Align systems with community priorities

In order to create lasting and equitable change, the people and communities who are most impacted by health inequities and domestic violence must have a central role in crafting their own solutions. Communities have direct knowledge of the historical factors, local resources, and issues created by or through the systems that do not meet their needs. Conversely, public systems need support to respond to and meet the changing needs of the communities that they exist to serve.

We advocate for and support solutions such as community-led processes, strategic policy shift, narrative change, and collaborative efforts that bring multiple sectors together to prioritize health and well-being. By supporting stronger and more responsive relationships between communities and systems, we support greater resilience in both.

Empowering communities to achieve health equity

Our work to align systems with community priorities involves working with grantee partners across the state both at the community level and systems level to better serve communities in achieving health equity.

“The chorus of voices calling out racial and economic inequality is growing louder and public systems are responding. Positive change has begun. And, if we support communities as they assert their priorities and needs, more will come."

—Richard Vezina, Senior Program Officer

Creating impact through systems change

View of a whiteboard, highlighting text that reads "Community Involved, NOT community informed"

Meaningful change is possible when community priorities are supported and enabled by systems. To achieve that, we support:

  • Community-led efforts to create more responsive, inclusive, and equitable health systems and domestic violence systems
  • Policy and practice change in systems to institutionalize racial and gender equity, and fulfill the priorities of communities
  • Multisector collaborations as a powerful vehicle for systems change
  • The development of data to better understand the root causes of health inequities and domestic violence across our state
  • Policy wins and resource allocations for community-led initiatives
  • Narrative projects that expand community power

    Grantees

    Grantee Year Grant Amount Region
    Vose River Charitable Fund 2022 $1,000,000 Statewide
    Advancement Project California 2022 $800,000 Statewide
    Sierra Health Foundation Center for Health Program Management 2022 $750,000 Central
    Liberty Hill Foundation 2022 $500,000 Los Angeles
    Sierra Health Foundation Center for Health Program Management 2022 $400,000 Statewide
    Asian Resources Inc 2022 $300,000 Statewide
    CivicPulse 2022 $300,000 Statewide
    Tides Center 2022 $200,000 Statewide
    Human Impact Partners 2022 $500,000 Statewide
    Prevention Institute 2022 $300,000 Statewide
    Public Health Institute 2022 $200,000 Statewide
    Regents of the University of California at San Diego 2022 $150,000 South
    Communities Lifting Communities 2022 $110,000 South
    TSNE MissionWorks 2022 $100,000 Statewide
    Southern California Grantmakers 2022 $75,000 Los Angeles
    Regents of the University of California at Berkeley 2022 $650,000 South
    PICO California 2022 $600,000 Statewide
    Urban Habitat 2022 $425,000 San Francisco Bay Area
    ChangeLab Solutions 2022 $350,000 Statewide
    California Pan-Ethnic Health Network 2022 $300,000 Statewide

    Related publications and insights

    The faces behind the work

    Senior Program Officer

    TC Duong

    Program Officer

    Director of Policy

    Portrait of Margaret Tobias Grier

    Program Manager

    RocQuel Johnson

    Communications Officer

    Senior Program Coordinator

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