More than $4 billion in foundation money was devoted to healthcare issues in 2006 by both older and newer philanthropies, according to the Foundation Center
Said Paul Brest, president of the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in Menlo Park and author of a book on philanthropic strategies: "What I've seen is foundations moving from thinking all we needed to do is support good research in the field and the rest will happen to realizing that unless we are going to support organizations to take the research and try to turn it into policy, then the research is going to sit in the bottom of a pile somewhere."
The California Endowment's entry into Sacramento has been driven by disappointment that many of its pilot projects have shown impressive results yet been ignored by lawmakers, said Ross, its president.
Those include ventures to keep the mentally ill off the streets, extend medical care to children from poor families and help gang members avoid returning to prison.
"We have data and evidence that these programs work," Ross said.
Over the last few years, the endowment has tried to be more sophisticated in how it influences state policy.
Along with four other foundations, including Hewlett, the endowment has financed California Forward, a nonprofit explicitly charged with changing the "outmoded" political structure of the Capitol.
The nonprofit backed Proposition 11, the successful November ballot initiative designed to make legislative elections more competitive and lead to more moderate officeholders.
Now the endowment employs Jason Kinney, a prominent Democratic political strategist, for advice.
In an effort to boost public support for healthcare reform in 2007, the foundation spent more than $10 million on a statewide advertising campaign, community organizing and public forums.
"We are growing weary of experiencing failure on this front," Ross said. He said the employment of people like Zingale "is a trend you'll see more of from our colleagues in the field."
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jordan.rau@latimes.com
