Explore Health Equity and Social Justice Topics

Latest Resources

What Do We Stand For?

One year ago, as we were just one month into the new administration, I wrote that “At a moment when so much has been described as ‘unprecedented,’ and so much of what we value is being attacked, we need to ask ourselves as individuals, organizations, and a field, what do we stand for? What values do we hold, and what will we do and say to defend them?” Today, the answers to these questions are needed more urgently than ever.

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Medicaid and Community Violence: Pathways to Sustainable Care

American cities are witnessing historic declines in gun violence. In recent years, cities like Baltimore, Philadelphia, and Chicago have all seen precipitous drops in homicides, with some reaching multi-decade record lows (Washington Post 2025). While there are many causes of this decline, experts in the field point to community violence intervention as driving the trend.

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Reports

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation: January 2026

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation released a chart pack which provides an overview of the public coverage programs in Massachusetts, explains the key Medicaid and Marketplace provisions in H.R.1, and elevates what is known about how these provisions will impact the coverage landscape and the health care delivery system in Massachusetts.

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Practicing What We Preach: Three Tips for Putting Equity at the Heart of a Successful Application Process

Every step of the grant application process
— from initial outreach to final award notification — provides opportunities for funders to either reinforce inequities or dismantle them. The grant application process is often the first barrier that organizations encounter when seeking funding. If designed without an intentional focus on equity, the application process can advantage well-resourced organizations, while disadvantaging equally or better qualified organizations that have fewer resources.

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Closing Remarks: 2025 Health Policy Exchange

President and CEO of Grantmakers In Health (GIH), Cara V. James, delivered closing remarks at the 2025 Health Policy Exchange, “Protecting the Freedom to Give” in Arlington, Virginia.

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The Role of Health Philanthropy in Improving Maternal Health for Underserved Populations

Although the United States is a high-income nation, it experiences a significant burden of maternal mortality incidence relative to other countries. In 2023, non-expansion Medicaid states had 27.7 percent higher pregnancy-related deaths than expansion states. The COVID-19 pandemic also exacerbated racial disparities in pregnancy-related deaths. Historically, marginalized populations, including low-income populations and Black and Indigenous communities are more vulnerable to preventable pregnancy-related deaths.

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Reports and Publications

Supportive Housing: Strengthening Communities, Improving Health

Supportive housing has emerged as an innovative and comprehensive intervention that addresses the health inequities associated with housing instability, affordability, and homelessness. In this model, housing is combined with wraparound services such as primary and behavioral health care, case management, financial assistance, and legal counseling.

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Philanthropy and Community Development: Partners In Health

Community development financial institutions (CDFIs) are funding projects across the nation to support health care centers and clinics, grocery stores with healthy food options, and healthy housing. Read this Issue Focus on how CDFIs are a valuable potential partner for health philanthropy.

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The Cuban Prescription: Human-Centered Care

Earlier this year, members of Grantmakers In Health’s board and senior staff visited Havana, Cuba, with MEDICC, an organization licensed by the U.S.Department of the Treasury to conduct people-to-people trips to Cuba. The primary objectives of the trip were to see the Cuban approach to health in action, and to consider whether there were takeaway lessons for the U.S. health system.

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