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Elevating Community Priorities to Shape Georgia’s Health Policy Agenda
Georgia stands at a pivotal moment that will shape the direction of health policy in our state. With an open governor’s race in 2026, along with other open seats, we’re on the cusp of significant political transition. While new leadership introduces uncertainty, it also creates opportunity. This moment opens the door for nonpartisan, nonprofit, private foundations like our team at Georgia Health Initiative to play a constructive role in elevating community priorities to shape a health policy agenda designed to work for all Georgians.
UniHealth Foundation: July 2026
UniHealth Foundation recently launched its Healthy Neighbors Small Grants Program. The new initiative will fund nonprofits focused on enhancing community health and wellness in Pasadena, Altadena, Sierra Madre, and South Pasadena, California. Grant awards will range from $5,000 to $10,000, with decisions announced in late fall 2026.
Dogwood Health Trust: July 2026
Dogwood Health Trust shared a new disaster response playbook that captures lessons learned from its experience responding to Hurricane Helene in 2024. The playbook and downloadable readiness and response checklist offer practical guidance for how organizations can help stabilize communities in the immediate aftermath of a disaster and lay the groundwork for long-term recovery.
Health Philanthropy Working at the Intersections Between Critical Issues
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Health is more than this year’s Annual Conference on Health Philanthropy theme; it is the foundation for every planned session, unexpected learning moment, and conversation in Baltimore from June 8-11. The pre-conference kicked off with a range of discussions centered on the theme, including the state of Medicaid after H.R. 1, the connection between democracy and better health outcomes, and collaborations in public health funding.
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.
Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Health
GIH President and CEO Cara V. James offers reflections on the theme for the 2026 Annual Conference
Reports and Publications
Violence Is Preventable
Mass shootings command public attention, but for too many Americans violence is a threat that must be confronted every day. Violent crime, although low relative to historical rates, has risen in recent years and disproportionally affects poor, racially segregated, urban neighborhoods (U.S. Department of Justice 2017; U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development 2016).
Staying the Course in Turbulent Waters
Managing change is hard, but managing uncertainty can be even harder. This sentiment captures the challenges health funders have faced while navigating the roiling health policy debates of the 115th Congress.
Policy Engagement by Local Health Funders
Policies made at the local level have a tremendous influence on people’s health. Our new publication explores how health funders inform and influence local policy decisions that play a critical role in shaping community health and well-being.