When they began grantmaking in 1992, they were California’s largest health conversion foundation. Why? In part, because activists fought for a fairly valued endowment when Health Net converted from a nonprofit to a for-profit insurance plan. Over the years, they have taken on some of the most contentious issues of their time, all focused on advancing health and wellness for underserved people. Their earliest efforts connected public health and gun violence prevention, and supported teen pregnancy prevention, healthy working conditions, and place-based grantmaking that took a broader view of health.

With $1 billion in assets, they are one of California’s largest public health philanthropic institutions. They award approximately $43 million annually in grants and program-related investments that promote health equity, justice, and advocacy for communities and individuals whose lives and wellness are too often determined by their race, income, immigration status, or where they live. Throughout their 30-year history, they have played a leadership role in promoting violence prevention as a public health issue and are one of the nation’s leading philanthropic voices in funding gun violence prevention efforts. They launched initiatives to advance the health of Black women, particularly those with HIV-AIDS and formerly incarcerated women experiencing challenges to reentry.

In addition, they continue to expand their mission-related investment strategy and invest their endowment with diverse asset managers, particularly people of color and women, who now account for over 45% of their managers.