Humana Foundation Quarterly Newsletter

Edition: Q4 | 2024

A word from our CEO | Next Grant Cycle Opens January 2025 | Fostering Solution-Focused Research to Create Healthier Communities | Celebrating Our First Foundation Town Hall | Humana Foundation Awards $15.2M to Support Emotional and Nutritional Health | Corporate Philanthropy Leadership Award | Honoring Veterans Day by Facing the Fight Against Veteran Suicide | Our Impact in Action | Partner Highlight: National CARES Mentoring Movement Inc. | Associate Spotlight | Humana Foundation’s 2024: A Year of Impact and Growth | Resources

A Word From Our CEO, Tiffany Benjamin

As we end a successful year, the Humana Foundation is filled with gratitude for the remarkable journey of our team in 2024. This year has been transformative, marked by groundbreaking initiatives and collaborative efforts that have significantly advanced health equity and enriched lives in our communities.

We’ve dedicated time to learning – both by listening to those we serve and reflecting on our own programs. We continually seek to grow in our journey to become better philanthropists, and 2024 provided us with terrific opportunities to advance our mission.

We celebrated the one-year anniversary of Face the Fight and released the first annual impact report, highlighting our collaborative efforts in veteran suicide prevention.

We also continued the Senior Council’s important work, with seniors 65+ and high school students.

We launched a series of impactful research grants, awarding $250,000 each to university partners to explore innovative solutions addressing barriers to nutrition and emotional health. Our research strategy is designed to generate knowledge that translates into practical solutions for removing barriers that prevent people from thriving.

The Humana Foundation announced grants for 2024 totaling $15.2 million, supporting seniors and school-aged children in living connected, healthy lives. It’s an honor to invest in partnerships with organizations and institutions that are helping us make life more uncomplicated for the people we serve, with creative solutions that advance health equity.

To cap off the year I was honored to have been named the recipient of the Council on Foundations Outstanding Corporate Philanthropy Leadership Award. This recognition reflects our bold approach to philanthropy and our commitment to equity, honesty, and transparency. This is a shared award with my incredible and hardworking team. Together, and with a curious approach, we are committed to this work. Many thanks to all for helping us share our story as we work to create meaningful change.

Looking ahead, the Humana Foundation will open its next grant cycle in January 2025, inviting innovative projects and programs that align with our vision of wellbeing. See more info inside and we’re excited to advance our mission with you. We couldn’t do this important work without our staff, board, community partners and Humana employees.

Together, we are improving the lives of the people who need us most. Please enjoy your holidays and wishing you the best in 2025.

--Tiffany Benjamin

CEO, Humana Foundation

2023 HNC Aging Mental Health Sleep Landing Page Weave Border Humana Green

Next Grant Cycle Opens January 2025

The Humana Foundation will open its next grant cycle in January of 2025.

The new grant cycle opens doors for innovative projects and programs that align with our vision of health equity.

All eligible organizations are encouraged to apply, however, we predominantly focus our grant funding in the geographical regions of Louisiana, Louisville, KY, Florida and Texas and in projects advancing mental or nutritional health for school-aged children, seniors and/or veterans.

Fostering Solution-Focused Research to Create Healthier Communities

Contributing to community health through data and research has always been my passion. With a background in health research, I have led public health studies and data analytics projects to promote better health outcomes, inform policy decisions, and address health inequities in communities. At the Humana Foundation, leveraging my extensive experience in public health research, I lead the organization’s research strategy, including its research grants program, which has awarded over $3 million in funding since its launch last year.

Why are we investing in research?
The Humana Foundation’s research strategy is designed to generate knowledge that translates into practical solutions for removing barriers that prevent people from living healthy, connected lives.

By better understanding the factors influencing health, we can create scalable health equity interventions that lead to positive long-term health outcomes.

Like our other Humana Foundation programs, the research grants program focuses on awarding support that creates healthy emotional connections and shapes a healthier approach to nutrition for seniors, school-aged children and veterans.

How are we investing in research?.
Our research grants program is invitation-only and provides funding to academic researchers pursuing projects that are solution-focused, scientifically rigorous, and have practical implications for public health or healthcare policy and practice.

A key element of our program is representation. We believe that research must reflect the diversity of the populations it seeks to help. That’s why we are committed to supporting research led by diverse scholars that address the various health equity challenges faced by racially and ethnically diverse, and underserved communities. We also value community-engaged and community-based participatory research approach, which aligns with equitable research practices by ensuring that research processes are inclusive, fair, and responsive to the diverse needs and perspectives of communities.

Our current research partnerships include studies on:

Nutrition Education and Security: Our grants support examining the effectiveness of various nutrition programs designed for different population groups. These studies not only address nutrition security and nutrition-related health outcomes, but also explore the programs’ potential positive impact on emotional health, including social connectedness as a key factor in health.
Youth Suicide Prevention: Recognizing the mental health crisis among youth, we are supporting research into preventive strategies that can reduce suicide risk and foster resilience in young people with a focus on marginalized youth and culturally appropriate approaches.
Support for Caregivers of Seniors: With many caregivers facing unique challenges, this research focuses on programs and processes that can enhance their well-being and ensure they have the resources they need to care for loved ones.

As we continue to grow this program, we remain dedicated to a future where everyone has the opportunity to achieve their best health, regardless of background or circumstance. Through this investment in research, we are proud to be shaping that future together.

Click here to visit our website

Celebrating Our First Foundation Town Hall

The Humana Foundation hosted its first-ever Town Hall on Nov. 19 to share our story with Humana Inc. employees.

The event was a tremendous success with hundreds of employees joining the broadcast. Several community partners joined us to share inspiring updates and insights about their programming, our teammates showcased the incredible work of volunteerism across Humana and we reflected on our impactful projects from this year.

A special thanks to all involved for helping us share our story as we work to create meaningful change!

Humana Foundation Awards $15.2M to Support Emotional and Nutritional Health

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- The Humana Foundation recently announced grants for 2024 in service of the Foundation’s health equity mission. The investment, totaling $15.2 million, spans the Foundation’s focus geographies – Kentucky, Florida, Louisiana and Texas – and provides support to seniors and school-aged children in living connected, healthy lives.

“The Humana Foundation is committed to collaborating with partners that make positive impacts toward helping seniors and school-aged children reach their full health potential,” said Tiffany Benjamin, CEO of the Humana Foundation. “This year, we’re continuing to invest in partnerships with trusted organizations and institutions that are approaching these complex issues with innovative programs and solutions to help drive change and advance health equity.”

In addition to the programmatic grant awards, the Humana Foundation also announced more than $2 million in research grants to seven different universities. Led by diverse researchers, four research teams will investigate the effectiveness of interventions in shaping a healthier approach to nutrition, and three will study the emotional health of seniors and school-aged children.

Read the full press release

Corporate Philanthropy Leadership Award

Humana Foundation CEO Tiffany Benjamin was named the recipient of the Council on Foundations Outstanding Corporate Philanthropy Leadership Award.

The 2024 Council Awards recognize excellence in philanthropy and honor leaders for their dedication to advancing the greater good.

The Committee awarded Tiffany on her bold approach to philanthropy and her efforts of centering equity, honesty and transparency through all of her work with the Humana Foundation.

Honoring Veterans Day by Facing the Fight Against Veteran Suicide

Veterans Day in November marked an important time to honor our nation’s veterans, their service and the sacrifices they’ve made. Sadly, far too many veterans struggle well beyond the years of their service.

The veteran suicide rate is 57% higher than the national average and more than 120,000 veterans have died by suicide since 2001, making it the second leading cause of death among post 9/11 vets.

As sobering as these statistics are, they’re also preventable.

Last year, the Humana Foundation joined USAA, the USAA Foundation and the Endeavors Foundation to launch Face the Fight , an initiative to raise awareness and support for veteran suicide prevention with the goal of cutting the veteran suicide rate in half by 2030.

We all knew that with such a lofty goal, we couldn’t do it on our own.

A key component of Face the Fight's work is providing philanthropic grants to nonprofit organizations to support evidence-based programs that align with public health best practices for suicide prevention and data from the VA. We now have more than 175 dedicated organizations and thousands of individuals supporting the coalition and $85 million pledged through 2027 to continue to fund this critical work.

Read the full article

Our Impact in Action

The Humana Foundation understands the importance of its work and history in its hometown of Louisville, KY.

During a recent strategy session in Louisville, the Foundation team visited and volunteered at the Home of the Innocents, an organization approaching one and a half centuries of providing care, hope and love for Kentucky’s most vulnerable. The Humana Foundation is investing in Home of the Innocents in support of delivery of the sanctuary model for clinical care in Louisville, designed to reduce additional trauma to children.

We invite you to watch this video about the inspiring work of our partner, Home of the Innocents.

Partner Highlight: National CARES Mentoring Movement Inc.

BACKGROUND: The National CARES Mentoring Movement Inc. works to provide culturally based interventions for African American youth with an emphasis on mentoring and wellness.

THE NEWS: The National CARES Mentoring Movement Inc. used funding from the Humana Foundation to expand its Louisiana programming, focusing on addressing behavioral and emotional challenges through psychologist- and social-worker driven approaches. Its Rising Program was delivered to 432 students at Sophie B. Wright High School in 2023-2024.

WHY IT MATTERS:

The Rising Program provided critical support for a student population that is more than 60 percent from low-income families and 88 percent identifying as African American. The program provides a safe space for emotional expression and positive change.
Facilitators reported strengthened relationships and a noticeable culture shift in group dynamics, which ultimately led to offering students alternative, more positive outlooks to their challenging environments.

WHAT’S NEXT: The program seeks to continue expansion in Louisiana (with an emphasis in New Orleans) to meet the rising demand for services. Upon further regional expansion, National CARES Mentoring Movement Inc. will determine if services can be successfully applied in Louisville, KY.

Get Involved: Website

ASSOCIATE SPOTLIGHT

Marc Schnitzer

Tenure at Humana: 1 year, 11 months

Current Position: Provider Engagement Executive

Location: Remote, NY

Marc’s Initiative:

Marc was selected as Humana’s 2024 “Volunteer of the Year” after volunteering more than 800 hours with the Berkeley Heights Volunteer Rescue Squad. Marc has served as a volunteer EMT with this organization for more than nine years. As the winner of this year’s Humana Volunteer of the Year award, Marc will receive a $15,000 grant from the Humana Foundation to donate to his favorite nonprofit.

Humana Foundation’s 2024: A Year of Impact and Growth

As we turn the calendar on a successful year, the Humana Foundation is filled with gratitude and pride for the remarkable journey of our team in 2024. This year has been transformative, marked by groundbreaking initiatives and collaborative efforts that have significantly advanced health equity and enriched the lives in our communities.

We’ve also intentionally dedicated time to learning – both by listening to those we serve and in selfreflection of our own programs throughout the year. We are always seeking to grow in our journey to become better philanthropists, and 2024 provided us terrific opportunities to help advance our mission.

Key milestones from 2024 include:

Celebrating the one-year anniversary of Face the Fight and releasing our first annual impact report, which highlights our collaborative efforts in veteran suicide prevention.
Continuing the Senior Council’s important work, with seniors 65+ and high school students identifying key health equity challenges and solutions to aid in our efforts.
Launching a series of impactful research grants, awarding $250,000 each to university partners to explore innovative solutions that address barriers to nutrition and emotional health.
Our inaugural Humana Community Day brought together 6,000 volunteers, resulting in 10,000 hours of service and 1 million meals packed to support local communities.

“The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others”

-- Mahatma Gandhi

Philanthropy Resources

Resource for Parents of School-Aged Children

Resource for Veterans

Resource for Seniors

Additional Resources