Sierra Health Foundation

What Sierra Health Foundation does

Sierra Health Foundation is a private 501(c)(3) philanthropy founded in 1984 (originally as the Sierra Foundation for Health) and headquartered in Sacramento, California. Its mission is to promote health, racial equity, and racial justice across 26 Northern California counties through convening, educating, and strategic grantmaking. The foundation operates a diversified investment portfolio whose earnings fund grantmaking and operations, with a $52,947,000 asset base and $3,628,000 in total program services and operating expenses as of year-end 2024.

Its core programs include the Responsive Grants Program (approximately $8.3 million awarded since 2008), the Health Leadership Program (365 executives supported since 2001), and the Conference and Education Center, which hosts more than 15,000 participants annually. In 2012 the foundation spun out The Center at Sierra Health Foundation, an independent 501(c)(3) nonprofit that extends the foundation's reach statewide with offices in Sacramento and Fresno, including a dedicated focus on the San Joaquin Valley. The Center runs additional program areas covering children, youth and families; economic stability and opportunity; policy and systems change; and land, water and climate health equity, and it is now the operational base for partnerships such as the fiscal sponsorship of the Center for Inclusive Democracy.

The foundation does not sell commercial products; its business model is endowment-funded grantmaking governed by IRS 5% payout rules, augmented by co-funding partnerships with peer funders (e.g., The California Endowment, United Way California Capital Region) and, more recently, with the State of California on immigration humanitarian funding. Recent initiatives such as the Heal Stockton Fund (post–November 2025 mass shooting) and the Match for Meals campaign indicate a growing role in rapid-response, emergency-relief programming in addition to long-horizon strategic grantmaking.

Name

Sierra Health Foundation

Legal name

Sierra Health Foundation

Website

https://sierrahealth.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1984

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Sierra Health Foundation is a Sacramento-based private philanthropy, founded in 1984, that promotes health, racial equity and racial justice through strategic grantmaking, convening and partnerships across 26 Northern California counties and statewide via The Center.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropy and Foundation Grantmaking

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Private Foundations (BPAGAKAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Health & Medical Research Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAL)

Keywords

• Philanthropic grantmaking
• Health equity funding
• Community health programs
• Nonprofit foundation services
• Racial equity initiatives

Headquarters

HQ city

Sacramento

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Program Services and Grants, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Investment Portfolio Earnings: The foundation maintains a global and broadly diversified portfolio with allocations to various asset classes, both public and private. Earnings from the investment portfolio are the primary source of funds for grantmaking and operations.
2. Endowment-Based Grantmaking: Based on IRS regulations, the foundation allocates a minimum of 5 percent of net invested assets as direct grants, in-kind support and operating expenses annually.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Sierra Health Foundation is a private philanthropy that invests in and acts as a catalyst for ideas to promote health, racial equity, and racial justice across 26 Northern California counties through strategic grantmaking, convening, educating, and partnering with nonprofit organizations and public agencies. It operates The Center at Sierra Health Foundation, a separate 501(c)(3) nonprofit established in 2012 to deepen impact statewide with a focus on the San Joaquin Valley, and runs programs including a Responsive Grants Program, Health Leadership Program, Conference and Education Center, COVID-19 Regional Response Funds, and multiple thematic program areas covering children/youth, economic stability, policy change, and climate health equity.

Product overview

Sierra Health Foundation is a private philanthropy organization offering a portfolio of programs and services focused on health, racial equity and racial justice. Rather than a unified technology product, the foundation operates through multiple distinct programs: The Center at Sierra Health Foundation (a statewide 501(c)(3) nonprofit), the Responsive Grants Program (approximately $8.3 million awarded since 2008), the Health Leadership Program (leadership training, on hold), the Conference and Education Center (venue services hosting 15,000+ annual participants), COVID-19 Regional Response Funds, and various program areas covering children/youth, economic stability, policy change, and climate health equity. The foundation also provides Learning and Evaluation services and hosts the Speaker Series for community convening. The Center promotes efforts statewide with offices in Sacramento and Fresno, while the foundation serves 26 Northern California counties.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• The Center at Sierra Health Foundation
• Responsive Grants Program
• Health Leadership Program
• Conference and Education Center
• COVID-19 Regional Response Funds
• Children, Youth and Families Programs
• Economic Stability and Opportunity Programs
• Policy and Systems Change Programs
• Land, Water and Climate Health Equity Programs
• Speaker Series
• Heal Stockton Fund
• Learning and Evaluation Services
• Partnerships Newsletter

Quantifiable outcome

• $8.3 million awarded through Responsive Grants Program since 2008
• +2 more outcomes

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and supporting.

• Center for Inclusive Democracy (CID)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 6 May 2026The Center at Sierra Health Foundation is hosting CID as fiscal sponsor as the organization transitions from an academic institutional affiliation to operating as an independent organization, expanding its nonpartisan research and data work on inclusive democracy.
• California State GovernmentcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 20 February 2026Governor Gavin Newsom and California's state government announced a collaboration with Sierra Health Foundation and other philanthropic partners to leverage up to $35 million in existing humanitarian funding to support immigrant families facing federal deportation efforts. The state has committed $125 million total for immigration legal services statewide.
• United Way California Capital RegioncoreGTM or Marketing Partner · 11 December 2025Partnership for Match for Meals campaign where Sierra Health Foundation matched donations up to $200,000 and United Way matched up to $100,000 to support local food banks across the Sacramento region.
• Various Regional Food BankssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with local food banks including Interfaith Food Bank of Amador County, Food Bank of El Dorado County, Feeding the Foothills, Sacramento Food Bank and Family Services, and Yolo Food Bank through the Match for Meals initiative.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• California Wellness Foundation: Private California health foundation pursuing health equity, racial equity, and wellness-focused grantmaking statewide; closely mirrors Sierra Health Foundation's operating model and beneficiary focus.
• Tides Foundation: San Francisco-based private philanthropy and fiscal sponsor supporting social justice, equity, and health initiatives; structurally analogous as a grantmaker and fiscal sponsor (relevant to SHF's CID hosting role) with overlapping programmatic themes.
• The California Endowment: Large California-based private health foundation focused on health equity and racial justice; co-funder with Sierra Health Foundation on the San Joaquin Valley Health Fund COVID-19 Response Cluster, directly comparable in mission, geography, and grantmaking model.

Regional players

• Sacramento Region Community Foundation: Local community foundation serving the Sacramento region with grants for health, equity, and community well-being; directly comparable in Sacramento geographic focus and plays a complementary role in the local nonprofit ecosystem Sierra Health Foundation supports.
• San Francisco Foundation: Major Bay Area community foundation supporting racial equity, economic opportunity, and health initiatives; comparable as a California regional grantmaker but with broader scope and larger asset base than Sierra Health Foundation.

Broad incumbents

• Blue Shield of California Foundation: Larger California-based health philanthropy tackling domestic violence, healthcare access, and community health; overlaps SHF on health-equity and California regional grantmaking but operates at significantly greater scale.
• Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: Nation's largest health-focused philanthropy; comparable in advancing health equity through grantmaking, leadership programs (e.g., SHF's Health Leadership Program mirrors RWJF-style executive development), and influence in shaping field priorities.
• David and Lucile Packard Foundation: Substantially larger California-based private foundation with portfolios in children's health, climate, and equity; relevant as a scale and model reference for how Sierra Health Foundation could expand program scope over time.
• The Kresge Foundation: National private foundation with significant health equity, racial equity, and place-based grantmaking; larger but directly comparable in approach (place-based, equity-focused grantmaking, leadership development), offering a forward template for SHF's potential trajectory.

Others

• Felton Institute / Sierra Business Council (partner peer): Regional partner organization in the Sierra Nevada that receives Sierra Health Foundation funding for economic and community development; included as an ecosystem peer illustrating the type of intermediate SHF supports rather than a comparable foundation.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/user/SierraHealth
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/sierra-health-foundation
• Xx.com/shfcalifornia
• Facebookfacebook.com/802395576

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Sierra Health Foundation