Who We Are
Vision
Black people and people of the global majority live powerfully, abundantly and beautifully in healthy, self-determined communities free of social, economic and ideological violence.
Approach
While our vision is utopic, it will not be achieved without a fight. Therefore, we will fight, and we will stand in solidarity with those who are also fighting for their lives.
Mission
We achieve our vision by centering the leadership and expertise of Black people and people of the global majority in the Washington, DC region who live at the sharpest intersection of systems of oppression, in particular race, class and gender identity.
The way to right wrongs is to turn the light of truth upon them.
Ida B. Wells
Values
We carry out our work by adhering to the following values:
We believe that truth-telling is a part of healing and that acknowledging past and current racial atrocities is integral to justice.
We build trusting authentic relationships with communities, partners and colleagues where knowledge, power and resources are shared equitably.
We are committed to innovation and risk-taking and embrace bold ideas that disrupt the status quo.
We stand firmly with communities that have been most harmed by systems of oppression and support their ability to exercise power.
We prioritize radical learning and share lessons to make way for progress and effective action.
We acknowledge the inconsistencies and contradictions inherent in the philanthropic enterprise and aim to model the vision we believe is possible by ensuring that our own policies, practices and operations are transformative and reflect the values we hold.
History
One of our guiding values is that truth-telling is a part of healing and that acknowledging past and current racial atrocities is integral to justice. For a long time, we relished telling ourselves and others an origin story that we have since learned was fiction. As we work to uncover the truth about our history, we must acknowledge that the wealth that endowed our foundation — like the wealth that endowed most foundations — is rooted in racialized capitalism and did significant harm to generations of Black communities.
The foundation’s wealth generation story we believed and told:
In 1935, a group of Washington D.C., area workers — many of whom were government employees — came together to make a difference in the health of their community. They wanted to provide preventive, pre-paid, quality health care in a racially integrated environment. A pretty radical idea in the 1930s! Leading with this vision, they formed Group Health Association (GHA), one of the nation’s first HMOs. Sixty years later, GHA sold its assets to Humana, and proceeds from that sale created the Consumer Health Foundation.
The truthful wealth generation story we now know, as researched and documented by the National Committee for Responsive Philanthropy in their report, Cracks in the Foundation: Philanthropy’s Role in Reparations for Black People in the DMV:
“Federal employees organizing together for better care led to the first mutual relief associations in 1883 and one of the country’s first major Healthcare Maintenance Organizations (HMOs) prepaid groups in 1937. Soon after, the employees of the Homeowners Loan Corporation followed suit by joining with other government workers to form the Group Health Association (GHA). At the time, GHA was presented as a transformative model, one of the first examples of moving from individual to third-party health care financing. However, the group consistently struggled financially throughout its years of operation.
In 1946 as GHA faced a period of financial hardship and a plateau in membership growth, the plan extended eligibility to a larger pool of individuals, including the de factor admission of previously excluded Black employees. This shift was born out of necessity, not justice, as it was meant primarily to offset the cost of individuals who required expensive care.
An integrated employee pool did little to break down prevailing anti-Black attitudes or expand internal priorities and decision-making.
After over 40 years of providing health care to an integrated membership, GHA was sold to Humana Inc., a for-profit insurance company. As a by-product of the $50 million sale, the Consumer Health Foundation was created as a health conversion foundation in 1994.”
In 2021, the Consumer Health Foundation launched a new strategic plan focused on racial justice, grounded in the belief that eliminating health inequities could not be achieved without it. To more powerfully reflect its new vision, values and mission, the foundation also rebranded in 2021 and is now iF, a Foundation for Radical Possibility.
We commit to centering Black people in the Washington, DC region as we acknowledge, reckon with and repair the harm of our wealth origins, and as we blaze a path for philanthropy and the sector’s role in reparations to Black people.