Upcoming Webinars
The Future of Rural Health and Well-Being: Findings from a Landscape Analysis and Listening Sessions
Grantmakers In Health and the National Rural Health Association, with support from the Georgia Health Policy Center, are leading an initiative to reimagine rural health and well-being by aligning systems and resources to achieve optimal health for all individuals living in rural America. As part of this effort, the Georgia Health Policy Center conducted a landscape analysis highlighting a sampling of a cross-section of organizations and leaders in rural health and hosted two national listening sessions of key stakeholders.
Please join us for a discussion of our key findings, the impact of the rapidly changing federal policy landscape, and recommendations for where we go from here in building a shared vision and roadmap for sustainable, community-driven change in rural communities across the country.
Steady Voices in Unsteady Times: Strategies for Communicating in Crisis
Communicating effectively in times of crisis is essential for maintaining public trust and organizational reputation. It can also minimize the spread of false or misleading information. This virtual workshop is designed to support health funders’ efforts to effectively communicate while managing potential risks of ideologically- and politically-driven threats. Beth Tritter and Chrystal Okonta from FGS Global will lead the program. Participants will learn how to prepare for a communications crisis and test drive practical tools for managing and responding. Working in groups, participants will also work to address a plausible and timely challenge using best practices and core principles of effective crisis response.
Behavioral Health in the Balance: Navigating the Impact of the 2025 Budget Reconciliation Act
Medicaid is the single largest payer for behavioral health services and is increasingly responsible for substance use disorder reimbursements. In July 2025, H.R.1 was signed into law containing an estimated $1 trillion in Medicaid cuts over 10 years, resulting in almost 15 million people losing health coverage, according to Congressional Budget Office estimates. The pressure on states to cut spending is immense, and behavioral health services will not be immune. Join GIH for a discussion on the behavioral health implications of H.R.1 and opportunities for funders to get involved now. Bill Smith and Angela Kimball from Inseparable will summarize H.R.1 from a behavioral health perspective. Neel Harja and Sarah Wasil from Michigan Health Endowment Fund and Itai Dinour and Hazel Guzman from Carmel Hill Fund will provide examples of how funders are responding to this challenging situation. Funders will leave the webinar with actionable ideas to protect access to behavioral health services in their states.
CEO Working Group Webinar: New CEOs
It is a difficult time for many, but especially for those who are new to their role. Grantmakers In Health is pleased to convene the CEO Working Group in October, to offer foundation leaders who have been in their position for less than five years the opportunity to discuss the challenges they are facing as new CEOs with one another and seasoned leaders in the field. These calls are open to GIH Funding Partner CEOs, Presidents, Executive Directors, or the highest-ranking health staff at multi-issue foundations. During these candid, confidential conversations, philanthropic leaders share information, swap strategies, raise concerns, and ask for one another’s advice.
Funder Collaborations to Protect Science
Scientific research is the foundation of public health, driving innovation, policy, and life-saving interventions. But deep federal cuts and workforce reductions threaten to unravel decades of progress. In response, funders are organizing and taking action to protect the scientific enterprise. This webinar spotlights two funder collaborations: FACTS—a table for learning and discussion and the Portfolio to Protect Science—a coordinated effort to secure key parts of scientific research. Speakers will share how these collaborations emerged and opportunities for funders to engage.
Speakers include Caroline Montojo, President and CEO, Dana Foundation, Sam Gill, President and CEO, Doris Duke Foundation and Julie Morita, President and CEO, The Joyce Foundation. The conversation will be moderated by Cara James, President and CEO of Grantmakers In Health.
Developing a Funding Strategy In Response to SNAP Cuts
The scale and scope of the $186 billion in SNAP cuts included in the Trump administration’s One Big Beautiful Bill Act (H.R.1) are staggering and could force millions to lose their benefits. There is a need to identify clear national, state, and local strategies for diverse capital partners to address the structural harm to SNAP and widespread negative impacts on hunger, health, nutrition and economic security posed by this legislation.
For the first 45 minutes of this call, speakers will share insights into emerging needs for advocacy, technical assistance, strategic communications, and other areas, in both the short and long term. Following Q&A with our panel, there will be a funder-only conversation to reflect on how organizations are responding, what is being funded, and how we could collaborate.
CEO Discussion on Emerging Challenges
Health funder CEOs are grappling with a fast-changing operating environment affecting many aspects of their work. As a response, Grantmakers In Health (GIH) is convening a special webinar on Monday, October 6 at 4:30pm ET to help CEOs navigate philanthropy’s emerging challenges and share resources GIH has created to assist in meeting the moment. We will be joined by GIH’s legal advisors, who will provide a rundown of the current legal landscape, as well as representatives from FGS Global, GIH’s crisis communications consultants. Attendees will also have the opportunity to ask questions, share concerns, and provide insights.
Maternal Mental Health and Immigrant and Refugee Women, Parents and Communities
Pregnant and parenting immigrant, migrant, and refugee women are navigating a landscape marked by uncertainty, fear, and systemic exclusion—conditions that profoundly affect their physical and mental health during the perinatal and postpartum periods and throughout their lifespan. Amid increasingly punitive immigration policies, including family separation, detention, and deportation without due process, these women and their families face extraordinary challenges that endanger their mental health and wellbeing and that of their children. Compounding these harms are policy barriers such as the public charge rule, attacks on birthright citizenship, and exclusion from health coverage and other vital services. These stressors contribute to a growing but under-recognized crisis in maternal mental health, with long-term consequences for families and communities.
Roundtable Discussion for Health Funders’ Policy Staff
A growing number of health funders employ staff whose responsibilities focus exclusively or predominantly on public policy engagement. Do you lead your organization’s policy or government affairs work? During our roundtable discussion we connected with peers, explored pressing issues, and shared experiences to engage communities in setting funders’ policy priorities. Jennifer Tolbert, deputy director of KFF’s Program on Medicaid and the Uninsured and the director of State Health Policy and Data at KFF, joined the call to speak about how the provisions in the 2025 budget reconciliation law will likely affect states and other policy trends related to Medicaid and state budgets.
CEO Working Group Webinar: August Convening
Grantmakers In Health was pleased to convene the CEO Working Group to discuss challenges in our work and opportunities for collaboration as we move forward to achieve our health missions under the new administration. Experts provided an overview of recent legislation, the impact on health and health care, and what foundation leaders can do to support communities and nonprofits in the next six months. Speakers included Joan Alker of Georgetown Children and Families and Sara Singleton of Leavitt Partners.