Dear friend,
Informed by the invaluable input and feedback of grantees and partners, the Tara Health Foundation has embarked on an exciting journey to spend-down: by 2030, we commit to investing all of our resources into solutions at the intersections of gender and racial equity and closing our doors.
Over the past five years, the Tara Health Foundation, and the individuals within it, have been on a profound journey of transformation to evolve the gender-lens focus of the foundation and to center the practices and principles of racial equity in all aspects of our work. This journey has resulted in significant shifts across all levels of the foundation:
We shifted power from the board of directors to staff-based approval of grants which are now selected in partnership with on-the-ground portfolio advisors. This change set in motion an internal transformation that enabled us to test new collaborative funding mechanisms designed to cede decision-making power to grantee partners in the field, such as the Abortion Movement Fund, and new internal structures such as our Pooled Fund to break down silos in our grantmaking work and expand our commitment to participatory and trust-based grantmaking practices.
In 2022, we welcomed a new board of directors to help steward the foundation through its spend-down and supported this new board transitioning the foundation’s governance structure from a sole to a multi-member system, providing all board members with equal voice, vote, and stewardship responsibilities.
Most recently, we initiated critical shifts in our grantmaking strategy, committing 98% of all grantmaking dollars to a group of anchor organizations (see more in the “programming” section below). Any additional funding through our spend down will prioritize existing partnerships and will be responsive to emergent needs. You can read about these changes in full in our recent communication to grantees, details of which can also be found in the “programming” section below.
We attribute the profound changes within our foundation to the invaluable contributions of grantee partners and others who acted as catalysts for transformative impact. Specifically, we would like to acknowledge the Abortion Care Network, We2gether, the Knights and Orchids Society, Keecha Harris and Associates, and the Neighborhood Funders Group, for playing a pivotal role in the development of our work and thinking. To our philanthropic peers who have embraced transformation, we thank you for paving the way for our efforts.
As we embark on the final phase of our journey and shift our focus towards our commitment to spending down, we remain dedicated to this ongoing work. We are no longer content with a reactive approach; instead, we envision a world where society and the communities within it are thriving with people of color at the helm. We proudly embrace our role in unlocking the abundance of this vision by relinquishing the entirety of our status, capital, and power to the field. In the sections below we are excited to share with you the strategic framework that will guide this work through our spend-down as it occurs through four key channels: programming, investments, structure and operations, and engagement work. A significant portion of this work has already begun, including strategic shifts that affect our grantmaking.
We anticipate offering many opportunities for connection and engagement around this work in the months ahead. In the meantime, we invite you to be in touch with your questions. You can reach us directly at Info@TaraHealthFoundation.org
In solidarity and celebration,