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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 Alrington, Virginia.
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.
Designing Inclusive and Equity-Centered Health System Improvement Projects—Lessons from Three Initiatives
Disparities in access to health care persist for individuals with low incomes and Black, Hispanic/Latinx and Native American/Native Alaskan individuals and are particularly acute in behavioral health. Behavioral health care utilization rates among Black, Hispanic, and Asian adults are less than half those of White adults. These disparities exist because of barriers in access such as limited provider networks, poor language access, a lack of culturally-aligned services, and technological barriers to telehealth. Working with health providers to create inclusive and accessible services is essential to building more equitable access to behavioral health care, and to healthier and happier families and communities.
The Importance of Ballot Measure Access and Race-Conscious Policymaking
In this interview, Grantmakers In Health’s Maya Schane spoke with Elizabeth DiLauro and Giridhar Mallya of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation about the importance of race-conscious policymaking and protecting access to ballot measures as key tools for advancing health and racial equity.
Investing in Collective Well-Being: Committing to a Future Where People and Planet Flourish
In this moment of widespread burnout and fragmentation, philanthropy has a crucial role in supporting communities redefining what it means to thrive. That means moving beyond narrow metrics and embracing a broader vision of collective well-being rooted in belonging, purpose, and dignity. The philanthropic sector must rise to the challenge of helping build an equitable future where both people and the planet can truly flourish.
Reports and Publications
GIH Bulletin: October 2020
This year has placed a spotlight on many things, including the importance of leadership during times of crisis and uncertainty. I recently had the pleasure of welcoming the newest cohort of fellows to the Terrance Keenan Institute for Emerging Leaders in Health Philanthropy. We spent three afternoons together learning about each other’s leadership style, talking about how to foster more diverse and inclusive work environments, discussing how to advance health equity through the work of their foundations, and engaging community leaders in a discussion on power sharing and how to more effectively partner with community organizations to effect change.
GIH Bulletin: September 2020
Funders can bring groups together, helping to expand the number of stakeholders aware of the unique needs of communities and develop programs, policies and initiatives that apply a rural and racial equity lens, thereby creating a force multiplier effect that could lead to significant improvements in health for all.
Funder Strategies to Support Oral Health Care Access and Equity
Stark inequities in oral health care access and outcomes reflect the United States’ deepest societal divides and overarching social justice concerns. Health philanthropy is among the sectors aspiring to accelerate change and drive upstream solutions in a period of increasing vulnerability for communities heavily impacted by the downstream effects of oral health disparities.