Genentech looks through a racial justice lens with a new community fund

Genentech is starting a new kind of health equity fund looking through a racial justice lens that it hopes others in the industry will follow.

It recently launched the Community Health Justice Fund, which is aimed at advancing equity in healthcare by funding groups working for racial justice, but not always directly tied to healthcare.

It’s funding St. Louis nonprofit Wepower, which is working to build new education and economic systems for the Black and Latino communities there. Another grantee among the 10 first funded is Texas-based Go Austin/Vamos Austin (GAVA), working to strengthen local communities through improved nutrition, child care resources, neighborhood stability and equitable policy advocacy.

Danica Richards

“When we say racial justice lens, what we mean is a consideration and an inclusion of race and racism as factors that impact the community,” said Danica Richards, senior manager of Genentech Giving and Social Impact. “In doing this Community [Health] Justice Fund, we’re saying that we believe in order to address a community’s needs comprehensively, we have to be honest about what has shaped their experiences and the health inequities that they experience.”

Genentech has committed an initial $6 million over three years to the fund, and while Richards agreed it is a small percentage of Genentech’s total $200 million pledged to equity-focused initiatives since 2017, it’s an important new direction.

“What we’re hoping to essentially prove here is that investing in this type of work can improve health outcomes – and that has generational impact, particularly for these historically underserved communities,” she said.

Some of the groups are more directly involved in healthcare, like San Jose’s Latinas Contra Cancer, another grantee working to help Latino communities with cancer education and self-advocacy. Other groups, meanwhile, are working to improve social determinants of health. That includes things like improving access to affordable housing, quality education and nutritious food, in addition to looking at the effects of climate change on communities.

“It’s not typical in some sense, but it does connect to our broader work and our broader giving strategy,” Richards said. “At the end of the day, we are a healthcare company, we make medicines, and the reality is that deeply-rooted health inequities impact our ability to push the boundaries of science and improve outcomes for all patients.”

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