Let’s Take Courageous Steps Together in 2025

At the Kate B. Reynolds Charitable Trust, this has been a challenging year for North Carolina, where we live and work. Hurricane Helene devastated the western part of NC and the surrounding region, and we endured an election that divided our state and nation.
We also know that we are not alone facing the challenges of 2024 and those we will take on in 2025. Many of us in the Grantmakers In Health (GIH) community are wondering how to persevere through these uncertain times. At the Trust, we acknowledge the heaviness of the moment—because we anticipate policy changes that will negatively impact people who are already being left behind.

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Postpartum Care Systems: Strategically Collaborating to Advance and Align Solutions Across Sectors

As state policymakers began extending continuous eligibility for postpartum Medicaid coverage from the 60 days following birth to the 12 months following birth in 2022, a small workgroup of
funders connected to explore what philanthropy’s role could be in strengthening maternal health outcomes
and how we might support effective implementation of the extension

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Q&A: How the Chicago South Side Birth Center is Championing a Better Approach to Maternal Health

Grantmakers In Health (GIH) recently spoke with Jeanine Valrie Logan, Founder + Lead Steward of the Chicago South Side Birth Center, and Shruti Jayaraman, Chief Investments Officer of Chicago Beyond, to learn how the Chicago South Side Birth Center and Chicago Beyond are working together to improve maternal health outcomes for mothers in one of Chicago’s most underserved communities. This interview has been edited for style and clarity.

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Biden-Harris Administration Announces $75 Million Investment in Rural Health Care

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), announced nearly $75 million to support health care services in rural America. Funding will launch new opioid treatment and recovery services in rural communities, strengthen maternal health care in the South, and help rural hospitals stay open.

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Developing an Equitable Nonprofit Ecosystem: A New Funding Framework for Emerging, BIPOC-Led Grantees

In philanthropy, it is standard due diligence practice to vet potential grantees on their list of current, past, and future funders as a way to mitigate our perceived risk. However, this approach can put many emerging, grassroots, and BIPOC-led organizations out of contention for initial funding. The John Muir Community Health Fund has shifted the way we fundamentally see risk, and instead, have embraced the opportunity to fund emerging organizations that address social determinants of health by providing monetary support, capacity building, and ultimately a proof of concept that propels grantees to long-term sustainability.

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Advancing Health Equity and Fostering Collaboration through Black Maternal and Child Health Initiatives

When basic social needs go unmet, they become the principal drivers of health disparities. Recognizing this, the Health Foundation of South Florida has been advancing a collaborative approach that brings together health systems and community-based organizations and paves the way for implementing promising social interventions. Through this approach, the Health Foundation seeks to drive improved health outcomes and greater coordination to address unmet health-related social needs within clinical care settings.

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Improving the Lives of Children and Families – The Hidden Gem of the Tax Code

Please join the Tax Equity Funders Network for an in-person convening titled, “Improving the Lives of Children and Families – The Hidden Gem of the Tax Code” as part of the 2024 Prosperity Summit.

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Building Stronger Early Childhood Systems: Reflections from Western Montana

What happened when a regional health foundation team embarked on a road trip and drank 600 cups of coffee with their neighbors? They discovered that Western Montanans were tired of band-aid solutions and frustrated with interventions that always seemed to arrive too late. People wanted to focus on prevention to address problems at their roots. They hoped to see more collaboration between organizations and across sectors and emphasized that solutions should be locally born and cultivated, focusing especially on kids in their earliest years.

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Birth Equity Funders Summit: Aligning Strategies to Advance Equitable Birth Outcomes

This summit, designed exclusively for funders, provided comprehensive strategies, tools, playbooks, and deep learning opportunities, while fostering immediate implementation and collaboration. Acknowledging the underrepresentation of professionals from ethnically marginalized backgrounds, including BIPOC grantmakers, we supported, empowered, and created a safe space for these voices. Participants took away tangible insights and clear expectations for advancing equitable birth outcomes.

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Joan Alker of the Georgetown Center for Children and Families to Be Honored with the Andy Hyman Award for Advocacy

Joan Alker, Executive Director and a cofounder of the Georgetown Center for Children and Families (CCF) in Washington, DC, will receive Grantmakers In Health’s 2024 Andy Hyman Award for Advocacy.

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