Responsive Grants Program awards to be announced in October

Thank you to all of the agencies and organizations that submitted applications for this year’s second round of Responsive Grants. We received 205 applications from nonprofits and public agencies throughout our 26-county funding region.

The application review and selection process is under way and we plan to announce grant awards in October.

We had two funding rounds in 2014, with a total of $500,000 available. Grants up to $15,000 were available to nonprofit organizations and public agencies, with at least 30 percent of awards supporting projects that serve rural areas of the region.

See our Responsive Grants Program web page for more information about the program. Please e-mail any questions.

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Health Leadership Program resumes in October with Class XI

Our Health Leadership Program has been redesigned this year to develop the skills of current and emerging leaders in organizations that work to improve community health and well-being and reduce health disparities across a broad range of issue areas.

We’re pleased to welcome 18 members to Class XI, which begins Oct. 1. The leadership program for nonprofits and public agencies is jointly led through the UC Davis Institute for Population Health Improvement and the University of San Francisco’s School of Management. The program is co-directed by Dr. Kenneth W. Kizer and Dr. Rich Callahan.

Program participants have the opportunity to improve existing skills while developing new competencies that strengthen their organizations, and deepen their ability and commitment to address health disparities and health equity in underserved communities in Northern California and the San Joaquin Valley.

Visit the Health Leadership Program web page to learn more and to see the Class XI roster.

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Kindra Montgomery-Block joins Sierra Health Foundation

We’re pleased to welcome Kindra Montgomery-Block as the foundation’s newest program officer.

In this position, Kindra will support two projects managed by our Center for Health Program Management: the Steering Committee on Reduction of African American Child Deaths and the California Executives’ Alliance to Expand Opportunities for Boys and Men of Color.

Most recently, Kindra served as the director of training and community relations for the UC Davis School of Education – Center for Community School Partnerships. She has extensive experience working with community-based organizations to advance social justice, youth development, school reform, violence prevention and civic engagement.

Kindra has served on numerous advisory boards and boards of directors. She has a bachelor’s degree in political science from UC Riverside and a master’s in public administration from Golden Gate University.

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Filmmaker shares ways to heal and empower youth using creativity

As part of our Speaker Series, on Sept. 25 we welcomed inspiring filmmaker Erahm Christopher, who shared his experiences of using film and creativity to heal and empower youth.

For the past six years, Erahm has worked with students to create the TEEN TRUTH educational film series, which has reached more than six million youth. Filmed by students, the series addresses topics such as bullying, body image and drugs, with teens speaking truthfully about their experiences. The films, which are shown at schools and other venues nationwide, are created to educate youth and adults about issues, but also to empower them to be the difference at their schools and in their communities.

Learn more about Erahm and the film series on the TEEN TRUTH web site.

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Greater Sacramento Healthy Communities Summit looks at connections between healthy people, healthy places and a healthy economy

On Sept. 29, we were pleased to co-sponsor and participate in the Greater Sacramento Healthy Communities Summit held at the Sheraton Grand Hotel in Sacramento. More than 350 people joined regional and national leaders to discuss ways to improve the Sacramento region’s health, social and economic outcomes with socially motivated investments, community design and planning, livable wage jobs, policy, and health care access and services. Some of the topics of discussion included Implementing Healthy Communities Regionally, Financing Healthy Communities and Healthy Community Examples.

The event was opened by Yeshahyah Yisrael and closed by Takarra Lee Johnson, both youth spoken word performers. Speakers included Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson, Chet Hewitt and Gil Alvarado from Sierra Health Foundation, Dr. Anthony Iton and Christine Tien from the California Endowment, Dr. Sandra Hernandez from the California HealthCare Foundation, Jamal Miller from the California Department of Public Health – Office of Health Equity, Dr. David Erickson from the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco and many more.

Attendees included representatives from businesses, financial institutions and government offices, as well as elected officials, community development practitioners, health professionals, real estate developers, and faith-based and community-based organizations. Participants engaged in social media on Facebook and Twitter throughout the event, which was viewable online via webcast.

The summit was planned and supported by the Federal Reserve Bank of San Francisco, Sierra Health Foundation, The California Endowment, Sacramento Housing Alliance, California Housing and Community Development Department and the California Department of Public Health Office of Health Equity.

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We’ve redesigned our web site

We’re pleased to announce the launch of our new web site. We hope you’ll find the redesigned site to be user-friendly and visually appealing, with all of the information you need about the foundation and our programs.

If you have any feedback about the site, we’d like to hear from you.

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