Shifting Power, Strengthening Community Health: Participatory Grantmaking in Action

At Scattergood, our commitment to transforming behavioral health begins with the belief that every person holds inherent dignity, wisdom, and power. This belief shapes not only what we fund, but how we fund. That’s why this year’s National Public Health Week theme Ready.Set.Action! resonates. We know that “Good Health Doesn’t Just Happen” without intentionality, individual voice and intervention.

Today’s topic, Community Leadership, invites us to consider the ways that public health shapes each of our daily lives, and how we, as individuals and groups, can shape it back 

Scattergood embraced the practice of participatory grantmaking knowing that healthy communities don’t happen by chance, but are created through the collective action of passionate, dedicated individuals within those communities. As funders, we see participatory grantmaking as a powerful way for communities to design and lead the changes necessary to thrive.

What is Participatory Grantmaking?

Participatory grantmaking shifts decision-making power to people with deep community knowledge and lived experience. Rather than relying solely on foundation staff or boards, this approach invites residents to shape priorities, review proposals, and direct resources.

The way we see it, participatory grantmaking is a public health strategy. It builds trust, strengthens relationships, and ensures that resources flow to solutions grounded in real community needs. When those closest to the challenges help design the response, communities are better positioned to create the conditions where health can thrive.

From Funding to Action: Communities Leading Change

Our ongoing partnership with the Kensington Community Resilience Fund (KCR Fund) has given us the opportunity to witness what happens when a community comes together to shape change. The KCR Fund promotes wellness, builds resilience, and improves quality of life in neighborhoods deeply impacted by the opioid crisis.

Since 2021, community granting groups, composed of residents with lived experience and strong neighborhood ties, have distributed more than $1.5 million in flexible funding to local nonprofits. 

The KCR Fund demonstrates that participatory grantmaking is more than a funding model. It is community-led public health in action.

Five Lessons from Participatory Grantmaking for Building Healthier Communities

Power Drives Health

Healthy communities are built when residents have the power to shape the conditions that affect their lives. Participatory grantmaking starts from the premise that communities already hold the insight and leadership needed to act, but they need a seat at the table and a say in how resources are distributed.

Lived Experience Is Public Health Expertise

Residents understand the daily realities that shape their health outcomes, such as access to clean, safe spaces to gather, or to trusted service providers. Relying on community knowledge ensures that funding supports solutions that are relevant, responsive, and rooted in community life.

Healing Can Happen Through Participation

In communities impacted by trauma and disinvestment, being part of decision-making can be restorative. Participating in shaping local solutions allows residents to reclaim agency and contribute to collective healing.

Action Builds Capacity

When residents come together to make decisions, they strengthen skills, relationships, and networks. This kind of civic engagement builds the capacity needed to respond to future public health challenges.

Shared Power Leads to Sustainable Impact

When communities help direct resources, solutions are more likely to be trusted, utilized, and sustained. This is how healthier environments, and healthier lives, take shape over time.

Ready. Set. Action!

Public health doesn’t begin in clinics or hospitals; it begins in communities, and is shaped by the environments we create and the decisions we make together.

Participatory grantmaking is a meaningful way to take action. It ensures that the people most affected by public health challenges are not just recipients of support, but leaders in designing solutions.

At a moment that calls for urgency and collaboration, we have the opportunity to share power, invest in community leadership, and build the conditions where health can flourish. We invite funders, nonprofit leaders, and community partners to join us. Because when communities lead, healthier futures follow.

For funders or community members looking to get involved, contact KCR Fund Director, Ashley Feuer-Edwards: ashley@kcrfund.org. 

To learn more about the KCR Fund visit https://kcrfund.org.