Converging on Equitable Environmental and Policy Change Strategies to Promote Healthy People and Healthy Places: Building a Movement within Philanthropy

Foundations play a critical role in setting the health promotion agenda, particularly in times of economic constraints. Assuring that community priorities remain central to the agenda of local, state and national decision makers requires a deliberate focus on equity through policy and environmental change. A movement is currently gaining ground in the philanthropic community to increase equity-focused, collaborative efforts in advocacy and policy change for healthy people and healthy places. Equitable approaches and policies bring triple-bottom line benefits to people, places and the economy. The Convergence Partnership is a collaborative of funders whose goal of catalyzing investments and policy development will help reinvent communities so that everyone can lead healthy, productive lives. Achieving this vision requires the broad expertise and influence of funders, advocates, practitioners and community leaders working across multiple fields. The Partnership was created to stimulate action around the country to foster equitable, healthy environments. In this panel discussion, representatives of the national Convergence Partnership, together with local and regional foundation affiliates, will draw from evaluation findings to describe how foundations are making a significant impact on policy agendas at the federal, state and local levels. Panelists will describe trends in foundation support of advocacy and policy change by sharing findings from national and regional surveys, key informant interviews, local evaluation results, and direct experience in the field. Initial results from a national survey of funders will describe trends in funding multi-field efforts to promote health equity and social justice.