
Public Health Funder Network
The APHA Public Health Funder Network brings together grantmakers, donors and APHA members who understand the pivotal role of philanthropy in enhancing population health outcomes and community well-being. The PHFN mission is to foster a cross-sector approach to tackle complex public health issues through collaboration and sharing best practices.
In an effort to build an increasingly informed and transparent public health funding community, a network of funders and donors has been convening during the APHA Annual Meeting since 2013. Unlike most grantmaker associations, APHA has a membership that includes practitioners, scientists, educators, students and funders, and its meetings facilitate cross-sector dialogue. The Public Health Funder Network believes these conversations enhance the public health sector’s ability, both strategically and collaboratively, to impact health outcomes by investing private resources judiciously in communities served.
APHA 2025 Annual Meeting
Join us Nov. 2-5 in Washington, DC to engage with others at the intersection of public health and philanthropy.
The APHA 2025 Public Health Funder Network activities will include:
- Up to seven peer-reviewed sessions for APHA Annual Meeting participants to learn about grantmaking in public health, discuss best practices and share work with other funders and the broader public health community.
- A business meeting for Public Health Funder Network Planning Committee members to evaluate activities and plan for next year. New members working in philanthropy are welcome to join.
- A social hour to highlight philanthropic partnerships with public health agencies and community-based organizations, engage in intentional dialogue and generate new insights on designing with community and innovating towards a more just public health system.
Call for Session Abstracts - Now Open!
Submit an abstract for APHA 2025. Submissions related to all areas of public health are welcome, but we encourage abstracts related to the 2025 meeting theme – Making the Public’s Health a National Priority.
- Opening Date: Jan. 6, 2025
- Submission Deadline: March 28, 2025
Contact Us
Co-Chair, PHFN: Irfan Hasan, Deputy Vice President for Grants, New York Community Trust
Co-Chair, PHFN: Richard Thomason, Policy Director, Blue Shield of California Foundation
Co-Chair, PHFN Communications/Membership Subcommittee: Rachel Baird, Program Officer, VNA Foundation
Co-Chair, PHFN Communications/Membership Subcommittee: Tori Umstadd Cope, Strategist, Missouri Foundation for Health
APHA Staff Liaison, PHFN: Torrey Wasserman, Development Manager, 202-777-2486
Creating the Funder Network I Needed (Philanthrofiles.org, Sept. 15, 2016)
We Need More Bridge-Builders in Our Fractured Era (PhilanthroFiles.org, Nov. 25, 2014)
Philanthropy helping public health achieve its objectives; Donors becoming health partners (The Nation's Health, February 2014)

Learn More

Organization | Annual Meeting |
Abena Asante | 2024 |
Acclivus | 2020 |
Alameda Health System Foundation | 2017 |
American Heart Association | 2017 |
Annie E. Casey Foundation | 2017, 2018 |
Asian Resources Inc. | 2016 |
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials | 2013 |
Athabascan Nation, Chickaloon Native Village | 2018 |
Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission | 2017 |
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois | 2013-2017, 2019 |
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation | 2022 |
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation | 2016-2019, 2023 |
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation |
2022 |
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas | 2014-2015 |
Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health | 2017 |
Blue Shield of California Foundation | 2018-2023 |
BUILD Health Challenge | 2017 |
Build Healthy Places Network | 2021 |
Builder's Initiative | 2024 |
California Alliance for Youth and Community Justice | 2020 |
California Community Foundation |
2018 |
The California Endowment | 2015-2016, 2018, 2020 |
California Wellness Foundation | 2020 |
Candid | 2019-2022 |
Caring for Colorado Foundation | 2020 |
Casa de Salud | 2017 |
CDC Foundation | 2017, 2019, 2021-2022 |
Center for Community Change | 2018 |
Center for High Impact Philanthropy | 2020 |
Center for Prevention at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota | 2024 |
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative | 2021 |
The Chicago Community Trust | 2013-2015 |
ChangeLab Solutions | 2015 |
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia | 2019 |
Chris 180 | 2017 |
City of Long Beach (California) | 2018 |
City of Richmond (California) | 2018 |
Cityhealth.org | 2015 |
Colorado Center on Law and Policy | 2016 |
Colorado Health Foundation | 2016 |
The Colorado Trust | 2016, 2018 |
Community Catalyst | 2016 |
Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan | 2023 |
Community Memorial Foundation | 2014-2024 |
Cook County (IL) Department of Public Health | 2024 |
Correctional Association of New York | 2021 |
Council on Foundations | 2021 |
Create a Healthier Niagara Falls Collaborative | 2019 |
Criminal Justice Coordinating Council | 2017 |
de Beaumont Foundation | 2014-2017, 2020-2022, 2024 |
Delta Dental of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana/The Delta Dental Foundation | 2018 |
Desert Vista Consulting |
2022 |
Dion's Chicago Dream | 2024 |
Dogwood Health Trust | 2023 |
DuPage County Health Department | 2017 |
Edward Zigler Center for Child Development and Social Policy | 2021 |
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights | 2020 |
Endowment for Health | 2020 |
Environmental Health Watch | 2017 |
Episcopal Health Foundation | 2017 |
EverThrive Illinois | 2013 |
Exponent Philanthropy | 2014-2022 |
The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation |
2022 |
Foodsmart | 2024 |
Forefront | 2017 |
Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky | 2014-2015, 2018-2019 |
Foundation for Opioid Response Efforts | 2023 |
Foundations of East Chicago | 2016 |
The Fulton-Dekalb Hospital Authority | 2023 |
Fund for a Safer Future | 2013 |
The George Washington University School of Public Health & Services | 2016 |
Georgia Department of Public Health | 2023 |
The Georgia Health Foundation | 2017 |
Georgia State University | 2017 |
The Gilead Foundation | 2023 |
Grantmakers in Health | 2015-2024 |
Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce | 2017 |
Greater Twin Cities United Way | 2019 |
Group Health Research Institute | 2016 |
Growing Well | 2018 |
Health & Medicine Policy Research Group | 2013, 2017, 2024 |
Healthcare Association of New York State |
2022 |
Health Care Council of Chicago | 2020 |
Healthy Communities Foundation | 2024 |
Health Federation of Philadelphia | 2019 |
Health Forward Foundation | 2024 |
Health Foundation in South Florida | 2015 |
Health Foundation for Western and Central New York |
2022 |
Health Management Associates | 2015 |
Health Resources in Action | 2018 |
Health Trust | 2020 |
Healthcare Georgia Foundation | 2017 |
Healthfirst | 2024 |
Helmsley Charitable Trust | 2019 |
Highmark Foundation | 2013 |
Incarnate Word Foundation | 2016 |
The Independence Blue Cross Foundation | 2019 |
Indianapolis Congregation Action Network | 2017 |
Interact for Health | 2014-2019 |
Jessie Parker Williams Foundation | 2023 |
The John A. Hartford Foundation |
2022 |
John Merck Foundation | 2015 |
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health | 2014-2015 |
Joyce Foundation | 2013, 2016-2017 |
Kaiser Permanente | 2015 |
Kansas Health Foundation | 2018 |
Kathleen E. Perkins, LLC |
2020-2022 |
The Kresge Foundation | 204, 2016, 2019, 2023 |
The Lake County Community Foundation (Grayslake, IL) |
2023 |
The Lake County Health Department and Community Health Center (Waukegan, IL) |
2023 |
Legal Action Center | 2018 |
Lewis Health Solutions | 2017 |
Liberty Hill Foundation |
2022 |
Loyola Marymount University | 2022 |
Maine Health Access Foundation | 2014 |
Massachusetts Association of Mental Health |
2022 |
Melodee Toles | 2024 |
Mat-Su Health Foundation | 2018 |
The Melville Charitable Trust | 2014 |
Methodist Healthcare Ministries | 2021, 2024 |
Metropolitan Family Services | 2020 |
Metta Fund | 2015-2017 |
Michael Reese Health Trust |
2020, 2022 |
Michigan Health Endowment Fund | 2023 |
Mindful Philanthropy | 2022-2023 |
Missouri Foundation for Health | 2016, 2018 |
Mountain Area Health Education Center | 2023 |
NAMI Colorado | 2016 |
National Institutes of Health | 2023 |
Neighborhood Planning Unit V | 2017 |
New America Media | 2016 |
New Futures | 2018 |
New Hampshire Charitable Foundation | 2018 |
New York City Department of Healthy & Mental Hygiene | 2021 |
The New York Community Trust | 2017-2023 |
The New York State Health Foundation | 2019, 2022 |
New York State Office of Children and Family Services | 2020 |
Nonprofit Strategy & Capacity Building | 2016 |
North Chicago Think Tank | 2023 |
North Dakota State University | 2017 |
North Sound Accountable Community of Health |
2022 |
Northern Hills Ministry Center Collaborative | 2021 |
Northwestern University | 2020 |
NYC Health and Hospitals | 2021, 2024 |
NYU Child Center | 2021 |
NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development | 2013 |
One Mind | 2021 |
Otto Bremer Trust | 2017 |
Partners in Health - United States |
2022 |
Peg's Foundation | 2020 |
PEK Consulting | 2015-2017 |
Pennsylvania State University | 2013 |
Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs | 2019 |
Pennsylvania Humanities Council | 2019 |
Peoria City/County Health Department | 2017 |
Pew Charitable Trusts | 2015 |
Pfizer | 2013 |
Philadelphia Department of Public Health | 2019 |
Polk Bros Foundation | 2014, 2017 |
Providence Center for Outcomes Research and Education | 2020 |
The Public Health Good Projects | 2021 |
Public Health Institute | 2015-2016 |
Public Health Institute, Public Health Innovation Lab |
2022 |
Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago | 2017 |
Ravenswood Health Foundation | 2015 |
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation | 2014, 2016-2018, 2020 |
Robin Hood Foundation | 2021, 2024 |
San Francisco State University | 2018 |
Santa Clara Department of Public Health |
2022 |
Scattergood Foundation | 2019 |
Shift Health Accelerator | 2021 |
Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy |
2024 |
Sierra Health Foundation | 2020 |
Sinai Urban Health Institute |
2022, 2024 |
Social Impact Exchange | 2022 |
SOULD Chicago | 2018 |
Southern Poverty Law Center | 2023 |
Spark Policy Institute | 2016 |
St. David's Foundation | 2016 |
State of Alaska Court System | 2018 |
State of Alaska Division of Public Health | 2018 |
Sustainable Food Center | 2016 |
Switch/Health Blog | 2017-2019, 2022 |
TCC Group | 2016 |
Teen Hype | 2023 |
Trinity Church Wall Street | 2020 |
The Boston Foundation | 2018 |
The California Endowment | 2015-2016, 2018 |
The Chicago Community Trust | 2013-2015 |
The Colorado Health Foundation | 2016 |
The Colorado Trust | 2016, 2018 |
The George Washington University, School of Public Health and Services | 2016 |
The Georgia Health Foundation | 2017 |
The Independence Blue Cross Foundation | 2019 |
The John Merck Found | 2015 |
The Kresge Foundation | 2014, 2016, 2019 |
The Melville Charitable Trust | 2014 |
The New York Community Trust | 2017-2019 |
The New York State Health Foundation | 2019 |
Trinity Health | 2016 |
United Way of Buffalo and Erie County | 2019 |
United Way of Greater Atlanta | 2020-2023 |
United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey | 2019 |
United Way of Metro Chicago | 2017 |
University of California at Berkeley School of Public Health | 2018 |
University of Pennsylvania — Center for High Impact Philanthropy | 2018-2022 |
University of Pennsylvania - School of Nursing |
2022 |
University of Southern California | 2016 |
University of Wisconsin-Madison | 2018 |
Urban Affairs Coalition | 2019 |
Urban Health Plan, Inc. | 2019 |
Urban Institute | 2020 |
Van Ameringen Foundation | 2020 |
Vital Strategies | 2023 |
Vitalyst Health Foundation | 2015-2018 |
VNA Foundation | 2013-2023 |
Well Being Trust | 2020 |
Yale University School of Medicine | 2019 |
Youth Research Inc. | 2021 |
Zero to Three | 2024 |
2014
PHFN events at the Annual Meeting in New Orleans
- Philanthropy’s role in advocacy and policy change (session #3118.0)
- The ACA and philanthropy: strategies to support implementation (session #3221.0)
- The next transformation in American healthcare: aligning health and healthcare (session #3327.0)
2015
PHFN events at the Annual Meeting in Chicago
- Public Health Funder Network reception (session #311.1)
- Philanthropic strategies to advance health in all policies (session #3007.0)
- Philanthropy’s role in measuring progress toward health improvement goals (session #3120.0)
- The dual role of foundations and grantees in catalyzing change through advocacy (session #3229.0)
- Taking collective action: engaging people, place and systems to improve health (session #3330.0)
- Public Health Funder Network business meeting (session #406.0)
2016
PHFN events at the Annual Meeting in Denver
- Public Health Funder Network reception(session #299.0) Sponsored by the Colorado Health Foundation
- Five years of building health communities in California: mid-initiative accomplishments, lessons and adaptations (session #3014.0)
- Tools for designing and implementing adaptive funding strategies (session #3121.0)
- It’s not just about checking boxes: evaluation and learning in philanthropic and pubic health practice (session #3326.0)
- Hospital community benefit: leveraging the opportunity for change (session #4010.0)
- Partnering with community: addressing equity and health disparities through philanthropy (session #4102.0)
- Public Health Funder Network business meeting (session #417.0)
- Capacity building 3.0: building sustainable learning communities for effective public health delivery (session #4288.0)
2017
PHFN events at the Annual Meeting in Atlanta
- Public Health Funder Network reception (session #298.0) Sponsored by the Healthcare Georgia Foundation
- Developing cross-sector leaders to advance health equity (session #3018.0)
- Funding public health in a time of political discord (session #3138.0)
- Using policy as a lever for improving community health practice (session #3356.0)
- The power of aligning partners through funding and impact measurement (session #4010.0)
- Healing trauma: A funder's approach to addressing violence (session #4103.1)
- Public Health Funder Network business meeting (session #416.0)
- Improving rural children's health: funders as partners and catalysts (session #4290.0)
2018
PHFN events at the Annual Meeting in San Diego
- Public Health Funder Network reception (session #294) Sponsored by the Blue Shield of California Foundation
- Funding Grassroots, Community Solutions to Address Social Determinants of Health (session #3017)
- Public Health Funder Network business meeting (session #419)
- Centering Racial and Health Equity within Government: Lessons from Richmond, E. Salinas, Long Beach and Building Healthy Communities (session #3341)
- What Funders Can Do As The Opioid Epidemic Reconfigures Health Policy And Funding (session #4012)
- Exploring Challenges, Barriers and Results of Funders Collaborating to Expand Equity with Comprehensive School-based Health Services (session #4137)
- Funding and Building Cross-Sector Collaboratives to Improve Children's Health (session #4331)
- In Their Own Words: Community Organizers' Messages to Funders about What Works, Challenges Faced, and Relevance for Growing Health Equity Now (session #4398)
2019
PHFN events at the Annual Meeting in Philadelphia
- The RISE Partnership: Multi-Sector Collaboration to Build Capacity for Readiness, Implementation and Sustainability for Effectiveness (session #3014)
- Grantmaking Foundations 101 (session #3122)
- Beyond Grantmaking: Catalyzing Philanthropy and Partnerships to Improve Community Health (session #3234)
- Public Health Funder Network Social Hour (session #337) Sponsored by Independence Blue Cross Foundation
- Placed-Based Investment for Health: What Have Foundations Learned (session #4010)
- From Hunger Relief to Food Sovereignty: Reimagining Funding Strategies for Community Health (session #4127)
- Public Health Funder Network Business Meeting (session #421)
- Trauma-Informed Philanthropy: Moving from Knowledge to Action (session #4317)
2020
PHFN events at the Annual Meeting (online)
- Partnerships for Change: New Foundation Strategies for Violence Prevention (session #3011)
- Grantmaking Foundations 101 (session #3097)
- Funding Research that Matters: Moving Beyond Inquiry to Action (session #3181)
- Impact Investing in Credible Community Messengers: Reducing the Generational Impact of Community Violence (session #4011)
- Activating Partnerships for Impact: How Philanthropy & Cross-Sector Collaboration Can Advance Mental Health and Addiction Outcomes (session #4104)
- Public Health Funder Network Business Meeting (session #413)
- Building Power to Advance Health Equity: Youth Justice Reform in the California Endowment's 10-Year Building Healthy Communities Initiative (session #4217)
2021
PHFN events at the Annual Meeting online and in Denver
- Communities of Solutions: Strengthening Civic Muscle in South Texas (session #2018)
- Reimagining Philanthropy: Highlights of CDC Foundation Partnership and Strategies to Address Shifting Public Health Needs during the COVID-19 Pandemic (session #3016)
- COVID-19 in Prisons: A Crisis Obscured, but Which Cannot be Ignored (session #3100)
- Public Health Funder Network Social Hour (session #324) Sponsored by Caring for Colorado Foundation
- Philanthropy as a Bridge Toward Sustainability: Building Strategic Partnerships with City Systems (session #4006)
- Community-Based and Data-Informed Outreach and Messaging Strategies to Address Vaccine Hesitancy, Misinformation, and Access Issues in New York: Promoting Equitable COVID-19 Vaccine Distribution and Uptake (session #4062)
- Public Health Funder Network Business Meeting (session #408)
- Healthy Neighborhood Investments: How Public Health Can Champion Social Connectedness and Advance Health and Racial Equity Among Multi-Sector Partnerships and Community Development (session #4199)
2022
PHFN events at the Annual Meeting in Boston
- Foundations as the Bridge: Translating Community Identified Behavioral Health Access Challenges to a Publicly Funded Solution
- Blue Cross Blue Shield Foundations – 3 perspectives on promoting Equity in Philanthropy
- Public Health Funder Network Social Hour (Sponsored by the BlueCross BlueShield of Massachusetts Foundation)
- Public Health Funder Network Business Meeting
- Engaging a Multi-sector Collaboration Toward Achieving Age-Friendly Health Systems in New York State
- Accountable Communities of/for Health: Growing evidence for multi-sector collaboratives as vehicles for advancing equity and improving community health
- Decarcerate and Rehabilitate: Exploring philanthropy's role in solving incarceration through true partnership
- The Health First Collaborative – A model to align philanthropy with the movement for health justice in Chicagoland
2023
PHFN events at the Annual Meeting in Atlanta
- Promoting Health Justice in School Environments: Advancing Access to Mental Health Resources and Transforming School Disciplinary Policies as a Public Health Imperative
- Black-Led Community-Based Organizations Advancing Public Health Equity
- Public Health Funder Network Social Hour(Sponsored by The Fulton-Dekalb Hospital Authority)
- Public Health Funder Network Business Meeting - All Welcome
- Transforming NIH Research through Community Engaged Research, Health Equity Structural Interventions, and Advancing Health Communication
- Demystifying Philanthropy through Public-Private Partnerships: the Collective Impact of the Live Well Lake County Program
- Stronger Together: Models of Foundation Partnerships that Respond to the Opioid Crisis
- Demystifying Public-Private Partnerships in Philanthropy in the South: Lessons from Georgia
2024
PHFN events at the Annual Meeting in Minneapolis
- Public-Private Partnerships for CHW Workforce Sustainability: Best Practices for Developing Successful Collaborations
- Community-Driven Change to Build/Rebuild Trust: Learnings from Texas Funders
- Rebuilding Trust through Collaboration: Investing in Public-Private Partnerships to Address the Health Impacts of Climate Change
- Public Health Funder Network Social Hour (Sponsored by the Center for Prevention, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota)
- Public Health Funder Network Business Meeting
- Leveraging Philanthropy and Public-Private Partnerships to Drive Medicaid Reform: Advancing Equity in Care for Children 0-6 Years Old
- Mapping the Terrain: Philanthropy’s Evolving Approaches to Health Equity
- Rebuilding Trust: Funding Food-Is-Medicine Approaches in Communities of Color
2012
PHFN founded by APHA members based in Chicago
2013
PHFN session at the Annual Meeting in Boston: Achieving collective public health impact: building bridges between funders and community coalitions (session #3213.1)