Until Feb. 1, 2023, we were Group Health Foundation. This post was written under our former identity. To learn more about our new name, read our announcement here.
We’re pleased to share that applications for Community Learning Grants are now open! Starting today through May 6, the many people, organizations, groups, and tribal nations leading powerful work to advance health equity in their communities can apply for these core support grants totaling up to $225,000 over three years.
Our understanding of health equity is constantly evolving as we connect with and learn from people in each of Washington’s 39 counties. We know there is not a shortage of work led by and for Black, Indigenous, and other people of color; queer, transgender, and gender non-conforming people; persons with disabilities; immigrants and refugees; people living with low incomes; and the many who hold several of these identities. This open call is how we seek to develop new relationships with these community-based organizations.
As individuals who have spent most of our lives in Washington, we are humbled each time we meet another organization doing transformative work with their communities. For all of us at Group Health Foundation, understanding the breadth and depth of this work is essential to how we earn trust as a philanthropic partner.
That reason is why we fund organizations leading a wide range of activities, including mutual aid, community organizing, leadership development, cultural reclamation, anti-racism, political education, advocacy, and the many other ways communities express power. Specifically, we are prioritizing organizations and fiscally sponsored projects that:
- Have been overlooked by—or have had limited access to—philanthropy and institutional funders;
- Are founded, led, and governed by people who reflect their communities;
- Represent a place- and/or identity-based community who is adversely impacted by health inequities;
- Are pursuing community-rooted work; and
- Are determined to change who has social, political, and economic power.
On behalf of the Foundation, and as the leads of this process, we hope you will be interested in reading more about Community Learning Grants and the people, places, and organizations we aspire to support. You may also attend our upcoming information sessions or send us an email if you have additional questions.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Sincerely,
Jay Thomas and LiLi Liu
Program Officers, Group Health Foundation
