Humana Foundation Quarterly Newsletter

Q&A: Get to know the Humana Foundation’s new Board Chair, David Jones Jr:

1. What excites you most when you think about your role as Board Chair of the Humana Foundation?

The Humana family is deeply versed in population health, the structure of the healthcare industry and motivations of its participants, barriers to access and affordability, and case studies across time of what works and what has not to improve well-being. It was a joy to work for 30 years on the Humana Inc. board to apply this knowledge in growing the company’s reach and impact. What excites me most now is drawing on this knowledge, and the great network of the Humana family, to find and support improvement in well-being for those not well served by our medical and social systems. In short, to improve health equity.

In my personal volunteer work and philanthropy, I’ve concentrated mostly on improving our shared systems of educating youth – education being a key component of lifelong well-being. I’m thrilled to expand this more explicitly into health.

2. How can the Humana Foundation work with Humana Inc.?

Tiffany has made communication with the company a high priority, and I’m certain this is a good choice. The company’s work with federal and state governments builds deep knowledge of where public policy is heading, where gaps exist that philanthropy might address through experimentation and research, and who else in the industry is interested in what. Everyone’s busy, everyone’s overwhelmed with information, but clear communication between siblings –  Foundation and business corporation --about goals and activities will be key to a great partnership.

3. With the recent release of your father’s book, ‘David A. Jones -Always Looking Forward’ and his broad legacy, what’s one important highlight to share about his approach to philanthropy?

Dad’s book, Always Moving Forward, will be published in the fall. Editing the book, which Dad left in the form of an excellent finished draft, crystallized for me two traits at the heart of his character.

First, he was a person of action. The speed with which he learned about something and acted –whether to launch the first nursing home, start the insurance division, spin off the hospitals, join my brother in building the great Parklands of Floyds Fork, say yes to President Bush’s request to rebuild a health system in Eastern Europe –was breathtaking. He believed deeply that acting to do the right thing mattered most, as most projects can be figured out and improved as they go. Second, he loved to see people doing their best work. It would be wrong to say he loved being in the hospital, but even on the hardest days near the end his face just lit up when nurses, PTs, CNAs or medical technicians worked their magic in their spheres.

With regard to philanthropy, Franklin Roosevelt said something that I think embodied Dad’s approach, and makes sense to me now as we take on a very ambitious, challenging task: “It is common sense to take a method and try it. If it fails, admit it frankly and try another. But above all, try something.”

4. What leader do you admire the most? Why?

After my father, Lincoln. He loved to learn and never stopped learning, whatever the obstacles. Starting in rural Kentucky he became a master of communication, using language, shared history and stories Americans had in common to lead the country into brutally necessary action, and then to begin knitting the nation together again. His words guide us even today. And he did it despite terrible personal losses and deep depression.

5. 5 things you can’t live without?

My list is shorter: Books, music and people. And –at the risk of a longer digression –a deeply admired mentor taught me that memory might substitute for all three.

LOUISVILLE, KY --The Humana Foundation, philanthropic arm of Humana Inc., announced they will invest $1 million to bolster mental health resources in its hometown of Louisville, Ky., following the aftermath of the mass shootings in downtown Louisville on April 12. The donation will support victims and families, but also others in the community struggling from ongoing hardship and trauma that the city has endured in recent years.

The donation is part of the Humana Foundation’s commitment to health equity and creating healthy emotional connections for the communities it serves.

The Humana Foundation’s $1 million investment will go to organizations which can help drive equitable access to mental health services, aid with trauma support and help build a sense of community.

Humana Inc. and the Humana Foundation welcomed more 30 local nonprofit organizations for a strategic update and information session on March 28. This event was hosted at the Norton Healthcare Sports and Learning Center and facilitated an open forum between the Foundation and potential grantee partners.

Representatives from both Humana Inc. and the Foundation addressed questions from attendees, provided resources to local nonprofits and guided potential grant applicants on using the Foundation’s new grant management system.

Through the Strategic Update and Information Session, the Foundation achieved the following goals:

1. Cultivated our relationship with the Louisville non-profit community.
2. Made new community connections and encouraged engagement with our new website, and ensured that potential partners are aware of how to communicate with the Foundation.
3. Informed potential grantees and philanthropic partners of new strategy focused on emotional well-being and nutrition.
4. Informed potential grantees of grant cycles, including application process and eligibility guidelines.
5. Introduced non-profit community to Humana Inc.

BACKGROUND: The Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute for Texas is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving mental health care quality, accessibility, and outcomes across the state.

THE NEWS: Through its Trauma and Grief Center (TAG), the Institute has conducted six learning collaboratives in Trauma and Grief Component Therapy (TGCT), training 250 clinicians and more than 1,600 other professionals on trauma and grief-related topics from Dec. 2022 -May 2023.

WHY IT MATTERS:

• This comprehensive training equips more professionals with the knowledge and tools to address trauma and grief in children and adolescents, potentially leading to improved mental health outcomes for this vulnerable population.
• Clinicians trained through this grant have already evaluated and enrolled 347 youth-aged patients in treatment.
  

WHAT’S NEXT: In the upcoming year, TAG plans to hold two additional Learning collaboratives with the goal of training 400 additional clinicians in TGCT or Multidimensional Grief Component Therapy.