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ABOUT THE HEALTH EQUITY FUND
The $95 million Health Equity Fund is designated to improve the health outcomes and health equity of residents of the District of Columbia. The historic fund is one of the largest philanthropic funds of any kind focused on community-based nonprofits that serve District residents and also the largest in The Community Foundation’s nearly 50-year history.
Given that 80 percent of DC’s health outcomes are driven by social, economic, and other factors, compared to just 20 percent by clinical care, the strategy for this fund is to use an economic mobility frame to address the root causes that are causing these challenges in the first place.
The COVID-19 pandemic further widened and amplified pre-existing inequities related to health, housing, education, food security, criminal justice, income, and employment. This fund offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to catalyze systemic, lasting change by adopting an economic mobility lens to improve health equity and health outcomes in the District. Funds will be dedicated to closing gaps in healthcare as well as addressing social determinants of health (SDOH) that impact health outcomes including education, employment, income, housing, transportation, nutrition, environmental safety, medical care, culture and recreation, and more.
Health Equity Committee
The fund is governed by a seven-member Health Equity Committee in partnership with the Greater Washington Community Foundation, as stipulated by the Memorandum of Understanding Between the Government of the District of Columbia and GHMSI and Consent Order. The committee consists of three members appointed by the Mayor (Lori Kaplan, Dr. Tollie Elliott, and Courtney R. Snowden), three appointed by GHMSI (Juan M. Jara, Wendell L. Johns, and Dr. Djinge Lindsay, and one selected jointly by GHMSI and the Mayor (Nnemdi Elias, MD, MPH).
Click here to learn more about the Health Equity Committee members.
Together, The Community Foundation and Health Equity Committee are ensuring the Health Equity Fund is managed according to guidelines outlined in the Memorandum. The committee’s role includes developing the grantmaking strategy, approving a slate of proposed grant recipients, monitoring the fund's investments, ensuring compliance with HEF's governing policies, and reviewing all financial and program evaluation reports.
grantmaking strategy
In partnership with the Health Equity Committee, the Greater Washington Community Foundation developed the grantmaking strategy based on community and stakeholder engagement and an analysis of available data on the nonprofit landscape. All funds will be disbursed within five years of when operations began.
Given that 80 percent of DC’s health outcomes are driven by social, economic, and other factors, compared to just 20 percent by clinical care, the strategy for this fund is to use an economic mobility frame to address the root causes that are causing these health challenges in the first place.
Mindful that health and wealth are inextricably connected, the fund’s first round of grants boldly invested in economic mobility in DC’s historically underinvested communities. Funding will support innovative systems-changing strategies as well as existing approaches that improve prospects for Black, Latinx, Indigenous, people of color, and other marginalized populations.
While the Health Equity Committee is committed to addressing the broad spectrum of social and social determinants of health, we will be keenly focused on three catalytic opportunities for change over the next five (5) years:
Supporting new and established community practices and structures that foster economic mobility
Advancing policy advocacy and systems change initiatives that address the social and structural determinants of health.
Seeding disruptive and innovative projects that model and trend toward health equity
The Community Foundation’s Role and Strategic Vision
The Community Foundation was independently selected to manage the fund because of our track record of working with individual donors, businesses, and local government to manage effective community investments and create tangible, lasting change in our community. HEF goals align with our strategic vision of advancing racial equity and economic justice, especially in our region’s historically underinvested neighborhoods. Racial equity is central to our ongoing work and 10-year strategic vision to close the racial wealth gap by eliminating the historic, racialized disparities in our community.
The Community Foundation will oversee the day-to-day administration of all aspects of the charitable giving program, including standard fund administration, financial management, investment oversight, data management, human resources administration and compliance oversight, among other responsibilities.
In addition to its administrative role, The Community Foundation assisted in developing the grantmaking strategy based on its decades of experience investing $1.5 billion in the community through partnerships with thousands of high impact nonprofits – work that includes developing priorities for investments, creating RFPs, vetting applications, managing the review process, making selections, and processing grants.
Health Equity Committee
Chair Dr. Nnemdi Elias, MD, MPH
Dr. Tollie Elliott
Juan M. Jara
Wendell L. Johns
Lori Kaplan
Kimberly Harris
Courtney R. Snowden
