Building Healthy Communities
Building Healthy Communities (BHC) successfully built community power across the state with the goal of working towards a California where all people have the opportunity to thrive.
As a signature program of The California Endowment, BHC combined 10 years of continuous funding in 14 historically disinvested communities with state-level and regional policy campaigns and coalition building.
During this time, we learned it begins and ends with people power. This is the most important lesson we’ve learned in and over a decade of BHC evaluation, and is the guiding north star from which we continue to do our work.
This wasn’t our initial hypothesis. Yet 10 years of listening and responding to our partners, questioning and testing our assumptions, and being flexible as we learned is what ultimately brought us here.
BHC shifted the narrative toward a deeper understanding of systemic inequities and the potential of people power to transform them. As we worked in local communities, we gathered data to evaluate in real time and sought feedback on our role as a funder and change-maker in order to become a more effective leader.
The lessons learned help us be more provocative in our questions, and more confident in our assumptions about how change happens.
All in all, BHC was a novel approach to health improvement that encompassed the social determinants of health and led to our focus on power building to promote systems change and advance racial equity.
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14
Communities Transformed -
1,526
Policy, System & Physical Wins -
$1B
Invested Over 10 Years
“Racial injustice, structural inequality are made by the human hand. Which means that they can be dismantled by the human hand. Dismantled by human leadership, human action, human voice, human advocacy, human activism.”
DR. ROBERT K. ROSS President & CEO, The California Endowment
Browse Other Changes Planted by Dr. Ross
Health4All 38.6 million lives impacted
Youth Awards 37 total awards given
Schools Not Prisons & BMOC Millions reached since 2016
Farmworker Health $50M initiative
TCE Grant Making 2023 $381M awarded
Parks for All Hundreds of millions leveraged for parks investments in CA
Youth on the Board 1st of large foundations in US to have youth on the board
Childhood Obesity & Freshworks $272M to expand access to fresh and healthy foods in low-income communities
CHIS 20,000 households interviewed annually to find health gaps in CA
Kids Health Coverage Campaign $4M to help enroll children in health programs
Cultural Competency/Health Workforce/PRIME $78.2M to CA organizations working to boost the size and diversity of the state's healthcare workforce
TCE Headquarters 125,000+ use our facilities every year
Wishing Wall
Bob,
We can’t thank you enough. Our wish is that you take some time to do what you want to do.
You’ve done so much for others. It’s time to DO YOU!
God bless,
- Steve & Jenn
Dr. Ross,
Well wishes on this next adventure! Enjoy this time!
- Stephanie Ghayouri
Dang Bob! You really leaving? You really reading all this good stuff?! Ok man! Among so many of the things I already said, you baaaad, Dude. Much love!
Wishing you good health and lots of laughter!
Dr. Ross -
Wishing you abundance in this next chapter! Thank you for your infinite sacrifices for justice.
- Sonya Diaz
Happy times and thanks for all you have done for me.
Wishing you health and happiness in your well deserved retirement.
My friend -
Thank you for always believing in the work. I hope you get some time to rest and find new horizons (and no stalkers).
With love
Thank you for all the great work bringing health and wellness to California.
- Alan Pullman
Job well done! Now it’s time to take some ‘bob’ time. We love and appreciate you!
- Arnold & Karen Perkins
Bob,
We wish you good health, adventure, and lots of love in your life’s journey.
- Julie & Pete Brown
Happiest wishes for a joyous and peaceful retirement after an amazing and productive career! Come back to visit TCE!
- Diana Yang
Wishing you all the love you can handle…. And wonderful memories of years at TCE!
- Elwood
Blessings upon blessings! Looking forward to all your journey takes you!
You are an inspiration! Thank you for everything.
- Ted
Thank you, Bob! THis Center for Strategic Partnership thrives because you helped nurture the value of partnerships. I will be forever grateful to you and for you. Plus I love that you are not shy about spirituality.
Dr. Ross,
Thank you very much for all your efforts. You’ve planted many seeds and tended greatly to your community. I’m immensely grateful for your work. Take a moment to appreciate yourself. Thank you!
Bob!
Rest. Relax. Renew. Have fun…
- Kisha Grove
Thank you for all your work!
- Olga (FBHC)
Dear Dr. Ross,
Wishing you joy, peace, and more free time than you know what to do with. I love you!
- Marc P.
Unveiling Our
2024 Annual
Report
The California Endowment is proud to present our 2024 annual report. Read about the work we are supporting and our partners who are changing California to a state of belonging and inclusion.
View Report
