The Organization
The Commonwealth Fund — among the first private foundations started by a woman philanthropist, Anna M. Harkness — was established in 1918 with the broad charge to enhance the common good. Today, the mission of The Commonwealth Fund is to promote a high-performing health care system that achieves better access, improved quality, and greater efficiency, particularly for society's most vulnerable, including low-income people, the uninsured, and people of color. The Fund carries out this mandate by supporting independent research on health care issues and making grants to improve health care practice and policy.
Our Values and Commitment to Equity
The Commonwealth Fund envisions a health care system that values and benefits all people equally — one that combats racism and pursues equity, in treatment and outcomes as well as in leadership and decision-making. We believe this requires an alliance of people and institutions across society working together to recognize and value the lived experience of all individuals; ensure the delivery of compassionate, affordable, quality health care; and strive for equitable outcomes for all.
We aspire to racial equity, diversity, and inclusion in how we work. We place great value on the varied backgrounds and experiences our staff bring to our organization and encourage employees to bring their full selves to the workplace. We look for talented, nimble, empathetic, and supportive team players who are ready to roll up their sleeves, create impactful change, and celebrate accomplishments.
Program Summary
The Commonwealth Fund's Achieving Equitable Outcomes (Equity) program works to close gaps in treatment, experience, and outcomes across the U.S. health care system. The program generates evidence, advances promising models of care, and develops policy and practice solutions in service of higher-quality, more equitable health care. The Equity team's work is organized around three focus areas:
- Equitable technology innovation — helping safety-net health systems adopt digital tools, including AI, that improve outcomes and narrow disparities.
- Maternal health — advancing community-centered birthing models and evidence-based standards, including support for community birth centers and national postpartum payment standards.
- Leadership — investing in the next generation of health equity leaders through three fellowship programs: the Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Policy Leadership at Harvard, the Pozen-Commonwealth Fund Fellowship in Health Equity Leadership at Yale, and the Michael Drake Health Philanthropy Fellowship Program.
Position Description
The Program Officer serves as a strategic thinker, grantmaker, and subject matter expert who independently manages a portfolio of grants; identifies new funding opportunities; synthesizes evidence; develops recommendations; contributes to portfolio strategy; and serves as a thought partner to the Senior Vice President.
Reports to: Senior Vice President, Achieving Equitable Outcomes
Specific Responsibilities
Grantmaking and Grant Development
- Develop and manage a portfolio of grants that advances the Equity team's strategy, including surfacing prospective grantees for SVP's consideration, shaping project concepts, and assessing alignment with Fund priorities.
- Work with prospective and current grantees to strengthen project design, clarify objectives, and ensure proposed work is grounded in evidence and responsive to field needs.
- Draft clear proposal summaries and related materials for internal review and Board consideration, reflecting project goals, rationale, design, and expected contribution to the portfolio.
- Steward active grants through regular contact with grantee principal investigators, review of interim and final deliverables, and constructive feedback on rigor, relevance, timelines, and dissemination potential.
- Prepare completed grant memoranda that summarize outcomes, implementing lessons, and implications for future grantmaking.
Portfolio Development and Support
- Conduct environmental scans and landscape analyses to identify emerging trends, research gaps, policy developments, and opportunities in health equity.
- In partnership with the SVP, development/writing of program plans for the Equity Program. This responsibility includes synthesizing findings from the past year from all projects across a program area, assessing other foundations' contributions to the program area, and assisting in the development of strategic options for the program for the year ahead.
- Synthesize findings from grants, research, survey data, peer funders, and field engagement into concise insights that inform program strategy and future investments.
Dissemination
- Develop briefing materials, policy briefs, journal articles, presentations, and other products that translate complex research and policy ideas into clear, actionable messages for key audiences.
- Collaborate with communications colleagues, grantees, Director of Equity Research and Analysis, and external partners to disseminate project findings through publications, convenings, webinars, media, and other channels.
- Represent the Fund in meetings, conferences, and other external settings, bringing back strategic intelligence and identifying opportunities to strengthen the portfolio's visibility and impact.
Operational Management
- Support the Senior Program Manager and Program Assistant to ensure good grants management in adherence to Commonwealth Fund processes and policies.
- Coordinate with colleagues across the Fund on cross-cutting equity issues, internal reviews of proposals and publications, fellowship-related activities, convenings, and other program priorities as needed.
- Support efficient team planning and communication by sharing portfolio updates, tracking follow-up items, and helping ensure that program activities are aligned with strategic goals.
Competencies & Qualifications
- Master's degree or equivalent experience in public health, public policy, health services research, medicine, public administration, or a related field.
- Minimum of 5-7 years of professional experience in philanthropy, health policy, health care, research, nonprofit leadership, or a related field, with demonstrated knowledge of health equity, health systems, and issues affecting people of color, Indigenous people, and other underserved communities.
- Strong research, analytical, and strategic skills, including the ability to conduct environmental scans and landscape analyses, synthesize complex qualitative and quantitative information, apply systems thinking, and translate findings into strategic recommendations.
- Experience with project management and project leadership required, including prospecting and developing concepts, managing projects, leading work from concept through execution, and coordinating timelines, deliverables, and follow-up with attention to detail and deadlines.
- Excellent written and oral communication skills, including strong executive writing and the ability to translate research and policy ideas into clear materials for internal, external, and public audiences.
- Strong engagement and collaboration skills, with the ability to build credibility with grantees, researchers, policymakers, funders, community leaders, and other external stakeholders; experience facilitating convenings and working effectively across teams.
- Sound judgment and initiative, including the ability to work with limited supervision, independently prioritize competing work, anticipate issues, recommend solutions, and connect individual projects to long-term portfolio goals.
- Excellent interpersonal skills, a collaborative and flexible approach to shared work, and a demonstrated commitment to advancing equity and improving health outcomes.
Location
Position is hybrid and based in our NYC location.
Salary
The starting salary for this position is $117,836.00 - $147,295.00 depending on professional experience.
