Gail Christopher, Vice President for Policy and Senior Advisor at the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, will receive Grantmakers In Health’s (GIH) 2015 Terrance Keenan Leadership Award in Health Philanthropy. The award pays tribute to health grantmakers whose work is distinguished by leadership, innovation, and outstanding achievement.
A pioneer and visionary, Dr. Christopher has spearheaded programs that take a broad view of health and well-being and the multiple factors that shape them. Among her major contributions to philanthropy and social justice is leading Kellogg’s America Healing initiative, an effort to combat racism by focusing on equity and healing and to dismantle structural inequities that limit opportunities for vulnerable populations. America Healing is considered one of the largest commitments of a national foundation to address racism directly.
“Gail Christopher embodies the exceptional qualities sought in any recipient of The Terrance Keenan Leadership Award in Health Philanthropy,” says Kathy Ko Chin, President and CEO of the Asian and Pacific Islander American Health Forum, who nominated Dr. Christopher for the award. “Her broad vision and focus on health and well-being for all children, families, neighborhoods, and communities have achieved significant outcomes– the approaches being systemic in design and implementation, and comprehensive in scope.”
Dr. Christopher’s distinguished career includes developing PLACE MATTERS, a national initiative of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies’ Health Policy Institute, which aims to improve the health of communities by addressing social conditions that lead to poor health. Her leadership for a national policy platform for healthy food and nutrition has led it to be recognized as a critical health issue for whole child development. She is also a champion of integrative health, which utilizes conventional and complementary medicine practices to address the range of physical, emotional, social, spiritual, and environmental influences that affect health.
