Strategic investments of $4.7 million set to help Californians
As three new trustees join in its enduring commitment to making California the healthiest state and ending domestic violence, Blue Shield of California Foundation is announcing grants of $4.7 million in the first quarter of 2026.
The Board of Trustees, newly chaired by Helen DuPlessis, M.D. and including Ravi Kavasery, M.D., Mónica Morales, and Charles Sidney Fields, unanimously approved these 17 grants.
“The Foundation and its Board recognize this moment as a call to lead with both urgency and purpose,” said Debbie I. Chang, president and CEO. “At a time when communities of color with low incomes are facing compounding challenges, we are doubling down on the partnerships and strategies that address the root causes of domestic violence and health inequities, namely: economic insecurity, gender inequity, and racism.”
Align systems with community priorities: total grants of $950,000
The Foundation supports community-led solutions, often powered by the voices of people with lived experience. With a $150,000 grant to The OpEd Project, a new group of authors will write about changes they’d like to see in the public health system.
“We’re deeply grateful to Blue Shield of California Foundation for supporting the Public Voices Fellowship on Public Health,” said Katie Orenstein, founder of The OpEd Project. “This partnership will support a cohort of public health experts across California with training, strategic support, and a powerful peer network to bring new and urgent ideas into the public sphere. These fellows will bring insights from their work in communities across the state into influential public conversations, along with practical solutions. As a result, the people with the deepest knowledge of these challenges will help shape how the public understands them — and how policies and solutions are designed.”
Other grants in this area will support community health worker collaboration and learning across Los Angeles County, as well as organizations like Prevention Institute and Health in Partnership that advance equitable policy solutions.
Break the cycle of domestic violence: total grants of $800,000
Among the Foundation’s strategies to break the multigenerational cycle of domestic violence are policy and practice changes at the state level that could benefit thousands of Californians at a time. A $400,000 grant to the Department of Health Care Services (DHCS) will support the Birthing Care Pathway.
This statewide initiative is focused on improving maternal health and addressing intimate partner violence (IPV) among pregnant and postpartum Medi-Cal members. “With this generous funding,” according to an agency statement, “DHCS will collaborate with Medi-Cal managed care plans, community-based organizations, and advocacy partners to ensure that the voices of those impacted by IPV — especially Black, American Indian/Alaska Native, and Pacific Islander communities — are reflected in guidance and implementation supports. The support from Blue Shield of California Foundation will help facilitate listening sessions, develop comprehensive resources for managed care plan education, screening, and referral services for individuals experiencing or at risk for IPV, and broaden the dissemination of these toolkits statewide, furthering more equitable, trauma-informed system for all California families.”
Strengthen economic security and mobility: total grants of $2.6 million
A two-year, $850,000 grant to the California Domestic Workers Coalition funds a statewide effort to strengthen the leadership of domestic workers. The coalition works to ensure that California’s standards in labor, health, and safety are better known among workers, and conducts administrative advocacy with state agencies, as well as industry research.
“In this political moment, when low-wage workers and their families face growing systemic vulnerabilities, continued funding allows us to expand our network of partners across the state, reach more workers, and provide vital information and support as we continue to build a stronger and more powerful movement for dignity and fairness in our communities,” said interim executive director Megan Whelan Escobar.
One of the coalition’s domestic worker organizers added, “I’m excited that we have the opportunity to reach more domestic workers thanks to the support of the coalition and the tools they provide, as well as the expansion into other areas and allied organizations.”
Other grantmaking to advance our mission
Because of its commitment to bringing insights from lived experience into academic research, the Foundation’s evaluation and data strategy team is investing in a training pipeline for young people who have experienced homelessness. The $200,000 grant supports a program based at University of California, Berkeley designed to boost participants’ economic security, leadership skills, and evidence-based advocacy.
Across the spectrum of grants this quarter, the Foundation’s partners are advancing community- and survivor-led solutions to prevent domestic violence and advance health equity.
“Our investments reflect our values,” Chang said. “Integrity, partnership, possibility, equity, and dignity guide how we work and how we show up for our grantees. We remain committed to supporting our partners beyond the grant dollar, especially when it matters most.”
For a complete list of current grants and more information on all the Foundation’s grantmaking, please see our grants database. We also support grantees on social media (find us on LinkedIn and Instagram), and feature their work in our newsletter, Intersections.
To organize California's domestic workers to advance the development and implementation of local and state policies that will improve their wages, benefits, and job quality.
To advance policies and practices that expand access to a range of housing solutions for survivors of domestic violence in Los Angeles and across California through advocacy, cross-sector collaboration, and capacity building.
To advance the economic security and mobility of underserved women and families in California through chairing the cross-sector Stronger California Network which engages in policy advocacy, community building, and strategic communications.
To grow a statewide model for scaling homecare worker cooperatives that will increase wages, benefits and job quality of predominantly immigrant homecare workers.
To educate and engage farmworker communities in California’s Central Coast about paid family leave and advocate for changes in the program to better meet their needs.
To support the Housing Opportunities Means Everything (HOME) Cohort to build the capacity of domestic violence organizations to advocate for sustainable housing policy and funding solutions at the state and local levels that will improve housing security for survivors of domestic violence.
To support the California Department of Health Care Services to advance policy and practice change to prevent intimate partner violence among pregnant and postpartum Medi-Cal enrollees.
To provide general operating support to Children Now, which harnesses collective power to achieve transformational and systemic results for California’s children through advocacy, cross-sector collaboration, and systems change.
To provide general operating support to ValorUS to support its work with California organizations and communities to prevent and end sexual violence by advancing equity, advocating for prevention resources, and promoting restorative practices.
To support the expansion of a Community Health Worker (CHW) Consortium’s role as a regional platform for collaborative learning and advocacy.
To provide support for the Funders Forum on Accountable Health to promote federal and state policies that facilitate community-led, equity-focused, transformed health systems through capacity building, research dissemination, and advocacy.
To provide general operating support for Health in Partnership, which works to transform the field of public health to center equity.
To provide general operating support to Prevention Institute, a leading California policy research and advocacy organization.
To support a year-long fellowship that equips public health practitioners and community advocates to write, pitch, and publish op-eds on health equity and public health, increasing whose voices and expertise are heard beyond traditional platforms.
To provide general operating support to Public Policy Institute of California, a leading California research institute that produces new data and research for economic mobility, social determinants of health, and sustainable policy solutions through its Economic Policy Center
To expand the reach and impact of a pipeline model that trains and integrates community voices with lived experience into academic research and policy advocacy by embedding youth experiencing homelessness in dissemination and system change activities that strengthen their economic security and mobility, leadership skills and capacity to apply evidence-based advocacy at the local and statewide levels.
To support the Hope and Heal Fund by promoting data and capacity building activities to improve data collection and accuracy of the rates of gunrelated domestic violence.
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