We’re All
Connected
A Celebration of Our Partners • Impact 2021
Over the past year, the United States and our world continued to face unprecedented challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic. With your support, we were able to have a tremendous impact. And together with you, we have been a part of the greatest public health collaboration in history. Healthcare workers, public health experts, researchers, businesses, schools, community organizations and so many others worked together in new ways.
In this report, you will learn more about these collaborations and see your contribution in action—highlights of programs across the globe and our critical COVID-19 emergency response work. The information shared in this report includes data from the CDC Foundation’s fiscal year, July 1, 2020, to June 30, 2021.
Year In Review
$463M +
$463,358,468: Contributions from donors and partners to help CDC save and improve more lives. This includes $317M for the COVID-19 response.
136 & 83
219 programs, including 136 domestic and 83 global programs, with CDC and public health partners
203
Emergency response projects, including COVID-19 response
165
Countries impacted through CDC Foundation programs made possible by our donors
$1.6B +
$1,681,919,558: Raised by the CDC Foundation to support 1,245 programs since 1995
21,036
Partnerships—individuals, philanthropies, corporations and organizations—working together to make an impact
243
Community-based organizations funded in 46 states
Data from July
1, 2020 to June 30, 2021.
CBO grants started in FY2021 and continued into FY2022.
Voices of Impact
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Brian Garofalow ,
Chief Marketing Officer, Igloo Products Corp
“ We are endlessly appreciative for the work done by the CDC Foundation in partnership with IGLOO. COVID-19 severely impacted many of the communities we pride ourselves in serving, and the CDC Foundation was able to help us identify those with greatest need and provide the logistics expertise to route our resources to have the most impact, the fastest. Their ability to process data, make critical decisions and execute a plan is inspiring in the face of significant adversity. ”
Igloo supported the CDC Foundation’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund through a cause marketing campaign in which Igloo donated 100% of profits from all Playmate Coolers sold on Igloocoolers.com during the promotion period, as well as an in-kind donation of coolers when they were needed to help transport vaccines in the Pacific.
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June Lai ,
CEO and Co-Founder, Catalyst
“ We’re two years into a pandemic that has turned our world upside down. Globally, we rely on CDC for critical information, data and guidance that will help us navigate through this as safely as possible. Catalyst is proud to support the efforts of the CDC Foundation, helping to strengthen the collective impact in the fight against COVID and to protect the health and well-being of people around the world. ”
Catalyst supported the CDC Foundation’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund through a cause marketing campaign in which $1 was donated to the CDC Foundation for every purchase of specific promotion products.
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Neil de Crescenzo ,
CEO, Change Healthcare
“ At Change Healthcare, we invest in opportunities to build a sustainable healthcare system for everyone. During COVID-19, we have accelerated our delivery of innovative solutions that improve citizens’ healthcare journey, especially for the underserved. We believe supporting the CDC Foundation helps create healthier communities with more equitable access to healthcare services. ”
Change Healthcare supported the CDC Foundation through a gift to the Annual Alliance, which provides corporations, foundations and organizations an opportunity to provide unrestricted support for CDC’s critical work to protect America and the world from health, safety and security threats.
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The Honorable Shirley Franklin
“ Our collective future depends on all communities having an equitable opportunity for health. I support the CDC Foundation because they are bringing together diverse partners to address our public health challenges. ”
Franklin is the former Mayor of Atlanta and a current CDC Foundation board member. As a donor, she provided unrestricted support to the CDC Foundation.
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Frank Martire ,
Former Chairman and Current Board Member, NCR Foundation
“ The mission of the NCR Foundation is to be a catalyst of opportunity and change, leveraging our talents and resources to better our communities around the world. We value our partnership with the CDC Foundation and are proud to support the Crush COVID: All of Us Campaign. ”
NCR Foundation supported the CDC Foundation’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund and provided a grant in support of the CDC COVID-19 International Epidemiology Staff Support Project.
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Jonica Inch, MPH ,
Arizona Department of Health Services
Amber Asburry, MPH, RS ,
Arizona Department of Health Services
“ The CDC Foundation has provided critical support to the state of Arizona in a time of need since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the resources they provided, our organization was able to quickly mobilize a team of investigators to provide tailored guidance, quality education and important resources to those impacted by COVID-19, as well as vital data used to enhance our understanding of disease transmission in Arizona and inform our mitigation strategies. ”
The CDC Foundation partnered with the Arizona Department of Health Services to support COVID-19 staffing, retention and recruitment.
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Daniel E. Dawes ,
Executive Director, Satcher Health Leadership Institute
“ The CDC Foundation has been a critical partner and change agent in our efforts to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on under-resourced and marginalized communities, create the nation’s first health equity tracker to better understand the determinants and drivers of health inequities, and advance health equity in more meaningful and systemic ways. ”
The CDC Foundation partnered with the Satcher Health Leadership Institute at Morehouse School of Medicine to launch a Health Equity Task Force to monitor and assess the impact of COVID-19 on vulnerable populations.
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Samantha Garbus
“ When the pandemic started, it seemed more urgent than ever that public health take center stage and that a large portion of my charitable donations should go to an organization that was integral to fighting for the health of everyone nationwide and worldwide. Vanguard Charitable recommended the CDC Foundation, and I was honored to participate in a virtual meeting with the Foundation’s top leaders. All that I have read and heard has moved me to donate more and more. ”
Samantha provided unrestricted support to the CDC Foundation through gifts from a donor advised fund.
Impact Stories
Highlights
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Fighting Heart Disease with Communication
Million Hearts® is a national initiative co-led by CDC and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to prevent 1 million heart attacks, strokes and cardiovascular events. Its work with the CDC Foundation aims to provide health communication campaigns that help adults in the United States understand their personal risk for heart disease and stroke, believe in their power to change it, and take steps to protect their heart health.
To further highlight the importance of prioritizing heart health, the CDC Foundation is proud to convene the Alliance for the Million Hearts® Campaigns, which in 2021 launched the first in a series of national, prevention-focused communication campaigns. The “Start Small. Live Big.” campaign encourages people, especially adults aged 55–64 years, to get back on track with small steps so they can get back to living big. The campaign featured public service announcements, social media ads, influencer promotions and employee communications across the CDC Foundation, CDC and partner channels. This initiative is supported by the Bayer Corporation and Amgen, Inc.
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Championing and Supporting Frontline Health Heroes
Through the generosity of donors, the CDC Foundation has assisted organizations across the country that support essential workers, making a difference every day in the lives of others. The CDC Foundation received WebMD’s 2021 Frontline Champions Health Heroes award on behalf of essential workers nationwide.
Through the yearly award, which recognizes inspiring individuals meeting healthcare challenges and giving back to their communities, WebMD recognized five organizations the CDC Foundation supported to help essential workers using their skills in service to others during the pandemic: Atlanta Fire Rescue Foundation, Rocky Mountain Tribal Leaders Council, South Forsyth High School, Imperial Valley Wellness Foundation and Paterson Department of Health and Human Services. Through the generous support of individual and organizational donors, the CDC Foundation managed 177 COVID-19 projects in fiscal year 2020. This included providing 139,900 care kits to schools, jails, first responders and people experiencing homelessness, as well as 922,000 pieces of personal protective equipment (PPE). In total, over 8 million pieces of PPE were provided to frontline workers, nonprofits and others in need throughout the COVID-19 response.
Photo: J Glenn Photography for Atlanta Fire Rescue Foundation
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Saving Lives with Meningitis Screening
Cryptococcal meningitis is one of the leading causes of death among people living with HIV, with most of the estimated 220,000 new cases and 181,000 deaths every year occurring among this population.
The cryptococcus fungus that causes cryptococcal meningitis is present worldwide and has little to no effect on healthy individuals. However, for people with severely weakened immune systems like those with advanced HIV disease, the mortality rate is extremely high. Early detection and anti-fungal treatment can dramatically reduce mortality, yet countries with the highest number of cases often lack the infrastructure to implement regular screenings or provide the necessary treatments. Since 2017, and with funding by Pfizer Inc., the CDC Foundation has worked to support programs in 13 African countries to preemptively treat patients and avoid potential infection or death. The CDC Foundation has joined seven other public health organizations in developing a strategic framework for ending deaths from cryptococcal meningitis as early as 2030.
Photo: Alexander Jordan, MPH, Global Health Coordinator, Mycotic Diseases Branch, CDC
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Fighting the Opioid Epidemic
Opioids remain the main driver of drug overdose deaths in the United States. Since the start of the opioid epidemic in 1999, one million Americans have lost their lives to opioid overdose, with synthetic opioids like fentanyl now responsible for more opioid-related deaths than either prescription drugs or heroin.
Addressing the crisis requires strong and collaborative partnerships within communities, particularly between the public health and public safety sectors. With support from Bloomberg Philanthropies, CDC and the CDC Foundation developed the Public Health and Safety Team (PHAST) Toolkit to help states and local jurisdictions prevent overdose deaths by supporting data sharing and coordinated overdose prevention between public health and public safety agencies. While public safety agencies hold real-time data on overdoses, arrests and emerging drug threats, public health agencies bring a data-driven approach to investigating and responding to public health crises. Because neither sector can reduce opioid-related deaths independently, the PHAST Toolkit helps to bridge knowledge, data and service gaps by creating opportunities for collaboration, coordination and shared accountability. The PHAST Toolkit was piloted by the CDC Foundation in three jurisdictions, and an updated final version of the toolkit and an associated website with e-learning modules will be released in 2022.
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Improving the Infrastructure of Clinical Care
The COVID-19 pandemic has demonstrated the need for greater information on the infrastructure of clinical care in order to provide better data in real time and rapidly improve clinical management for current and future pandemics.
The CDC Foundation has funded a multicenter study, Severe Acute Respiratory Infection—Program for Emergency Preparedness, in coordination with the University of Washington and Discovery, the Critical Care Research Network. The study encompasses more than 13 clinical sites throughout the United States and has enrolled patients since April 2020, most of whom have COVID-19. The study investigates clinical factors, virologic and immune response factors, treatments and patient interventions and health systems issues associated with clinical outcomes, with integrated data analyses. The initiative also collects data on levels of hospital system stress. This project was supported by the CDC Foundation COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, which included donations from individuals and organizations.
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Achieving Better Outcomes for Newborns
Roughly 60 percent of maternal deaths and 45 percent of newborn deaths occur in countries affected by humanitarian crises and fragile economic and social conditions.
Countries affected by humanitarian crises often lack accurate public health data about maternal and child health, especially due to population movements driven by refugee and internally displaced populations. In response to this global public health challenge, the CDC Foundation and CDC partnered with ministries of health, humanitarian organizations and other partners in Cameroon, Chad and Burkina Faso to strengthen the availability of data on maternal, perinatal and neonatal deaths in humanitarian settings. This Pregnancy Outcome and Death Surveillance and Response project is developing a model for better understanding the challenges to achieving good maternal and newborn health outcomes in these settings and using data for evidence-based decision making. By capturing data on health outcomes and deaths for women and newborns, as well as expanding the scope of surveillance to encompass COVID-19 surveillance, this innovative pilot will give ministries of health the tools they need to accelerate progress to end preventable maternal and neonatal mortality. This program is supported by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Photo: Endang Handzel
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Keeping Schools Healthy and Safe
The CDC Foundation, in partnership with CDC, launched a project to help determine which COVID-19 prevention strategies are being used in schools across the country and the impact of COVID-19 on the social, emotional, academic and mental health of the school community.
Based on data collected from more than 7,036 teachers and 2,485 parents, the study determined that 16 percent of parents of K-12 students reported their mental health was poor for 14 or more days in the previous month. Additionally, 27 percent of teachers reported symptoms consistent with clinical depression, and a further 37 percent of teachers reported symptoms consistent with general anxiety. Another survey conducted through the project, drawing on data from more than 9,300 K-12 students, parents, teachers, principals and staff, found that 90 percent of students and teachers reported wearing masks in hallways, classrooms and offices, and 83 percent of teachers reported that their schools had a policy for implementing physical distancing strategies to prevent the spread of COVID-19. The data collected through the project provided school, public health and elected officials with timely, actionable data they could use to keep schools safe. Support for this project was provided by the CDC Foundation’s COVID-19 Emergency Response Fund, which included donations from individuals and organizations.
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Tackling COVID-19 Misinformation
Coordination and amplification of public health messaging is paramount to our ability to end the COVID-19 pandemic.
The CDC Foundation plays a critical role in tackling COVID-19 misinformation and providing up-to-date health messaging through its partnership with the de Beaumont Foundation and Trust for America’s Health on the Public Health Communications Collaborative. These streamlined and consistent communications increase Americans’ confidence in guidance from CDC and state and local public health officials. And for businesses making important decisions about staff safety and return to work protocols, the Health Action Alliance, an initiative begun by the CDC Foundation in partnership with the Ad Council, Business Roundtable, the de Beaumont Foundation and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, has developed communications tools and resources for businesses and employers to guide the development of COVID-19 vaccination policies and programs. Seventy-one percent of Americans trust their employer to make the right decision about when it is safe to return to the office. Equipping employers with this guidance strengthens vaccine acceptance, advances health equity and rebuilds trust in public health systems.
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Fighting COVID-19 with Communities
It takes a team to fight COVID-19. In 2021, the CDC Foundation was selected as a recipient of the NFL’s unique Draft-a-Thon giving campaign for the second year in a row.
Through the campaign, NFL fans donate money that the league divides up among selected nonprofit organizations fighting the COVID-19 pandemic. In 2021, the CDC Foundation received $172,000 through the Draft-a-Thon, which combined with the $440,000 received in 2020 brought the overall donation to $612,000. With these contributions, the CDC Foundation provided COVID-19 support to 12 community-based organizations, nonprofits, city and county health and economic outreach efforts, and research and data collection initiatives across the country, as well as a COVID-19 research project in Brazil. Among the support made possible by the donations was rental and financial assistance to 4,000 households in Santa Clara, California, delivery of 560,500 masks to students in Atlanta Public Schools and surrounding counties and financial assistance and case management for 800 families and 200 individuals in Baltimore who tested positive for COVID-19 and required isolation. This work was made possible by the generous support of the NFL Foundation and the many NFL fans who joined in the effort.
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Promoting Critical COVID-19 Vaccine Messaging in Communities
With support from Google.org Ad Grants, the CDC Foundation worked to promote vaccine education and equitable distribution.
Through this initiative, the CDC Foundation partnered with more than 50 community-based organizations to increase capacity around providing important COVID-19 messaging to their communities. As a part of this work, the CDC Foundation provided assistance with messaging and best practices for optimizing web content, in addition to managing ad grants for selected organizations who are reaching those most impacted by the pandemic. Many of the ads also ran in multiple languages. In addition, this partnership supported the Department of Health and Human Services work by highlighting CDC and COVID-19 vaccine messaging.
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Keeping People Experiencing Homelessness Safe and Healthy
Handwashing remains a key mitigation strategy to prevent the spread of COVID-19, but access to clean water, effective handwashing supplies and restrooms can be challenging for people experiencing homelessness.
To address this need, the CDC Foundation in partnership with the Clean the World Foundation, and with financial support from Truist and technical assistance from CDC, launched an initiative to set up handwashing and portable restroom stations for individuals experiencing homelessness. The stations were in Southern Nevada, Central Florida and Puerto Rico. The project is estimated to have served at least 8,000 unique individuals across the geographic areas. In addition to traditional service organizations like shelters and food pantries that provide resources for people experiencing homelessness, other business owners joined the effort and offered their properties to serve as site locations, including law offices, insurance agencies and construction sites.
Message from CEO
COVID-19 reminds us that we are all connected.
The pandemic brought new meaning to public health. Our hope is that the experience we have all lived through over the last two years will lead to a better understanding of public health—change the way people think about public health and how it affects our daily lives. Our goal is to continue to turn all of the hard-won lessons of the pandemic into a healthier, more equal future for all.
Thank you for supporting public health and for being a part of this critical work. Because of your support, we provided tools and mental health resources to help those affected by COVID-19 related stress, grief and loss. We rolled out an innovative solution for safe water access to rural Alaskans. We supported research to provide critical COVID-19 data to inform reopening plans and safety strategies for schools. We provided support to many community-based organizations throughout the United States. We implemented a creative program to help address the opioid epidemic. We organized multiple communication campaigns and partnerships to help address vaccine and COVID-19 misinformation. And many more initiatives like the ones you see highlighted throughout this report.
Thank You
For connecting with us, supporting us and for working together to make an impact in the United States and around the world.
