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.
Purpose-Driven Investments: Advancing Equity by Diversifying Foundations’ Asset Managers
In 2020, none of the Health Forward Foundation’s assets were managed by Black, Latina, or Latino managers. Struck by that stark reality, Health Forward began the process of diversifying the asset managers in its investment portfolio as part of a larger strategy to align the Foundation’s capital with its purpose.
Cara V. James in The Well News: As the COVID-19 Emergency Ends, We Must Not End Our Commitment to Advance Health Equity
Grantmakers In Health (GIH) President and CEO Cara V. James was quoted in a December 18, 2022 Politico Magazine article about the Black community’s distrust of the health care system.
Missouri Foundation for Health: May 2023
The Missouri Foundation for Health released a new report that examines the challenges Black and Latino Missourians faced during the early months of the pandemic. The report highlights how inequities in response efforts hampered their reach and effectiveness, further exacerbating the COVID-19 pandemic’s impact on Black and Latino communities.
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation: May 2023
The Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation Massachusetts released a new report, “Closing the Coverage Gaps: Reducing Health Insurance Disparities in Massachusetts.” The foundation noted that Massachusetts has been exemplary in developing health insurance coverage policies to cover its residents.
Philanthropy @ Work – Grants and Programs – May 2023
The latest on grants and programs from the field.