Public Health Funder Network

The APHA Public Health Funder Network (PHFN) 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 PHFN 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.

Call for Session Abstracts - Opening Soon!

Submit an abstract for APHA 2026. Submissions related to all areas of public health are welcome, and we encourage abstracts related to the 2026 meeting theme – Together We Thrive: Health Across the Lifespan.

  • Opening Date: Monday, Jan. 5, 2026
  • Submission Deadline: Tuesday, March 31, 2026

APHA 2026 Annual Meeting

Join us Nov. 1-4 in San Antonio, Texas to engage with others at the intersection of public health and philanthropy. The APHA 2026 Public Health Funder Network activities will include:

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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. 

Contact Us

Co-Chair, PHFN: Rachel Baird, Program Officer, VNA Foundation

Co-Chair, PHFN: Victoria (Tori) Umstattd Cope, Senior Strategist-Initiatives, Missouri Foundation for Health

APHA Staff Liaison, PHFN: Torrey Wasserman, Development Manager, 202-777-3947

PHFN In the News

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

OrganizationAnnual Meeting
Abena Asante2024
Acclivus2020
AIDS United2025
Alameda Health System Foundation2017
American Heart Association2017
American Nurses Credentialing Center2025
Annie E. Casey Foundation2017, 2018
Asian Resources Inc.2016
Association of State and Territorial Health Officials2013
Athabascan Nation, Chickaloon Native Village2018
Bay Area Metropolitan Transportation Commission2017
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois2013-2017, 2019
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts Foundation2022
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan Foundation2016-2019, 2023
Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina Foundation2022
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas2014-2015
Blue Cross of Idaho Foundation for Health2017
Blue Shield of California Foundation2018-2023
The Boston Foundation2018
BUILD Health Challenge2017
Build Healthy Places Network2021
Builder's Initiative2024
California Alliance for Youth and Community Justice2020
California Community Foundation2018
The California Endowment2015-2016, 2018, 2020
California Wellness Foundation2020 
Calvery Hospital, The Bronx2025
Candid2019-2022, 2025
Caring for Colorado Foundation2020
Casa de Salud2017
CDC Foundation2017, 2019, 2021-2022
Center for Community Change2018
Center for High Impact Philanthropy2020
Center for Prevention at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Minnesota2024
Chan Zuckerberg Initiative2021
The Chicago Community Trust2013-2015
ChangeLab Solutions2015
The Chicago Community Trust2013-2015
Children's Hospital of Philadelphia2019
Chris 1802017
City of Long Beach (California)2018
City of Richmond (California)2018
Cityhealth.org2015
Colorado Center on Law and Policy2016
Colorado Health Foundation2016
The Colorado Trust2016, 2018
Community Catalyst2016
Community Foundation for Southeast Michigan2023
Community Memorial Foundation2014-2024
Cook County (IL) Department of Public Health2024
Correctional Association of New York2021
Council on Foundations2021, 2025
Create a Healthier Niagara Falls Collaborative2019
Criminal Justice Coordinating Council2017
de Beaumont Foundation2014-2017, 2020-2022, 2024
Delta Dental of Michigan, Ohio and Indiana Delta Dental Foundation2018
Desert Vista Consulting2022
Dion's Chicago Dream2024
Dogwood Health Trust2023
DuPage County Health Department2017
Edward Zigler Center for Child Development and Social Policy2021
Ella Baker Center for Human Rights2020
Emory University2025
Endowment for Health2020, 2025
Environmental Health Watch2017
Episcopal Health Foundation2017
EverThrive Illinois2013
Exponent Philanthropy2014-2022
The Fan Fox and Leslie R. Samuels Foundation2022
Foodsmart2024
Forefront2017
Foundation for a Healthy Kentucky2014-2015, 2018-2019
Foundation for a Heatlhy St. Petersburg (FL)2025
Founation for Opioid Response Efforts2023, 2025
Foundations of East Chicago2016
The Fulton-Dekalb Hospital Authority2023
Fund for a Safer Future2013
The George Washington University School of Public Health & Services2016
Georgia Department of Public Health 2023
The Georgia Health Foundation 2017
Georgia State University2017
The Gilead Foundation2023
Grantmakers in Health2015-2025
Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce2017
Greater Twin Cities United Way2019
Group Health Research Institute2016
Growing Well2018
Health & Medicine Policy Research Group2013, 2017, 2024
Healthcare Association of New York State2022
Health Care Council of Chicago2020
Healthy Communities Foundation2024
Health Federation of Philadelphia2019
Healthfirst2024
Health Forward Foundation2024
Health Foundation in South Florida2015
Health Foundation for Western and Central New York2022
Health Management Associates2015
Health Resources in Action (Boston, MA)2018, 2025
Health Trust2020
Healthcare Georgia Foundation2017
Helmsley Charitable Trust 2019
Highmark Foundation2013
Incarnate Word Foundation2016
The Independence Blue Cross Foundation2019
Illinois Department of Public Health2025
Indianapolis Congregation Action Network2017
Interact for Health2014-2019
Jessie Parker Williams Foundation2023
The John A. Hartford Foundation2022
Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health2014-2015
The John Merck Foundation2015
Joyce Foundation2013, 2016-2017
Kaiser Permanente2015
Kansas Health Foundation2018
Kathleen E. Perkins, LLC 2020-2022
The Kresge Foundation2014, 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 Center2018
Lewis Health Solutions2017
Liberty Hill Foundation2022
Loyola Marymount University2022
Maine Health Access Foundation2014
Massachusetts Association of Mental Health2022
Melodee Toles2024
The Melville Charitable Trust2014 
Methodist Healthcare Ministries2021, 2024
Metropolitan Family Services2020
Metta Fund2015-2017
Michael Reese Health Trust2020, 2022
Michigan Health Endowment Fund2023, 2025
Mindful Philanthropy 2022-2023
Missouri Foundation for Health2016, 2018, 2025
Mother Cabrini Health Foundation2025
Mountain Area Health Education Center2023
NAMI Colorado2016
National Institutes of Health2023
Neighborhood Planning Unit V2017
New America Media2016
New Futures2018
New Hampshire Charitable Foundation2018
New York City Department of Healthy & Mental Hygiene2021
The New York Community Trust2017-2023
New York Health Foundation2025
The New York State Health Foundation2019, 2022
New York State Office of Children and Family Services2020
New York University Rory Meyers College of Nursing2025
Nonprofit Strategy & Capacity Building2016
North Chicago Think Tank2023
North Dakota State University2017
North Sound Accountable Community of Health2022
Northern Hills Ministry Center Collaborative2021
Northwestern University2020
NYC Health and Hospitals2021, 2024
NYU Child Center2021
NYU Steinhardt School of Culture, Education and Human Development2013
One Mind2021
Otto Bremer Trust2017
Partners in Health - United States2022
Peg's Foundation2020
PEK Consulting2015-2017
Pennsylvania State University2013
Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs2019
Pennsylvania Humanities Council2019
Peoria City/County Health Department2017
Pew Charitable Trusts2015
Pfizer2013
Philadelphia Department of Public Health2019
Polk Bros Foundation2014, 2017
Providence Center for Outcomes Research and Education2020
The Public Health Good Projects2021
Public Health Institute2015-2016
Public Health Institute, Public Health Innovaction Lab 2022
Public Health Institute of Metropolitan Chicago2017
Ravenswood Health Foundation2015
Robert Wood Johnson Foundation2014, 2016-2018, 2020
Robin Hood Foundation2021, 2024
San Francisco State University2018
Santa Clara Department of Public Health2022
Scattergood Foundation2019
Shift Health Accelerator 2021
Schuyler Center for Analysis and Advocacy2024
Sierra Health Foundation2020
Sinai Urban Health Institute2022, 2024
Social Impact Exchange2022
SOULD Chicago2018
Southern AIDS Coalition2025
Southern Poverty Law Center2023
Spark Policy Institute2016
St. David's Foundation2016
St. Mary's Healthcare (Amsterdam, NY) 2025
State of Alaska Court System2018
State of Alaska Division of Public Health2018
Sustainable Food Center2016
Switch/Health Blog2017-2019, 2022
TCC Group2016
Teen Hype2023
Trinity Church Wall Street2020
Trinity Health2016
United Way of Buffalo and Erie County2019
United Way of Greater Atlanta2020-2023
United Way of Greater Georgia2022
United Way of Greater Philadelphia and Southern New Jersey2019
United Way of Metro Chicago2017
University of California at Berkeley School of Public Health2018
University of Houston2025
University of Illinois Mile Square Health Center2025
University of Pennsylvania - Center for High Impact Philanthropy2018-2022
University of Pennsylvania - School of Nursing2022
University of Southern California2016
University of Wisconsin-Madison2018
Urban Affairs Coalition2019
Urban Health Plan, Inc.2019
Urban Institute2020
Van Ameringen Foundation2020
Vital Strategies2023
Vitalyst Health Foundation             2015-2018
VNA Foundation2013-2025
Wake University School of Divinity2025
Well Being Trust2020
Well Child Center (Elgin, IL)2025
Yale University School of Medicine2019
Youth Research Inc.2021
Zero to Three2024

APHA 2025 PHFN Program (Washington, DC) 

  • Workshop: Grantmaking Foundations and Public Health: Who Are They, What Do They Do and How Do Nonprofits Access Funding? 
  • Stronger Smiles for a Better Tomorrow: Working Alongside Communities to Embolden the Oral Health Workforce
  • Prioritizing Lived Experience as a Core Tenet of Health Equity 
  • Collaborating for Change: Advancing Evidence-Based Perinatal Substance Use Disorder Care Across Communities and Systems
  • Public Health Funder Network Social Hour (Sponsored by the Mother Cabrini Health Foundation) 
  • Public Health Funder Network Business Meeting 
  • Hospitals and Beyond:  A Case for Health Funder Investment through the Community Safety Ecosystem 
  • Beyond Band-Aids: Innovative Community Partnerships in Food is Medicine and Over-the Counter Benefits 
  • Addressing the Nursing Shortage in Safety Net Hospitals in New York State by Building Healthy Work Environments for Nurses 
  • Powering Change: How a Multi-Sector, Intermediary Funder Model Can Respond to Critical Public Health Priorities  

APHA 2024 PHFN Program (Minneapolis, MN)

  • 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

APHA 2023 PHFN Program (Atlanta GA) 

  • 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 
  • 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

APHA 2022 PHFN Program (Boston, MA) 

  • 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

APHA 2021 PHFN Program (Denver, CO and online) 

  • Communities of Solutions: Strengthening Civic Muscle in South Texas 
  • Reimagining Philanthropy: Highlights of CDC Foundation Partnership and Strategies to Address Shifting Public Health Needs during the COVID-19 Pandemic 
  • COVID-19 in Prisons: A Crisis Obscured, but Which Cannot be Ignored 
  • Public Health Funder Network Social Hour (Sponsored by Caring for Colorado Foundation)
  • Philanthropy as a Bridge Toward Sustainability: Building Strategic Partnerships with City Systems 
  • 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 
  • Public Health Funder Network Business Meeting 
  • Healthy Neighborhood Investments: How Public Health Can Champion Social Connectedness and Advance Health and Racial Equity Among Multi-Sector Partnerships and Community Development 

APHA 2020 PHFN Program (online) 

  • Partnerships for Change: New Foundation Strategies for Violence Prevention 
  • Grantmaking Foundations 101 
  • Funding Research that Matters: Moving Beyond Inquiry to Action 
  • Impact Investing in Credible Community Messengers: Reducing the Generational Impact of Community Violence 
  • Activating Partnerships for Impact: How Philanthropy & Cross-Sector Collaboration Can Advance Mental Health and Addiction Outcomes 
  • Public Health Funder Network Business Meeting 
  • Building Power to Advance Health Equity: Youth Justice Reform in the California Endowment's 10-Year Building Healthy Communities Initiative 

APHA 2019 PHFN Program (Philadelphia, PA)

  • The RISE Partnership: Multi-Sector Collaboration to Build Capacity for Readiness, Implementation and Sustainability for Effectiveness 
  • Grantmaking Foundations 101 
  • Beyond Grantmaking: Catalyzing Philanthropy and Partnerships to Improve Community Health 
  • Public Health Funder Network Social Hour (Sponsored by Independence Blue Cross Foundation)
  • Placed-Based Investment for Health: What Have Foundations Learned 
  • From Hunger Relief to Food Sovereignty: Reimagining Funding Strategies for Community Health 
  • Public Health Funder Network Business Meeting 
  • Trauma-Informed Philanthropy: Moving from Knowledge to Action 

APHA 2018 PHFN Program (San Diego, CA)

  • 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
  • Public Health Funder Network business meeting 
  • Centering Racial and Health Equity within Government: Lessons from Richmond, E. Salinas, Long Beach and Building Healthy Communities 
  • What Funders Can Do As The Opioid Epidemic Reconfigures Health Policy And Funding 
  • Exploring Challenges, Barriers and Results of Funders Collaborating to Expand Equity with Comprehensive School-based Health Services 
  • Funding and Building Cross-Sector Collaboratives to Improve Children's Health 
  • In Their Own Words: Community Organizers' Messages to Funders about What Works, Challenges Faced, and Relevance for Growing Health Equity Now 

APHA 2017 PHFN Program (Atlanta, GA)

  • Public Health Funder Network reception (Sponsored by the Healthcare Georgia Foundation)
  • Developing cross-sector leaders to advance health equity 
  • Funding public health in a time of political discord 
  • Using policy as a lever for improving community health practice 
  • The power of aligning partners through funding and impact measurement
  • Healing trauma: A funder's approach to addressing violence 
  • Public Health Funder Network business meeting 
  • Improving rural children's health: funders as partners and catalysts 

APHA 2016 PHFN Program (Denver, CO)

  • Public Health Funder Network reception (Sponsored by the Colorado Health Foundation)
  • Five years of building health communities in California: mid-initiative accomplishments, lessons and adaptations 
  • Tools for designing and implementing adaptive funding strategies 
  • It’s not just about checking boxes: evaluation and learning in philanthropic and pubic health practice 
  • Hospital community benefit: leveraging the opportunity for change 
  • Partnering with community: addressing equity and health disparities through philanthropy 
  • Public Health Funder Network business meeting 
  • Capacity building 3.0: building sustainable learning communities for effective public health delivery

APHA 2015 PHFN Program (Chicago, IL) 

  • Public Health Funder Network reception 
  • Philanthropic strategies to advance health in all policies
  • Philanthropy’s role in measuring progress toward health improvement goals 
  • The dual role of foundations and grantees in catalyzing change through advocacy 
  • Taking collective action: engaging people, place and systems to improve health 
  • Public Health Funder Network business meeting 

APHA 2014 PHFN Program (New Orleans, LA) 

  • Philanthropy’s role in advocacy and policy change
  • The ACA and philanthropy: strategies to support implementation 
  • The next transformation in American healthcare: aligning health and healthcare

APHA 2013 PHFN Program (Boston, MA) 

  • Achieving collective public health impact: building bridges between funders and community coalitions 

2012

  • PHFN founded by APHA members based in Chicago, IL