Princeton, NJ, December 5, 2024 — The Sozosei Foundation is thrilled to announce the appointment of Altha J. Stewart, MD, to its Board of Directors. Dr. Stewart, a nationally recognized leader in psychiatry and management of public mental health systems, brings a wealth of experience in public and mental health advocacy, and addressing health disparities. She has been a stalwart and outspoken advocate for the decriminalization of mental illness, the focus of the Foundation’s efforts.
September 2024: We all receive many newsletters, one of which comes from the Sozosei Foundation. Today, we seek your input on our newsletter.
June 2024: We love to talk about collaboration here at the Sozosei Foundation. It is one of our core values, and for good reason. It is the idea that the whole is greater than the mere sum of its parts. To build on last month’s discussion of curiosity, what about collaboration makes it so valuable? Why is it important? How can philanthropy best support collaboration beyond giving it lip service?
Correctional facilities in the US are considered the largest provider of mental health services.1 The Sozosei Foundation is tackling the question—"What can be done to accelerate solutions so that we eliminate the inappropriate use of jails and prisons for mental health care?” But tackling the criminalization of mental illness is complex and there is no single solution or ‘magic bullet’ to eliminate the use of jail or prison for the treatment of people with mental illness. Identifying effective solutions is difficult, in part, due to the limited availability of data needed to evaluate whether solutions work.
To understand the Sozosei Foundation’s approach to impact, a team from the RAND Corporation interviewed grantees, representatives from partner organizations and thought leaders; reviewed scientific and grey literature; and met bi-weekly with the Foundation’s Executive Director. This document summarizes what the RAND team learned about the Foundation’s approach to impact and an evaluation strategy that aligns with this approach.
The Sozosei Foundation launched its Resilient Communities Program (RCP) in the summer of 2020 at the request of Otsuka America Pharmaceutical, Inc. (OAPI), with the intent of evolving the company’s longstanding commitment to philanthropy. The goal of the program was to refine the company’s philanthropic commitment by designing guidelines and priorities to support diverse, under-resourced communities where the company has a presence. Over the two years of its grantmaking, the program provided over $1 million in grants and served over 177,000 people across six target communities.
When COVID-19 swept across the United States in the Spring of 2020, Sozosei had just formalized its governance structure and was in the midst of a national search for its inaugural executive director. Simultaneously, Sozosei – with leadership from its Board of Directors — moved swiftly to address the immediate needs of patients, healthcare workers, and families impacted by COVID-19.