Program Officer, Achieving Equitable Outcomes

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.

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.

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.

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

• 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.

• Conduct environmental scans and landscape analyses to identify emerging trends, research gaps, policy developments, and opportunities in health…