This is the last in a series of four blog posts celebrating the work of the 2014 NCRP Impact Awards winners. Check out a video recap of the event here.
On June 9, The California Endowment received the 2014 NCRP Impact Award for Large Private Foundation. The Endowment is a national player in improving health equity, and played a significant role in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). However, the Endowment recognizes that big policy wins are achieved by fostering engagement with local communities – as demonstrated by the story of Long Beach native Christopher Covington.
In 2009, Christopher went to a community engagement session held through the California Endowment’s Building Healthy Communities initiative. Looking around him, he realized that the other people in the room did not seem to reflect the diverse community of his Long Beach home. He asked how he could get more involved.
Since then, Christopher has held various leadership positions in his community, including serving on the steering committee for the Long Beach Building Healthy Communities site until 2013. This leadership role allowed him to help members of his community access health resources and participate in work groups to solve community problems.
He has also served as a member of the President’s Youth Council, acting as a direct advisor to the California Endowment’s president, Dr. Robert Ross. When Christopher reflected on his role on the President’s Youth Council, he noted that it was different from his experience with other youth leadership initiatives. He had direct access to Dr. Ross when he asked for it, a level of access he called “mind blowing.” Often, direct action followed his recommendations, making Christopher feel valued and listened to. These experiences with the Endowment prepared him for the social justice career he is pursuing, learning skills such as how to engage with the corporate sector, write grant requests and build coalitions.
The President’s Youth Council and other community engagement efforts inform many of the Endowment’s recent successes in fundamentally improving health equity for Californians. For example, the Endowment was one of two major funders that made serious investments in the national coalition, Health Care for America NOW!, which was crucial to the Affordable Care Act’s success. When the law was debated in the United States Supreme Court, it filed two amicus briefs supporting the ACA. To ensure successful implementation in California, the foundation decided to commit an unprecedented $225 million for ACA outreach, enrollment and implementation.
To date, more than 1.9 million Californians have signed up for health care through the government exchange, and an additional 1.4 million through California’s Health Benefit Exchange. California accounts for 17.5 percent of Exchange enrollees and an even larger percentage of new Medicaid enrollees nationwide. And this large-scale success is strengthened by the growth that leaders like Christopher Covington have experienced.
Chris’ involvement with the Endowment has strengthened both his personal goals and community. He explained:
“Before, high school, dropping out… all I thought was I need to get a 9-to-5 and make money, but I was not fulfilled. I finally saw that I can be part of community change, make impact and provide for myself. I found self esteem, courage to break out of the norm. I learned that working as a pawn of a Fortune 500 company is something I can do, but I can do better. I can strive and obtain whatever I am capable of; I can actually grasp it.”
Thank you, The California Endowment, for the great work that you do!
Check out our video recap of the 2014 NCRP Impact Awards reception to celebrate the work of The California Endowment, and that of fellow awardees Liberty Hill Foundation, Ben & Jerry’s Foundation and Hill-Snowdon Foundation.
Jeanné Isler is field director at the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy (NCRP). Follow NCRP on Twitter (@ncrp).
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