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Merck Foundation
No one strategy is sufficient to reach people from underserved communities who are living with diseases like cancer, diabetes, and HIV/AIDS with the high-quality health care they deserve. That’s why the Merck Foundation has focused on making longer-term and more flexible philanthropic investments that support an array of promising and comprehensive approaches. Further, collaboration is critical to tackle complex health disparities and build healthier communities. Through our initiatives, we bring together health care providers, community leaders, and academics from across the United States and around the world to test and expand innovative solutions to improve the delivery of health care in their communities.
bi3 Article: Trust-Based Philanthropy is Grounded in Mutual Accountability and Learning
A new article shows how applying a trust-based philanthropy lens helps funders capture the full impact of grants, describes how bi3 evaluates initiatives, and how building funder-grantee relationships grounded in power-sharing, transparency, and mutual accountability helps achieve greater impact.
2022 Terrance Keenan Institute Fellows Named
GIH is delighted to announce the 2022 Terrance Keenan Institute for Emerging Leaders in Health Philanthropy class of fellows.
Will We Hear the Voices of the LGBTQ Community?
Across the United States we are seeing a coordinated campaign to restrict lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, and queer (LGBTQ) rights and limit access to affirming, lifesaving health care. According to the Equality Federation, nearly 400 anti-LGBTQ bills were introduced across the country in 2021, and over 240 bills have already been filed in 2022. These policies directly impact the health and safety of members of the LGBTQ community. Recent data from The Trevor Project show that 66 percent of LGBTQ youth, including 85 percent of transgender and/or nonbinary youth, report that recent debates around state laws to restrict the rights of transgender people have negatively affected their mental health.
Building a Better Bridge Between Funders and Communities
We are experiencing a watershed moment for philanthropy-funded social change efforts in the United States. The partnerships, knowledge, and resources that funders leverage have never been more important in contributing to the conditions that communities need for everyone to thrive, without exceptions. With such a rapid pace of change happening all around us, how can funders make the most of their role in supporting and advancing large-scale, transformative impact? The answer is to look forward with the benefit of hindsight and with partners who understand where and how to take those next steps.
Metro Health Foundation
Metro Health Foundation is currently reevaluating its grantmaking direction in the wake of learnings from the COVID-19 pandemic. The foundation has also permanently shifted to remote operations and had a leadership change in summer 2021. We are reviewing our bylaws and considering what we should be and how we should be structured, both now and in the future.
Reports and Publications
Collaboration Across Government and Philanthropy
This Georgetown University Center for Public and Nonprofit Leadership report uses data from a recent Grantmakers In Health survey to examine how philanthropy is partnering with government to fill critical gaps.
Grantmakers In Health Funder Collaboration Survey Report
At a time of deep cuts to health and social services, disappearing public health data, rising health care costs, and resurgent infectious diseases, philanthropy faces an urgent challenge: protecting vulnerable communities and sustaining hard-won health gains. Meeting this moment demands meaningful community engagement, strong coordination among funders, and partnerships that extend beyond the philanthropic sector. Yet despite the importance of these relationships, little is known about how health funders work together. To help fill this gap, GIH conducted research in 2025 to examine collaboration among health funders, highlight successes and challenges, and identify opportunities to strengthen collective impact.
Advancing the Public’s Health: Current Philanthropic Approaches and Priorities for the Future
This GIH report is grounded in discussions with a diverse set of philanthropic and public health leaders about the current state of the field. It aims to assess how foundations view public health and their guiding frameworks, as well as to identify lessons learned and priorities for strengthening the public health ecosystem.
Trustee Resources
Explore this page to browse resources, publications, and events related to foundation trustees.