Paul Hillegonds joined our Michigan community of philanthropy 17 years ago as a trustee of The Kresge Foundation, following decades of leadership as a member of the Michigan Legislature and in the corporate sector.
Paul Hillegonds joined our Michigan community of philanthropy 17 years ago as a trustee of The Kresge Foundation, following decades of leadership as a member of the Michigan Legislature and in the corporate sector.
Now, a CMF trustee, co-chair of the Government Relations Public Policy Committee (GRPPC), former co-chair of the Michigan COVID-19 Philanthropy Working Group, member of the Statewide Equity Fund Strategic Support Working Group, outgoing CEO of the Michigan Health Endowment Fund and now senior advisor to the CEO at the Health Fund, Hillegonds is retiring.
For nearly two decades, Hillegonds represented a West Michigan district in the Michigan House of Representatives, where he also served as Republican leader, co-speaker and speaker of the House.
CMF sat down with Hillegonds to learn more about how his background in public policy shaped his approach to philanthropy.
“I learned that advancing public policy goals requires relationships with community partners and policymakers built on trust and mutual respect. It requires asking questions, listening to and learning from other’s diverse experiences and viewpoints, it requires consensus building and compromise,” Hillegonds said.
Hillegonds shared that policy engagement is not limited to lobbying but includes the power of advocacy, where storytelling and information sharing with policymakers can have great impact.
“In our polarized society today, the most effective advocacy philanthropy can undertake is information sharing and storytelling that lifts community voices and the contribution of research and lessons learned from grantmaking to seed policy innovation and funding,” Hillegonds said.
He shared that philanthropy is in a unique position to learn from community voices.
“We can convene, we can set tables for community partners and policymakers where sharing, listening and trust building can occur,” Hillegonds said.
Hillegonds is deeply engaged with CMF, serving as a trustee, GRPPC co-chair and a member of the SEF Strategic Support Working Group. Hillegonds served as a co-chair of CMF’s Michigan Philanthropy COVID-19 Working Group which developed CMF’s Building an Equitable Future Together policy framework and informed the development of the Statewide Equity Fund (SEF).
The SEF is intended to serve as a collaborative vehicle for Michigan philanthropy to catalyze opportunities that advance impactful strategies to address systemic challenges laid bare by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The SEF Strategic Support Pilot is bringing together CMF members in up to five regions to develop local approaches to help shape federal funding toward equity-centered approaches within the economic prosperity domain of the policy framework. The collaborative funding model will pool $2 million in CMF member funds to provide the infrastructure needed to help support and guide the incoming federal funding.
“This is an unprecedented opportunity but also a monumental challenge,” Hillegonds said. “Our challenge, as funders, is to work in our communities to build trust and respect for the work we’re doing, because longer term, in order to sustain important programs that match our goals, it will require public confidence.”
Hillegonds shared how the pandemic has unearthed inequities in our systems and structures and further amplified health disparities that are rooted in a long history of racial and systemic inequities.
“I think the pandemic has heightened our awareness of barriers to opportunity, in our case, access to good health, experienced by underserved people who live in both rural and urban areas,” Hillegonds said.
The Health Fund’s immediate COVID response efforts included working with community voices to encourage vaccination, access to telehealth and partnering with funders to provide mental health supports in schools.
“Addressing health disparities over the longer term requires a focus on social determinants of health like healthy food access, affordable housing, quality education and economic opportunity, for example,” Hillegonds said.
“No one foundation can impact all of these areas, and we certainly haven’t tried to impact them all, but with our respective areas of focus, as foundations, we can partner with each other and the public and private sectors to seed innovative ideas, show proof of concept and catalyze systemic change over the long term.”
Hillegonds reflected on how the Health Fund’s collaboration and partnerships have led to impactful programs and opportunities for Michigan residents.
“I’m proud of our programs, we’ve been focused on food security and wellness, behavioral health access and care, healthy aging and special partnerships with state government and statewide organizations. Our support has ranged from grants to community nonprofits throughout the state to projects focused on statewide systems change. It’s all been very fulfilling,” Hillegonds shared.
Hillegonds continues to serve as senior advisor to the CEO at the Health Fund and will officially retire at the end of the year. Neel Hajra was named CEO of the Health Fund in August.
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