FOSTER CITY, Calif.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced that the Gilead Foundation’s Creating Possible Fund™ will provide a total of $20 million to 13 inaugural grantees. The Creating Possible Fund was launched to support creative and high-impact strategies that advance health through education equity, with a main focus on building a pipeline of Black health leaders. The work of these grantees aims to help increase social connections for underserved students, improve the school and learning environment, and create systems of support for students to thrive. Gilead has a broad and long-standing commitment to advancing global health equity, which it regards as critical to improving health outcomes for all. The company’s health equity strategy focuses on collaborating with organizations that reach underrepresented communities.
“Through the work of the Gilead Foundation, 13 organizations have been selected as inaugural Creating Possible Fund grantees, who are national leaders, thinkers and change makers in education, health and racial equity, adolescent mental health and social justice,” said Korab Zuka, Gilead Foundation President and Vice President, Public Affairs, Gilead Sciences. “We know that inequities in health stem from larger structural inequities that are deeply embedded in our society, laws, economy and particularly our educational systems. With assistance from leaders in education and health, we believe we’ve chosen a group of innovators in health equity who will make a meaningful impact on society.”
Research shows that disparities in education mirror disparities in health. According to a National Academies of Science report, extensive studies indicate a link between educational attainment, which is the level of education a person has achieved, and health indicators, including access to health services, life expectancy and death from disease. Over the last 40 years, in all regions of the U.S., the gap in health between people with high and low education has become wider.
The Creating Possible Fund grantees were selected due to their creative and scalable approaches to tackling equity gaps in education and health for youth in the United States. The 13 Creating Possible Fund inaugural grantees are:
- Brown University (Annenberg Institute for School Reform), Providence, Rhode Island
- Kingmakers of Oakland, Oakland, California
- KQED, San Francisco, California
- Morehouse College, Center for Excellence in Education, Atlanta, Georgia
- Oakland Fund for Public Innovation, Oakland, California
- Fresh Lifelines for Youth/Peer Point, Milpitas, California
- Pulse of Perseverance, Chicago, Illinois
- Represent Justice, Los Angeles, California
- Southern Poverty Law Center, Montgomery, Alabama
- St. John's Community Health/Compton Unified School District, Los Angeles, California
- The Trevor Project, West Hollywood, California
- Xavier University of Louisiana, New Orleans, Louisiana
- YELLOW, Virginia Beach, Virginia
“Thanks to the Gilead Foundation's support for advancing educational equity, more than a thousand students in New Orleans will have access to intensive pre-college STEM programs for the first time,” said Reynold Verret, PhD, President of Xavier University of Louisiana. “The Creating Possible Fund will help develop and support a new generation of possible Xavierites who will go on to continue our legacy of excellence as Black STEM leaders, healthcare providers and educators. At Xavier, we are blessed to educate future changemakers at all levels.”
“Traditionally, a young scholar’s probability of achieving success was largely a byproduct of their connection to successful individuals,” said Max Madhere, MD, President and Co-Founder, Pulse of Perseverance. “With the support of the Gilead Foundation, Pulse of Perseverance will be able to revolutionize mentorship for underserved youth by providing them resources for success, including access to, and sustainable relationships with, strong Black health leaders. We hope this will help bridge the gap of workforce inequities, creating much needed diversity at the highest levels of success – directly supporting the focus of the Creating Possible Fund.”
The Creating Possible Fund is just one pillar through which the Gilead Foundation works toward its vision of health equity for all. The Gilead Foundation contributes to local communities where Gilead employees live and work, with an emphasis on STEM education, social services and sustainability programs. The Gilead Foundation also responds to disaster and humanitarian relief efforts through its matching program for employees, Giving Together, which matches donations made by Gilead employees to eligible nonprofit organizations up to $15,000.
For more information on the Gilead Foundation, visit: https://www.gilead.com/purpose/giving/gilead-foundation.
About the Gilead Foundation
The Gilead Foundation is a 501 (c)(3) nonprofit organization endowed by Gilead Sciences, Inc. The Gilead Foundation, originally established in 2005 and reendowed in 2021, envisions health prosperity for all by seeking to address the social determinants of health, with an emphasis on education equity. The Gilead Foundation’s mission is to create spheres of impact – in the company, in the community, in society – by encouraging a culture of giving and volunteering and exploring innovative approaches to complex social issues.
About Gilead Sciences
Gilead Sciences, Inc. is a biopharmaceutical company that has pursued and achieved breakthroughs in medicine for more than three decades, with the goal of creating a healthier world for all people. The company is committed to advancing innovative medicines to prevent and treat life-threatening diseases, including HIV, viral hepatitis, inflammation and cancer. Gilead operates in more than 35 countries worldwide, with headquarters in Foster City, California.
Gilead has promoted equity, particularly healthcare equity, since the company brought its first therapies to the market. Through global partnerships, Gilead’s medicines today reach millions of people in low- and middle-income countries around the world. In the United States, Gilead has committed more than $100 million over 10 years through the COMPASS Initiative® to community organizations that are working to combat HIV in the U.S. South. In 2020, Gilead launched the Racial Equity Community Impact Fund to support organizations tackling racial inequities affecting Black communities across the United States.
Gilead and the Gilead logo are trademarks of Gilead Sciences, Inc., or its related companies.
For more information about Gilead, please visit the company’s website at www.gilead.com, follow Gilead on Twitter (@Gilead Sciences) or call Gilead Public Affairs at 1-800-GILEAD-5 or 1-650-574-3000.
