OUR STORY
We are reimagining everything, starting with ourselves.
Nine years ago, Dr. Ruth Shaber founded the Tara Health Foundation with a vision of improving the lives of women and girls through the creative use of philanthropic capital. After a robust clinical and administrative career at Kaiser Permanente, she committed to building a foundation that would apply the principles of evidence-based medicine and science to philanthropy.
In the years since, the Tara Health Foundation has embarked upon a long, nonlinear journey of transformation. We’ve evolved our mission, vision, organizational structure, relationships, and ourselves in response to our growing understanding of power: how we hold it, how it shapes our work, and how transforming our relationship to it could make the most meaningful impact on gender, economic, and racial justice.
The tools are ready. Are we?
The tools for large-scale, transformative change are largely at our fingertips. Yet something crucial seems missing: the collective will and courage to fully embrace this change.
Many of us who steward significant resources grapple with deep, disquieting questions about transforming our own power, privilege, and control. In our experience, that struggle can be complex and sometimes painful. But beyond the discomfort, beyond the fear of loss, we’re discovering unexpected purpose, connection and even joy.
Our commitment:
full transparency
This understanding guides our final commitment: to document and share, honestly and vulnerably, our collective and individual experiences reckoning with our historically unjust status, capital and power.
By telling our stories—the struggles, breakthroughs, and ongoing questions—we can contribute to the collective transformation our world needs and deserves.
Transformation is a complicated, often winding journey. It is deeply personal and profoundly collective. As we move from the middle of our story into our final chapters, we’re committed to sharing what “transforming in action” has looked like for us in its raw, unpolished truth. Hopefully, our experiences will inspire others to do the same.
JOIN US
Join us in the months and years ahead as we continue sharing our experiences on our new blog, Make Shift Happen. We invite you to engage with these stories, challenge our thinking and share your own journey.
As we move forward, we hope you will breathe with us, dream with us and grow with us. Because ultimately, the transformation of philanthropy—and beyond—isn’t just about changing systems or practices. It’s about changing ourselves and, in doing so, expanding what’s possible in our work and shared world.