From Recovery to Resilience: Investing in Collaborative Infrastructure for Health and Equity
After the 2018 Camp Fire – the most destructive and deadly wildfire in California’s history – the California Accountable Communities for Health Initiative (CACHI) understood that the community needed more than programming to recover. In response, the region’s Accountable Community for Health (ACH) was created – a community-rooted, cross-sector collaborative that invests in local leadership to shift systems, influence policy, and address both long-standing inequities and urgent crises.
Broken Triangle: A Framework for Reparative Philanthropic Relationships
Traditional philanthropic practices have often created imbalanced power dynamics and barriers for Black-led, Black-serving organizations. When the REACH Healthcare Foundation performed a portfolio review in 2018 that revealed this same exclusion within the foundation’s grantmaking investments, REACH committed to reshaping their funding approach, which aims to repair previously neglected —and in some cases, damaged —relationships.
Power to the People: Advancing Impact Through Participatory Budgeting
Who is best positioned to determine how health funding should be allocated? At the Community Health Commission of Missouri (CHCM), we believe the answer is clear: the people most affected by health disparities.
Philanthropy, Stewarding a Just America
In a time of intensive action to dismantle policies and practices that protect the well-being of all Americans, where chaos is the principal strategy to overthrow the will of and care for the American people, philanthropy must remain rooted in what is legally and morally right.
How Pew Is Learning to Improve Health Policy
Antibiotics revolutionized medical treatment and are a cornerstone of modern health care. However, the global rise of antibiotic-resistant bacteria is making infections costlier and deadlier. After a 2008 report commissioned by The Pew Charitable Trusts highlighted these concerns, the organization invested in multiple projects to set limits on the use of antibiotics and to spur the development of new drugs.
The Value of Convening Grantees to Navigate Uncertainty Together
In moments of chaos, it’s natural for nonprofits to feel uncertain—unsure of what’s next and how to move forward. But uncertainty can also be a powerful catalyst for connection and action. During the COVID-19 pandemic, The Healthy Food Community of Practice doubled down on its efforts to bring nonprofits together and helped them build lasting relationships, collaborate in new ways, and innovate around shared challenges.
Using the UN Sustainable Development Goals to Advance a Bold Racial Equity Agenda at a Critical Moment
“What started out as a natural disaster became a man-made disaster.” This is how President Obama described Hurricane Katrina, referring to both the disparate and devastating impacts on New Orleans’ Black community, and the historical and structural inequity that created the conditions for devastation.
Maternal Health in American Indian/Alaska Native Communities: Challenges, Opportunities, and Pathways Forward
Maternal health is a cornerstone of any community’s well-being, yet American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) women face disproportionate challenges in achieving safe and healthy pregnancies. Historical inequities, systemic barriers, and the enduring effects of colonization have resulted in significant maternal health disparities within Native communities. However, these same communities are also sources of resilience, creativity, and innovation. Maternal health programs aimed at centering community in tradition, culture, and resiliency can offer unique, cross-sectoral solutions to complex systemic health barriers for AI/AN families.
Investing in Civic Infrastructure: The Rise of a New Foundation in a Rural, Disinvested Community
When people hear about our work in Imperial Valley, they often exclaim, “How exciting to build a new foundation!” But I gently redirect them: We’re not building another institution— the last thing our communities need is another organization competing for resources. Instead, we’re building civic infrastructure to create the framework for lasting, community-led change.
The Health Sector is a Critical Voice in Climate Advocacy
Founded 120 years ago, the American Lung Association is the leading organization working to save lives by improving lung health and preventing lung disease through research, education, and advocacy. Central to our work is a mission imperative to champion clean air for all. We work tirelessly to protect public health from air pollution to ensure that all people have air that is safe and healthy to breathe, including through advocacy to address climate change and advance clean air policy at every level of government.