Tara Health Foundation

Background and History

The Tara Health Foundation is a San Francisco-based private grantmaking organization that has donated to activist groups supporting pro-abortion activism and contraception access. According to its website, the Foundation describes itself as “committed to doing philanthropy differently in service of gender, economic, and racial justice.” The organization was founded in 2014 by physician Ruth Shaber, and as of 2026 it announced it planned to spend down its assets and sunset by 2028.  ^{3  4  5}

Tara Health Foundation has provided funding towards policy advocacy and activism related to abortion access and other left-of-center causes by using  a series of “anchor organizations” to provide investment spending from the Foundation. These include Rhia Ventures, Orchid Capital Collective, the Oasis Institute, and the Center for Inclusive Business at BSR. ^{6  7  8  9  10}

Activities

In 2025, Tara Health partnered with the Trust Based Philanthropy Project through their “Meet the moment” initiative. This initiative seeks to bring its supporters together “in solidarity with nonprofits.” The group claims that the political climate could pose risks to nonprofits through reductions in funding, legal concerns, and lack of staff. ¹¹

In January 2023, Tara Health was one of several shareholders for RHIA Ventures to offer proposals towards the expansion of corporate responsibility for reproductive services, including abortion. These 31 proposals, of which Tara Health Foundation offered 5, were submitted in response to the Supreme Court’s ruling on Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization in 2022 that overturned the Court’s decision in Roe v. Wade, which had recognized a purported constitutional right to abortion.¹² Ruth Shaber, founder and president of Tara Health Foundation, commented on the proposal by stating, “The Dobbs decision has dealt a terrible blow to the availability of reproductive health care. We’re calling on companies to do all they can to mitigate these impacts.¹²

Funding

Tara Health Foundation provided $4.8 million was provided by in 2015 to the Bay Area Research Consortium on Toxic Stress and Health. The money was used to research “how childhood adversity affects children’s health.” ¹³

The Foundation invested $4.1 million invested in Breckinridge Capital Advisors, an investment advisory firm with “municipal investments” which “examine and rank…gender wage gap, nutrition, medical care availability and sexual assault risks” for purposes of investing in “high-scoring counties…” According to the Foundation, Breckinridge prioritizes women-owned businesses in its corporate investments. The Foundation invested in Breckinridge because it broadens their scope of funding and due to the investment firm’s willingness to apply “a unique range of gender lens criteria.” ¹⁴

The foundation invested $2 million in the Women’s Health and Reproductive Rights portfolio through Merrill Lynch. The Foundation invested this money in approximately 30 companies at the advice of its wealth advisors at Merrill Lynch. ¹⁵

Tara Health Foundation provided $250,000 to the abortion advocacy group NARAL in 2017 to help the group pressure American businesses to support abortion and abortion-related activism. ¹⁶

The Tara Health Foundation provided seed funding to Rhia Ventures, then called the Reproductive Health Investors Alliance, towards supporting research and infrastructure building. As of 2024, Rhia Ventures is one of four “anchor organizations” seeded by Tara Health. ^{2  17  10}

Financials

According to the Tara Health Foundation’s 2024 tax filings, that year it reported a revenue of $9,128,953, expenses of $7,666,788, and net assets of $25,346,231.  ¹⁸

Leadership

Ruth Shaber is the founder and president of the Tara Health Foundation, serving in the role since 2014. Prior to founding Tara Health, Shaber worked as an obstetrician and gynecologist for Kaiser Permanente, was the founder of the Women’s Health Research Institute, and the medical director for the Care Management Institute. ^{10  19}

Rachel Robasciotti is the board chair of the Foundation ^{10  20} as well as the founder and co-CEO of investment firm Adasina Social Capital.  ^{20  21}