Leveraging the resources of foundations to advance health equity

Foundations that support health and health care related issues are bell weathers for our nation's most pressing challenges in this area. The new National Academy of Medicine report, The Future of Nursing 2020 to 2030: Charting a Path to Achieve Health Equity has been perfectly timed to provide foundations with the additional research and evidence they need to support health equity efforts through the utilization of the nursing workforce. Many foundations are thinking beyond traditional grant-making to align more of their assets with mission in creative ways. Funders are investing in strategies along a downstream-upstream continuum to promote health equity. This paper is aimed to encourage nurses to approach philanthropy as important partners in their efforts to advance health equity.