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
Dr. Ross,
The seeds you planted will bloom for generations to come!
Dr. Ross,
I love you!! Thank you for being a servant to the people. Lives are better because you came into the world.
Bob,
Fortunate to have such a powerful voice & thought leader at TCE.
- Sherry
On behalf of Music Changing Lives, we want to extend our deepest gratitude for your unwavering support and dedication. Your commitment to nurturing and inspiring young minds through philanthropy is truly transformative. May you continue to touch lives & bring harmony to our communities. We are blessed to have you as a part of our journey.
- Josiah (Music Changing Lives)
Dr. Ross! You are a blessing and have changed the world we live in. Thank you.
- H.S.F.
Bob,
Don’t be a stranger.
Love you,
- Ray
Thank you for being a mentor and inspiration. You have truly made a difference in California and the world.
Love you my brother! My homeboy. Wish you all the joy & happiness.
- Hector V. (Homeboy Industries)
Rosetta Henderson Bloom again
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.
Dr. Ross -
I want to thank and appreciate you for being an advocate for our most underserved communities and our boys of color. It is with deep gratitude that I can say that your investments have given me a career and supported my healing journey.
- Omar Torres
Congratulations on a long and impactful career! Best wishes for your next stage of life!
Best,
- Amy
POWER
Dr. Ross,
I hope you have some amazing adventures planned. Enjoy!
- Andrea Williams (Southside Coalition)
Dr. Ross -
I learned so much from you and loved working together on op-eds, etc… After a break, I think you have a book in you.
Happiest wishes for a joyous and peaceful retirement after an amazing and productive career! Come back to visit TCE!
- Diana Yang
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.
Best wishes!
Dr. Ross
Thanks for your years of unwavering leadership. We are better for all your efforts.
- Craig Martinez
A tu salud! Con cariño y respeto.
Unveiling Our
2025 Annual
Report
The California Endowment is proud to present our 2025 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