District of Columbia

Founded in the same year as the DC Home Rule Act was signed into law, The Community Foundation has worked diligently to improve the lives of those who live in the nation’s capital region.

Our Team

Dr. Marla M. Dean

Senior Director
Health Equity Fund
(202) 955-5890 Ext. 162
mdean
@thecommunityfoundation.org

Isabel Spake

Senior Program Officer
Health Equity Fund
(202) 955-5890 Ext. 165
ispake
@thecommunityfoundation.org

Chris Howie

Managing Director, Development
(202) 955-5890 Ext. 205
chowie
@thecommunityfoundation.org

The Community Foundation in DC

DC is so much more than our nation's capital. It is a microcosm of history, diversity, culture, and beauty that is home to more than 700,000 Washingtonians. Our thriving multi-cultural community is a place where families who have lived here for multiple generations live side by side with families from Africa to South & Central America, the Caribbean, and beyond – bringing vibrancy, color, and intersectionality to the city's music, food, art, and daily life.

Our VoicesDMV Community Insights Report showcases what makes DC exceptional: strong civic engagement, optimism for the future, and deep community love and identity among residents. At the same time, the report reveals areas where we can build on our strengths to address community needs – with residents facing food insecurity, high cost of living, limited affordable housing, and community safety concerns.

For more than 50 years, the Greater Washington Community Foundation has turned these insights into action, bringing together caring donors, committed nonprofits, dedicated government and business partners, and local communities to address our community's greatest needs while building a thriving region where every person prospers.

We're making a difference by mobilizing resources to support nonprofits addressing these needs through our Sharing DC Fund. We partner with the DC Government's Interagency Council on Homelessness to lead The Partnership to End Homelessness. We invest in improving health outcomes and health equity through the Health Equity Fund and Maternal Health Fund.

Ready to join DC's story of resilience and possibility? Reach out to our team to learn more about how you can get involved!”

Current DC Initiatives

We are proud to oversee the following initiatives and programs in DC:

Led by the Greater Washington Community Foundation and the District Government’s Interagency Council on Homelessness, the Partnership brings together the public and private sectors to advance effective and innovative solutions that will accelerate the development of affordable housing and ensure homelessness in DC is rare, brief, and nonrecurring. We believe that ending homelessness is possible if we work together — and it is a smart investment in our city’s continued prosperity.
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The $95 million Health Equity Fund is designated to improve the health outcomes and health equity of residents of the District of Columbia. The historic fund is one of the largest philanthropic funds of any kind focused on community-based nonprofits that serve District residents and also the largest in The Community Foundation’s nearly 50-year history.
Given that 80 percent of DC’s health outcomes are driven by social, economic, and other factors, compared to just 20 percent by clinical care, the strategy for this fund is to use an economic mobility frame to address the root causes that are causing these challenges in the first place.
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The Sharing DC Fund brings together donors who share our passion for building a more equitable, just, and thriving District of Columbia. With expert facilitation by Community Foundation staff, donors join together to learn first-hand about the challenges facing our community. Thanks to the generosity of this growing community of givers, together we discover and invest in visionary nonprofits working on the frontlines of the region’s most pressing issues – basic needs, economic mobility, and community building.
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Administered by the Greater Washington Community Foundation, the Developing Families Maternal Health Fund is a strategic initiative focused on improving health outcomes for vulnerable and marginalized populations by advancing innovative, community-based solutions and advocacy - specifically around access to maternal health.