We partner with foundations to co-develop and steward community-centered practice efforts that advance prevention, health equity, and racial justice. As an intermediary grounded in community-centered practice, we serve as an essential connector—standing with communities while working closely with funders to translate shared values into equitable, upstream action by directly supporting community organizations and collaboratives.

In this role, we help philanthropic partners move beyond risk-averse and traditional approaches by creating space for authentic dialogue, shared learning, and mutual trust between funders and community partners. We buffer risk, offer strategic insight, and support collaboration so foundations can invest in and amplify community-led innovation and leadership. Across these partnerships, our work includes initiative design, coordination, strategic advising, grant management, training and technical assistance, learning and evaluation, and long-term stewardship—helping move prevention efforts from intention to practice in ways that are durable, equitable, and capable of shifting systems over time.

Making Connections for Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Men and Boys
Movember Foundation | 2015-2020 | National

Our work with the Movember Foundation began with a national landscape analysis to inform their U.S.-based mental health strategy and investment priorities. Drawing on interviews, a literature review, and our own experiences in prevention, mental health systems, and gender norms, the analysis identified key gaps and opportunities and provided a menu of options for the foundation to consider. Through discussions with their staff and board, they prioritized investing in community-level, upstream approaches. As a next step, we were asked to design and co-steward Making Connections for Mental Health and Wellbeing Among Men and Boys, a national initiative supporting 13 rural, urban, and suburban communities to strengthen the conditions that shape mental wellbeing for boys and men, with particular attention to veterans, young men, and boys of color. We provided initiative design, ongoing guidance, and grantee support, translating the analysis into a durable, community-driven practice.

Communities of Care
The Hogg Foundation for Mental Health | 2019-2025 | Greater Houston Metropolitan Statistical Area, TX

We partnered with the Hogg Foundation for Mental Health to co-develop and coordinate the Communities of Care (CoC) initiative. CoC brought together residents, local leaders, and organizations to plan and implement community-driven strategies that support youth and family wellbeing, centering children, youth, and their families. Our role focused on aligning philanthropic investment with community priorities while providing coaching and capacity-building support to ten collaboratives addressing systemic drivers of inequity, including environmental justice, neighborhood infrastructure, school climate, safety, and youth leadership. 

People, Parks, and Power
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, Doris Duke Charitable Foundation (2022-2024) | 2021-2026 | National

In December 2020, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation selected us through a national RFP to serve as the planning partner for a new initiative focused on advancing park and green space equity in small and midsize cities. We developed the initiative’s vision, logic model, and theory of change, drawing on our experiences in community power building and the systemic drivers of inequitable access to parks and green space. This led to the launch of People, Parks, and Power (P3) as the first national funding initiative in the U.S. to support power building by community-based organizations working to reverse park and green space inequities in Black, Latino, and Indigenous communities. P3 is led and managed by Prevention Institute, integrating grantmaking, peer learning, research, network building, and strategic communications to connect local organizing to broader systems change and field building.

Safety and Healing in Networks of Equity (SHINE)
Blue Shield of California Foundation | 2018-2025 | California

Starting in 2018, we worked with the Blue Shield of California Foundation to develop a new approach to domestic violence prevention—one that moved beyond traditional systems and engaged community partners not typically involved in this work. Together, we shaped Safety Through Connection, bringing organizations focused on issues such as worker rights, mental health, and nutrition and physical activity into a learning community to promote safe relationships. As the learning community shifted toward collective action, the work evolved into Safety and Healing in Networks of Equity (SHINE), stewarded by Prevention Institute and co-created with five community collaboratives. Alongside initiative design and stewardship, we managed grants, provided capacity-building support, coordinated state-level policy and systems-change efforts, and partnered with collaboratives to shape narratives that advance community safety and health equity. 

Intersections Initiative
St. Joseph Fund | Ongoing | California, South King County Seattle, Los Angeles

We serve as a long-term intermediary partner in the Intersections Initiative, co-developed with the St. Joseph Fund. Designed as a practice-based learning effort, Intersections initially supported partnerships in seven California communities working upstream on social determinants of health, including housing, education, workforce development, immigration, community trauma, and civic engagement. Subsequent co-designed phases in South King County and Los Angeles continue to deepen learning across communities and systems, supporting the application of equity-centered, upstream approaches that inform community practice. We manage community grants and project subcontracts, provide capacity building, and work with the St. Joseph Fund to share our methods and outcomes—including with philanthropic audiences.