June 19, 2018, San Diego, CA—Alliance Healthcare Foundation (AHF), a San Diego-based foundation working to advance health and wellness for those in need in San Diego and Imperial counties, announced today the five local organizations selected as finalists for the AHF 2018 $1 Million Innovation Initiative (i2) Funding. They are:

• Multicultural Health Foundation
• Reality Changers
• San Diego Center for Children
• Voices for Children
• Walden Family Services

The winning organization and innovation project details will be announced in late summer 2018, following the annual AHF Pitchfest on July 27. Each proposal was designed to communicate how the participating organization’s proposed innovation project would alter the health and wellness status quo in a meaningful way to achieve a triple aim — improve quality, increase access, and lower costs.

• Finalists will compete at the annual AHF Pitchfest in July 2018.
• i2 spurring social innovation in San Diego and Imperial Counties.
• Alliance Healthcare Foundation’s i2 is a much-needed model of venture philanthropy.

“This year, we received almost two times the number of applications from last year. Narrowing these applications to five finalists was challenging,” noted AHF Interim Executive Director Elizabeth Dreicer. “With our i2 program, a form of innovation venture philanthropy, we are making available $1 million to underwrite efforts to meaningfully change the existing health and wellness paradigm. Importantly, AHF invests knowing that innovation often involves high risk to have the potential of high rewards — in service of advancing community wellness.”

According to Nick Macchione, director of the County of San Diego Health and Human Services Agency, “Alliance Healthcare Foundation’s i2 innovation initiative demonstrates both insight and courage to do something in the present for the betterment of the future.” Macchione adds: “The unique opportunity with this type of innovation philanthropy is that it can support nascent ideas and deploy the money, time and effort in service of improving lives.”

Already in its eighth year, i2 funds innovative social sector and social enterprise organizations and leaders that are working to make radical progress in improving the region’s health.

“Each of the five finalists represents promising projects,” said Dr. Joe Ramsdell, interim board chair. “In keeping with the i2 process, we look forward to hearing from the five organizations at the annual AHF Pitchfest to be held on July 27. We anticipate a spirited competition. We also know that whoever is ultimately selected, the selection marks the beginning of many years of work to actually realize the innovation vision.”

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About Alliance Healthcare Foundation. We work to advance health and wellness for the most vulnerable in San Diego and Imperial counties. We accomplish this work through collaborative funding, convening and advocacy. We currently operate a portfolio of five programs: i2 is our innovation initiative, also referred to as “venture philanthropy”—based on the thesis that innovation capital (often high risk, high reward) is needed to transform the current paradigm (high cost and poor outcomes) and improve quality, increase capacity and reduce costs; Mission Support—based on the belief that trusting those closest to our constituents and providing core operating support for great organizations will best advance our mission; Responsive Funding—based on the belief that it is important to be responsive to time-sensitive community needs and opportunities; InvestUp—based on the belief that it is important to actively and strategically be looking for ways to meaningfully advance our mission and it is worth spending some or all of our corpus—beyond the earnings off of our endowment—if we can substantively, sustainably and positively change the dynamics; and Program-Related Investments, also referred to as “impact investments,” based on the thesis that we can activate our investment portfolio to achieve more positive impact. More: www.alliancehf.org

AHF Media contact:
Jan Strode, CEO Advisors
P 619-890-2725 E jstrode@ceoadvisors.com