by Washington, DC, Mayor Muriel Bowser.
Joan Alker of the Georgetown Center for Children and Families to Be Honored with the Andy Hyman Award for Advocacy
Joan Alker, Executive Director and a cofounder of the Georgetown Center for Children and Families (CCF) in Washington, DC, will receive Grantmakers In Health’s 2024 Andy Hyman Award for Advocacy.
Billie Hall of the Sunflower Foundation to Be Honored with the 2024 Terrance Keenan Leadership Award in Health Philanthropy
Billie Hall, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Sunflower Foundation in Kansas, will receive Grantmakers In Health’s 2024 Terrance Keenan Leadership Award in Health Philanthropy.
A New Generation of Researchers: Hearing from Youth Leaders on Their Well-Being
Building upon a previous conversation with Juan Martinez of the Aspen Institute and Cynthia Weaver of The Annie E. Casey Foundation on their collaboration on the Youth and Young Adult Well-Being project, the following Q&A features three paid youth consultants who are leading the research initiative as the Youth and Young Adult Well-Being core team. Each team member represents a different cultural affinity group in the well-being project: Desiree Armas from Latine Bienestar, Niara Frankson from Black Expressions of Well-Being, and Zenetta Zepeda from American Indian/Alaska Native.
Lessons from the Washington AIDS Partnership: How to Take Big Risks and Move Quickly to Drive Change
The Washington AIDS Partnership, a collaboration of grantmaking organizations with a mission of ending the HIV epidemic in the Greater Washington region, was founded in 1988 with the support of the Ford Foundation and 20 DC-area foundations. The organization’s charge was to make grants to the community as quickly as possible. At that time, Washington, DC had the fifth-highest HIV rate in the country, and the epidemic was out of control. As the city has made great progress reaching goals set in the DC Ends HIV Plan, the Washington AIDS Partnership determined in 2023 that its role in the fight to end the local epidemic was coming to an end. The organization will officially conclude its work in the first quarter of 2024.