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,
Thank you for being unwavering and clear about TCE’s purpose. Thank you for always listening and learning and dreaming about what could be.
Forever grateful,
- Mia Bolton
Dr. Ross,
Best wishes on your journey. Thank you for everything!
-SAJE
The force is strong in our family.
- D. Wash
Wishing you the best and a well deserved rest to enjoy the simple things in life.
Peace,
- Bob Alvarez (Balance PR)
Congratulations on a wonderful 24 years of impact! May God bless you and keep you!
Thank you for being a mentor and inspiration. You have truly made a difference in California and the world.
Bob -
I love you and always will. Now come and join my board!
- Kim Lewis
Dr. Ross -
Thank you for all you’ve done for the community and have an amazing retirement!
Dr. Ross! Congrats on your transition. I am grateful for the opportunity to have grown up with your support. You inspired me to chase my dreams.
- Corleone (BMoC)
Bob -
It’s been an honor to work with you through the years. Love you very much!
Your words at the Liberty Hill dinner always stuck with me and I continue to share the message today.
Thank you,
- Darryl
Thank you for all the great work bringing health and wellness to California.
- Alan Pullman
Dr. Ross,
I hope you have some amazing adventures planned. Enjoy!
- Andrea Williams (Southside Coalition)
Wishing you a happy and blessed retirement.
Love,
- David & Pei
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.
Bob!
Rest. Relax. Renew. Have fun…
- Kisha Grove
We are forever grateful for your tireless work to make CA a beloved community for all! Si se puede!
With deep appreciation,
- Mayra Alvarez & The Children’s Partnership team
Thanks for everything!!! Best of luck!
Hey Bob!
Best wishes for what’s next! Love you!
Dr. Ross,
You instilled so much confidence in me by choosing me to be on the board. You truly have no idea about the trajectory my life will go on. Thank you immensely and I wish you all the best.
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