About Public Health Advocates
We bring a public health lens to pressing problems, helping communities pass laws, reform systems, and establish norms that foster health, equity, and racial justice.
Focus Areas
public health policyhealth equityracial justiceemergency preparedness & resilienceyouth leadership and organizingcommunity-based advocacyclimate & healthy communitiesaccess to parks and built environmenthomelessness prevention/services
Who They Fund
children and families (early childhood focus)housing-insecure or low-income familiescommunity-based organizations and coalitions
About Public Health Advocates
Public Health Advocates channels public health funding into policy change, systems reform, and community organizing, with a visible emphasis on youth leadership, housing insecurity, and health equity. One of its clearest recent commitments is the $1.3 million Community Leadership Grant for Sacramento County’s Community Health Improvement Plan, which is structured around training 30 youth and adult community members in community organizing and policy advocacy while supporting outreach. That blend of planning support and capacity-building appears across its recent awards. The foundation also works through fiscal sponsorship and program administration: in 2025, it gave $250,000 to Social Justice Politicorps as a fiscal agent, showing a model that can move resources through intermediaries when projects are being carried out by community partners. Other grants point to a funder that supports coalition infrastructure as well as policy development, rather than only direct service delivery. Recent awards connect to children and families, community-based advocacy, and local policy work, all within California recipients and with a public health lens that links health, equity, and racial justice to practical local action.
What Public Health Advocates Funds
A major thread in Public Health Advocates’ giving is policy design and planning support for local collaboratives. In 2023, it awarded $95,000 to Contra Costa Family Justice for planning of ACT design teams, and that same planning model appears in grants to community organizations across the state. The foundation also funds children-and-family initiatives tied to early childhood and household stability: Social Model Recovery Systems Inc. received $100,000 in 2024 through the All Children Thrive RFA, and Children’s Network of Solano County received $40,000 under the same RFA in 2024. Housing policy is another clear area. In 2025, Long Beach Forward Inc. received $59,627 for ACT RFA support for housing-focused policies, while Northern Circle Indian Housing Authority received $50,000 through ACT RFA work in 2025. Across these grants, the common pattern is support for local policy development rather than isolated program services.
How Public Health Advocates Gives
Public Health Advocates’ recent grants cluster around a median size of $75,000, with a lower quartile of $40,000 and an upper quartile also at $75,000. That suggests many awards are standardized at a planning or RFA level, with occasional larger awards for management or fiscal-agent work. The 2025 Community Leadership Grant is a $0–$1,300,000 program, indicating they also administer one large community-led initiative. The grant list shows repeated multi-year support to some recipients, including Northern Circle Indian Housing Authority and Social Model Recovery Systems, which appear in both 2024 and 2025. The foundation funds organizations, not individuals, and the recent grants data reflects program, planning, and fiscal sponsorship roles rather than prizes or unrestricted personal support.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$2.8M
Total Assets
$3.3M
Total Revenue
$8.3M
Total Expenses
$7.5M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $40K and $75K, with a median of $75K.
25th Percentile
$40K
Median
$75K
75th Percentile
$75K
Geographic Reach
Local1 state funded
About 100% of grants go to recipients in CA.
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
ELISA ODABASHIAN
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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