Explore Community Engagement and Empowerment Topics
Latest Resources
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
Health Advocacy: Yes, No, or Maybe So?
Although engagement in public policy is viewed as a mission-critical strategy by an increasing number of health funders, many foundations are still considering whether and how they should support health advocacy efforts. This Issue Focus article briefly addresses some of the key questions foundations are likely to confront as they determine what role, if any, they should play in the public policy arena.
Public Policy Engagement During an Election Year
Political elections create both challenges and opportunities for foundations seeking to inform and influence the public policy process. Philanthropic organizations have broad latitude to conduct or sponsor a variety of policyrelated activities, and this flexibility includes the ability to promote civic engagement and encourage informed participation in democratic elections.
2011 Terrance Keenan Award Acceptance Speech
Read the acceptance speech of Drew Altman, head of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, upon receiving the 2011 Terrance Keenan Leadership Award in Health Philanthropy. He shares his thoughts on what foundations should be, concerns about the field, the theory of change, and his experience transforming Kaiser into what it is today.