The Foundation’s beginning

Blue Shield of California’s initial foundation was established in 1981 as a small enterprise, primarily funding scholarships for employees’ children. When Bruce Bodaken joined Blue Shield of California (BSC) as CEO in 2000, he saw an opportunity. He believed that the company’s homegrown foundation could be much more and do much more to support communities across California. Securing support from fellow executives and the health plan’s board, he set out to expand the foundation’s scope and impact.

Why domestic violence?

Officially renamed Blue Shield of California Foundation, the newly independent, private grantmaker made health access a key priority, funding community health centers across the state. The Foundation also prioritized addressing domestic violence. This focus derived, in part, from the health plan’s existing programs to support employees impacted by domestic violence, both within Blue Shield’s workforce and as a benefit for health plan members. The company also contributed to community anti-violence efforts.

Bruce Bodaken and fellow health plan executive Ken Wood felt strongly that intimate partner violence was not just a legal matter but also a health issue. The Foundation’s leadership saw their two priorities—health access and domestic violence—as inextricably linked, affecting many of the same individuals, families, and communities.

“Blue Shield did a program with the San Francisco Giants, and there was a Strike Out Violence Day. I was sitting next to Bruce, a CEO who really cared deeply about domestic violence. He said, ‘I’m going to start a foundation, and I’d like you to be on the board, and I’m very committed to domestic violence.’ And I said, ‘I’m all in.’

The rest is history.”

—Esta Soler
Early Foundation Board member
Founder of Futures Without Violence

Scaling up

In 2004, Crystal Hayling was brought on as the first external hire to head the Foundation, following Jeff Rideout, BSC’s former senior vice president and chief medical officer, who had led the Foundation from 2002 to 2004 and helped prepare for its expanded role. As president and CEO, Crystal oversaw the Foundation’s establishment as a private grantmaking organization, and installed formal infrastructure, building up its staff, board, and systems, and establishing its status as an important player in the state and national philanthropic landscape. During her tenure, the Foundation received its first annual gift from Blue Shield of California, and launched the Clinic Leadership Institute (CLI), among several new programs. Designed to support the career development of emerging community health center leaders, CLI went on to become one of the Foundation’s signature programs, supporting 18 cohorts of leaders. The Foundation also launched the Strong Field Project (SFP), a leadership program in the field of domestic violence. By creating stronger organizations, new leadership capacity, and more effective collaboration, SFP bolstered the domestic violence movement in California.

“It’s crucial that we focus on the social determinants of health, and domestic violence is one of those causes and outcomes. It really is one of those critical issues, affecting so many women and families, and it is under-recognized.”

—Crystal Hayling
Former president and CEO
Blue Shield of California Foundation

“Once you start to work in domestic violence, the invisible becomes visible and you can’t unsee it, and you can’t not work on it.”

—Peter Long
Former president and CEO
Blue Shield of California Foundation

With Peter Long appointed president and CEO in 2010, the Foundation began to expand its funding beyond community health and domestic violence organizations to include policy work. By this time, BSC had become a major player in universal coverage and ultimately the national Affordable Care Act. With a strong firewall between them preserving the Foundation’s independence, the health plan and Foundation paved complementary paths, increasingly responding to the health environment and policy landscape to support solutions. The Foundation collaborated with a growing number of partners, including the U.S. military as it began to recognize the impact of domestic violence on service members and their families, and housing advocates who were beginning to see the links between housing, health, and domestic violence.

A shift in strategy

In 2018, the Foundation formalized a major strategy shift. After years of primarily funding programs, services, and policies to help people already impacted by domestic violence and health care access, the Foundation pivoted to focus more on preventing domestic violence and making California the healthiest state. The new strategy also solidified the Foundation’s values of partnership, integrity, possibility, equity, and dignity—the drivers of its work today.

Then, in 2020, under the leadership of current president and CEO Debbie Chang, the Foundation refined its strategy to better serve its dual ambition to prevent domestic violence and promote health equity. Three new strategic approaches were identified.

• Strengthen economic security and mobility
• Break the cycle of domestic violence
• Align systems with community priorities

Also, for the first time, the Foundation named inequities—racial, gender, and economic—as the root causes that must be addressed to achieve health equity and end domestic violence. The Foundation clearly identified the changes it wants to see in California, working with grantee partners toward large-scale impact, and is working with grantee partners toward that vision. Since this strategy refinement, the Foundation has supported policy and systems change as a way to help as many people as possible. It has increasingly engaged with the many systems—such as housing, public health, health care, social services, and child care—that can help prevent domestic violence, support survivors and their families, and bring California closer to health equity.

The Foundation’s grantee partners are improving access to safe housing through, for example, a state law requiring local homelessness plans to include the unique needs of domestic violence survivors. They are also working to promote economic equity by supporting tax credits and paid leave that benefit working families. The Foundation and its partners have grown programs that break the multigenerational cycle of domestic violence. They have piloted alternatives to the criminal justice system that empower survivors and promote healing. And they have partnered with public health systems to promote racial equity. The Foundation contributed to the first national action plan to prevent gender-based violence and has worked to ensure that Medicare and Medicaid recognize domestic violence as a driver of health.

Since 2004, the Foundation has awarded more than 6,000 grants, totaling nearly $600 million, to support California communities. The Foundation has evolved into a statewide leader in health philanthropy, domestic violence prevention policy, and progress toward a healthier California.

“My vision for the next 20 years is that we truly are a catalyst for large-scale impact through policy and systems change, and that we significantly reduce the prevalence of domestic violence while ensuring every Californian has the opportunity to reach their full potential and thrive.”

—Debbie I. Chang
Current president and CEO
Blue Shield of California Foundation