The CARE Fund: A Philanthropic Initiative to Meet the Moment

In last week’s Funder-to-Funder Conversation — co-sponsored by United Philanthropy Forum and moderated by Melissa A. Berman, Ph.D., of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) — panelists provided an overview of The Care for All with Respect and Equity (CARE) Fund, a $50 million, multiyear philanthropic collaborative and described how it will be seeking to support a broad-based movement for care. Barbara Chow of Heising-Simons Foundation, Erin Currier of W.K. Kellogg Foundation and Anna Wadia of the Ford Foundation shared how they and the other five foundations approach the issue of care from different perspectives, including early childhood education, health, racial and disability equity, and worker justice.

The panelists discussed how they are leveraging the intersectionality of those issues to advance a universal, publicly supported care infrastructure that benefits both consumers of care and workers across the care spectrum. They described the rapid-response grants the Fund made this spring, investing in coordinating tables to advance collaborative policy advocacy, grassroots leadership and movement building, and aging and disability rights. They also explained how the funders are now engaged in a strategic planning process to inform their upcoming rounds of grantmaking. In addition, they introduced tools that other funders and advocates can utilize to advance a narrative and culture change around the care economy and care providers. Afterwards, Berman explained how RPA is functioning as the fiscal sponsor for The CARE Fund and provided examples of other ways in which funders are working together to advance systemic change.