Press release via the United Philanthropy Forum
By implementing a bipartisan solutions approach, this partnership will seek to address systemic inequities impacting communities nationwide.
Washington, D.C., Nov. 7, 2023 – The Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) and United Philanthropy Forum announced today that they entered into a partnership to build a cross-sector advocacy coalition aimed at finding just, practical, and equitable policy solutions to issues impacting communities across the country. The two organizations will focus on raising public and policymaker awareness of the urgency to improve maternal health outcomes, safeguard ballot access and security, and strengthen and modernize the Farm Bill for the benefit of all Americans.
This partnership brings together two organizations with complementary and reinforcing assets. As a united front, the Forum and BPC will build energized coalitions to advance federal action on shared public policy priorities. By approaching this work through a bipartisan lens, the Forum and BPC strive to:
- Reinforce the idea that advocacy, in addition to grantmaking, is critical to achieving equitable progress on the key challenges facing the nation,
- Leverage their joint networks to build a strong coalition of stakeholders around these issues, and
- Achieve progress on these issues through the crafting of policy recommendations, the introduction of relevant legislation in Congress, and other momentum for policy reform.
As the largest and most diverse network in American philanthropy, United Philanthropy Forum (the Forum) holds a unique position in the social sector to help increase philanthropy’s impact in communities across the country. With a mission to lead, strengthen, and inform a national network of organizations to advance their impact for the common good, the Forum recognizes the importance of substantial engagement in the public policy process.
The Bipartisan Policy Center is the place where democracy gets to work, bringing its expertise and an extensive network of former elected officials, business leaders, academics, and advocates from across the political spectrum to advance practical solutions to our national challenges. Since 2007, BPC has helped shepherd countless bills across the finish line.
“Through our public policy work, the Forum is a leading voice in Washington for the philanthropic sector. Our advocacy efforts have helped us recognize that as philanthropy continues to make investments in communities where inequities exist, these inequities exist and persist, in large part, because of exclusionary public policy,” said Matthew L. Evans, Senior Director of Public Policy at United Philanthropy Forum. “By supplementing philanthropic investments with advocacy, we have an opportunity to address real change. Impacting public policy at the state and federal levels via strong advocacy and engagement strategies starts with a bipartisan approach that catalyzes a just and equitable society. Through this partnership with the Bipartisan Policy Center, we aim to be a unified voice that addresses systemic inequities that unfairly impact communities across the country.”
“I have always believed that bipartisanship is far more than a feel-good approach to lawmaking or a tactic to lower the temperature in Washington,” said Margaret Spellings, President and CEO of the Bipartisan Policy Center. “Bipartisanship is a means to a larger end, and we are eager to collaborate with United Philanthropy Forum to advance enduring policy solutions that benefit all Americans.”