Our Approach

Through our grantmaking, the Foundation strengthens vital work to improve the social and environmental factors that shape our health, builds the capacity of our nonprofit community, and responds to critical community needs while fostering systemic change.

We work to make our funding opportunities as accessible and transparent as possible. We often allow nonprofits to submit portions of their applications by video or in person as an alternative to a standard written application. By accepting multiple modalities, we can broaden the pool of local organizations who seek funding support. We also strive to hold supportive events before grant opportunities are released, allowing community members a chance to ask questions, and offer high-quality local research to support the work of our local nonprofit ecosystem. These innovative practices are helping to set industry standards for inclusive, community-centered philanthropy.

“It’s important to me and to the Foundation that we remove as many barriers as possible in the application process,” Senior Director of Grants Management and Administration Julie Rocco said. “We ask only for the information we truly need to make informed decisions, listen to feedback from our partners and applicants, and strive to make the application process as clear, simple, and accessible as we can.”

To learn more about the work we fund, visit our funded partners page.

Funded Partners