President's Message
Ten years ago, the Northwest Health Foundation was founded with the mission to advance the health of the people of Oregon and southwest Washington. We have always sought to be a partner, listening to and working with community to fulfill our mission. There have been many successes to celebrate, but every day we are reminded that we have much farther to go.
For the past eighteen months, the Northwest Health Foundation has been engaged in a planning process that has allowed us to reflect on our past and the new roles available to us as a maturing institution. At the same time, we have sought the input of organizations we have supported to help us understand the impact of our work and how we can be more effective going forward.
On December 3, the Foundation’s Board of Directors approved a strategic plan intended to guide our work over the next five to ten years.
The plan is built around several interest areas that reflect what we’ve learned in our first decade about community need and where we can be most effective in moving issues. Within those areas, the Foundation will focus on both tried-and-true and new strategies we believe will advance the social change that is necessary to eliminate health disparities and improve community health over the long-term.
Briefly, these core interest areas are access to quality health care, public health, and the nursing work force. Visit the Interest Areas section of our Web site for more information about our specific goals and approach to issues. We have also posted a new list of frequently asked questions that we hope will be helpful.
One change you may have noticed is that our programs are becoming increasingly focused. And this does represent a gradual transition from a grantmaking strategy that is primarily responsive to one built on specific funding initiatives. To achieve greater impact, we will release requests for proposals during the year that define a specific issue and ask grant seekers to respond by demonstrating how their work advances that issue.
What has not changed is the Foundation’s commitment to community. We still take a broad view of health, working to build healthy communities to ensure that everyone living in our region has equal opportunity to experience their self-worth and fulfill their human potential.
The organizations we support and partner with do incredible work to make Oregon and southwest Washington better places to live, despite never having enough resources. The Northwest Health Foundation thanks each of them for their commitment and gratefully acknowledges the many positive results of their efforts.
We look forward to working with established and new partners to build strong organizations and improve health throughout our region.
Thomas D. Aschenbrener
President
(posted December 13, 2007)