Hillman launches $ 1.5M challenge to tackle health issues
Following the death of billionaire Henry L. Hillman in 2017, his namesake foundation received an infusion of $ 700 million and hinted that it wanted to raise its profile after decades operating under the quiet philanthropist who preferred to keep his donations private.
Now the Henry L. Hillman Foundation is taking the first step toward engaging the community in its grantmaking — in a very public way.
On Thursday, it will launch the Healthy Allegheny Challenge, a competition for $ 1.5 million to be awarded to the best proposal for a health project that benefits an underserved community in Allegheny County.
“With Henry Hillman’s passing and new money coming into the foundation, we wanted to do new projects and initiatives rather than the traditional, categorical grantmaking,” said David Roger, president of the Hillman Family Foundations.
By putting the challenge out to nonprofits and their partner organizations including government agencies, community groups, school districts, volunteers and for- profit businesses, the foundation hopes to unleash their creativity, Mr. Roger said.
“Henry Hillman liked the idea of a challenge,” he said. “His thought was that it gets people to step up and think about a problem in a different way.”
The 18 individual philanthropies that comprise the Hillman Family Foundations paid out $ 41.6 million in grants last year.
The Henry L. Hillman Foundation allocated the largest amount — $ 21.7 million — to programs and initiatives including food production and distribution, economic and workforce development, neighborhood revitalization, and maternal and child health.
The foundation collaborated with the Allegheny County Health Department to develop the new challenge objectives. Those include five “priority areas” that proposals must support: access to affordable, high- quality health care; prevention of chronic disease risk behaviors; reducing pollution and other environmental hazards; improving health for mothers and children; and reducing death and illnesses related to mental health and substance abuse.
Specific issues that proposals might tackle include obesity, tobacco use and infant mortality.
“The idea is we need partners and Hillman has picked up on that,” said Karen Hacker, director of the county health department. “It’s one of those breath- of- freshair experiences. It’s a great idea. I love it.”
Teams submitting proposals must be headed by a nonprofit registered as a 501c3 organization and must register by Oct. 17 at its website, www. healthyalleghenychallenge. org.
Applications are due Nov. 19 and the winner will be announced Feb. 14, 2020.
The foundation tapped Common Pool, a Santa Monica, Calif. - based firm that has designed prize competitions for the MacArthur Foundation and the Chan- Zuckerberg Initiative, to manage the challenge.
“The Hillman Foundation is part of a larger movement to use these prize programs,” said Jaison Morgan, Common Pool’s founder and chief executive.
By developing a challenge website that includes access to the application, judges’ information, and the rubric used to score proposals, Mr. Morgan said, the competition “is defined by a more open, transparent and fair process.”
It should also benefit smaller nonprofits with limited resources. “We’re telling them the costs right upfront and before they register, they will know what they need to do.”
Michael Rooney, program officer for the Hillman Family Foundations, said the challenge was designed to focus on making a difference in a local community because it will be more impactful.
If a proposal attempts to tackle the problem of obesity in Allegheny County, for example, “$ 1.5 million doesn’t get you … to see results,” he said.
By homing in on obesity issues in Millvale, though, that money could make a significant difference that would improve the health of residents, he said.
While 12 judges have been confirmed, the total judging pool could be 18 to 20 individuals, Mr. Rooney said.