Indiana Philanthropy Alliance (IPA) convened Thursday at the Grand Wayne Center a meeting of area philanthropists and community leaders to create action plans for growing healthy communities.
The event in Ft. Wayne was the second of five regional forums to connect local leaders across Indiana. Participants learned about the socioeconomic factors affecting the citizens of their communities and explored cross-sector opportunities to improve health outcomes.
“IPA is pleased to convene the philanthropic community of Northeast Indiana to address root causes of systemic health issues,” said Claudia Cummings, President/CEO of IPA. “By providing insights into effective cross-sector collaborations to tackle these issues, IPA members will be better positioned to catalyze significant improvements in the health of the region’s population.”
Each forum will address the fact that where we live is far more influential than our genetic code in determining how long and how well we live. Field experts and local service providers explored the social determinants of health (education, income, social support) and policy, systems, and environmental change strategies. Attendees learned about regional initiatives centered on workforce development, nutrition, and substance abuse prevention. An action planning workshop helped funders consider ways to shift their thinking, program activities, and investments proactively to support healthy and thriving communities with lasting impact.
The forum covered the social determinants of health and funders’ role in supporting health and human services. Sponsored by Goelzer Investment Management, Ivy Tech Community College, and Indiana University Health Foundation, the event was attended by community, nonprofit, and philanthropic leaders engaged in supporting the greater Porter County region. Participating speakers included representatives from Indiana Family & Social Services Administration (FSSA), City of Decatur, Whitley Co. Health Department, Health by Design, AARP, Kosciusko Chamber of Commerce, and Ivy Tech. Link to Event Slides
IPA’s mission is to champion, support, and connect members as they transform Indiana through effective philanthropy.
“We have such a huge resource in IPA. We can’t do this work alone, and IPA brings us together to look at this collectively to so we can better enrich our communities,” Mary Nielsen, Crown Point Community Foundation.
IPA is a nonprofit membership association (also referred to as a philanthropy serving organization, or PSO) of and for Indiana’s grantmaking community. We represent grantmaking entities as well as individual associate members from all 92 Indiana counties. Collectively, our membership holds about $18 billion in assets and awards more than $846 million in grants each year. IPA is not itself a grantmaker, but we partner with our members to help them be more effective at making grant.
