AstraZeneca Foundation is a grantmaking foundation that aims to support organizations dedicated to fighting health inequity and community crises. It was founded in 1993 and is affiliated with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, although it operates as a distinct legal entity. ¹

Since 2021, AstraZeneca has held an annual giving program called Accelerate Change Together (ACT) on Health Equity. It also created a “long-term strategic roadmap” to achieve its health equity “ambition.” ²

Background

AstraZeneca Foundation is located in Wilmington, Delaware. Its full name is the AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation. ³

AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation describes itself as a private grantmaker to support nonprofit organizations dedicated to fighting health inequity and community crises. It was founded in 1993 and is affiliated with AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, although it operates as a distinct legal entity. ^{1 4}

Activities

Since 2021, AstraZeneca has held an annual giving program called Accelerate Change Together (ACT) on Health Equity. It also created a “long-term strategic roadmap” to achieve its health equity “ambition.” ² The program disburses grants to nonprofit organizations at the community, regional, and national levels working to promote “health equity” (the attempt to correct perceived disparities along racial and gendered lines in the U.S. healthcare system) and STEM education “among historically excluded and disenfranchised populations.” ¹

In 2022, AstraZeneca spent $4 million on said disbursements, and had the funded programs receive guidance from its new Health Equity Advisory Council (HEAC), a body of cross-sector figures created in 2021. Thomas LaVeist, a HEAC member, said it is a “pressing public health imperative” to combat “persistent health inequities.” ¹ As of January 2025, the HEAC was comprised of Deborah Bae, TaWanna Berry, Cassandra Codes-Benjamin, Erin Knight, Thomas LaVeist, Esther Lucero, William McDade, Harry L. Seawright, Stephen Thomas, and Dan Waldmann. ⁵

Financials

In 2023, AstraZeneca Foundation had a revenue of $1,991,347, total expenses of $3,307,237, and ended the year with $40,612,736 in net assets. ⁶

Grantmaking

In 2023, AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation disbursed $2,171,839 in grant funds. It gave grants to multiple organizations working on “Health Access for Next Generation Equity Programs” including AIDS Resource Alliance, Community Volunteers in Medicine, Health Care for the Homeless, LCH Health and Community Services, Mary’s Center for Maternal and Child Care, and SOME (So Others May Eat). It gave grants to groups working on health equity initiatives including Camino Community Development Corp, Charitable Pharmacy of Central Ohio, Good News Clinics, Healthvisions Midwest, Montgomery Area Community Wellness Coalition, and Oklahoma City Indian Clinic. ⁷

Funding

In 2016, AstraZeneca Foundation received $691,332 from Florida Hospital Waterman Foundation. ⁸ In 2017, it received another $691,332 from the Foundation. ⁹

Leadership

As of 2023, James W. Blasetto was the chair and trustee of AstraZeneca Foundation. Its trustees included Matt Diggons, Christie Bloomquist, Mariam Koohdary, Rachele Berria, Barry D. Mann, L. Kristin Newby, Gayle Porter, and Mika Sovak. ¹⁰

Previously, Bloomquist was the president of the organization. Koohdary also serves as the board secretary. Mann is the system medical director for health equity at Main Line Health System and the professor of surgery at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University. Newby is the professor of medicine and co-director of cardiology at Duke Cardiac Care Unit. Porter is the co-founder and co-director of the Gaston and Porter Health Improvement Center. ¹⁰

1. “AstraZeneca Awards $4M to Nonprofit Organizations to Advance Health Equity.” BusinessWire, December 13, 2022. Accessed January 5, 2025. https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20221213005788/en/AstraZeneca-Awards-4M-to-Nonprofit-Organizations-to-Advance-Health-Equity
2. “Accelerate Change Together on Health Equity.” AstraZeneca. Accessed January 6, 2025. https://www.astrazeneca-us.com/sustainability/actonhealthequity.html.
3. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation. 2023.
4. “AstraZeneca Foundation.” AstraZeneca. Accessed January 6, 2025. https://www.astrazeneca-us.com/sustainability/healthcare-foundation.html.
5.  “Action Health Equity.” AstraZeneca. Accessed January 6, 2025. https://www.astrazeneca-us.com/sustainability/actonhealthequity.html.
6. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation. 2023. Part I and Part II.
7. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation. 2023. Part XIV. 3 – Grants and Contributions Paid During the Year or Approved for Future Payment.
8. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Florida Hospital Waterman Foundation. 2016. Schedule A, Part VI – Supplemental Information.
9. Return of Organization Exempt from Income Tax (Form 990). Florida Hospital Waterman Foundation. 2017. Schedule A – Part VI – Supplemental Information.
10. AstraZeneca Foundation. “2023 Annual Report.” YouTube, April 8, 2024. Accessed January 5, 2025. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7HfbmWBLOU.