Carestar Foundation

Carestar Foundation operates as a trust-based funder with a singular, sharply defined mission: eliminating racial disparities in California's emergency and prehospital care system. Based in Berkeley and endowed with approximately $61.2 million in assets, the foundation concentrates annual giving — $8.9 million in FY2023, up from $6.6 million in FY2022 — on the narrow but high-stakes intersection of EMS reform and racial equity.

The foundation strongly favors multi-sector collaboratives that bridge community-based organizations, local emergency medical services agencies (LEMSAs), hospitals, and advocacy groups. Their grantee portfolio confirms this orientation: the CA Bridge EMS Buprenorphine Use Pilot ($420,000, Public Health Institute) and Project Lifeline: 911 Awareness and Equity ($250,000, Nuestra Comunidad) both involve explicit partnerships between prehospital systems and underserved communities. Organizations working in isolation — without community-EMS system linkages — face a harder path.

Trust-based philanthropy is the operative frame. The 2023 Annual Review reveals 82% of grants awarded as multi-year commitments and 81% as unrestricted general operating support — strong signals that Carestar invests in organizations, not just projects. Public Health Advocates, the foundation's largest single recipient at $560,000 across three awards including a special "Seizing the Moment" initiative, exemplifies the iterative, relationship-driven grantmaking Carestar prefers. First-time applicants should approach the foundation as a prospective long-term partner, not a one-time source of project capital.

The application pathway is a structured two-stage funnel. Applicants first complete an online eligibility quiz at carestarfoundation.org/apply, then submit a brief LOI (~200-300 words) to grants@carestarfoundation.org. The foundation responds within approximately two weeks. If invited, applicants receive a full application link with a specific due date. The flagship Transformations & Innovations Grants program is not accepting applications as of early 2026, with the next cycle expected to open mid-year; Community Paramedicine grants ($50,000, fixed) and General Operating grants may be available on a rolling basis.

Relationship-building prior to application is nearly essential. Carestar hosts industry convenings, publishes research, and maintains a grantee hub — attending these events and engaging with the foundation's publications demonstrates the embedded participation in the EMS equity movement that their grantee list reflects. Reviewing the 2026-2030 Strategic Plan and grounding proposals in its specific priorities is a concrete step that distinguishes serious candidates from the rest.

Carestar's grantmaking reflects a foundation in an active growth phase. Total giving rose from $6.6 million in FY2022 to $8.9 million in FY2023, while grants paid increased from $5.1 million to $7.2 million — a 40% jump in direct grantmaking in a single year. FY2024 revenue of $3.85 million has been recorded, though full grants-paid data is not yet publicly available.

The foundation's documented grantee dataset spans 33 grants totaling $3.34 million, with an average of $101,263 per award. The range is dramatic: from $2,000 general operating grants to advocacy organizations (California Immigrant Policy Center, Services & Immigrant Rights & Education Network) to $560,000 in multi-award relationships with Public Health Advocates. The effective median for substantive programmatic grants sits between $75,000 and $125,000.

By program area, EMS system reform and opioid response commands the largest documented share — approximately 45% — led by the Public Health Institute ($420,000 for the CA Bridge EMS Buprenorphine Pilot) and Loma Linda University ($250,000 for EMS to Decrease Opioid Deaths). Community violence intervention and trauma response accounts for roughly 25%, anchored by John Muir Health Foundation ($300,000 for HVIP Beyond Violence Program Expansion) and the Anti-Police Terror Project ($85,000 combined). Workforce development and EMS pipeline programs represent approximately 10%, including Bay Area Youth EMT Program ($66,667) and Public Works Alliance ($125,000 for EMS Corps). Policy advocacy — Health Access Foundation ($202,000), New Venture Fund ($100,000 for gun violence prevention in California) — accounts for roughly 12%. Small general operating grants to community and immigrant advocacy organizations make up the remaining 8%.

Geography skews heavily toward California: 31 of 33 documented grants are California-based, with two awards to national partners in DC and NJ. The Bay Area and Northern California receive the concentration of grants, though the 2024 $400,000 EMSA award and the June 2025 $300,000 UCSF Benioff grant signal growing statewide ambition.

Program-specific caps: Transformations & Innovations grants top out at $100,000 for one-year projects and $300,000 for multi-year. Community Paramedicine grants are a fixed $50,000. The foundation also makes strategic out-of-cycle institutional investments — the $400,000 EMSA and $300,000 UCSF awards — at higher thresholds when systemic or research partnerships are involved.

Among its asset-class peers — all within the $58M-$62M range — Carestar Foundation stands apart in three ways. First, its giving-to-assets ratio of approximately 14.5% (FY2023) substantially exceeds the IRS-mandated 5% minimum, reflecting active endowment deployment rather than reserve preservation. Second, Carestar maintains an unusually transparent and accessible application process compared to peers who disclose little or operate by invitation only. Third, while peers in this tier take broad health mandates or sector-specific access programs, Carestar is the only foundation at this asset level exclusively dedicated to prehospital care equity in California. Legacy Health Endowment, the closest California peer by size, operates a broader community health mandate in the Central Valley without an EMS-specific or racial equity lens. For grant seekers working at the intersection of EMS reform and racial justice in California, Carestar has no direct peer — it is the primary philanthropic anchor in this niche.

Carestar entered 2025 with clear momentum on institutional partnerships. In June 2025, the foundation awarded $300,000 to UCSF Benioff Children's Hospitals to conduct a study on EMS providers' perspectives on treating children in acute agitation in Alameda and Los Angeles counties. The study runs through December 2026 and marks Carestar's most visible expansion into pediatric emergency equity to date.

Earlier, on July 8, 2024, Carestar awarded California EMSA $400,000 over two years for the Comprehensive Equity and Access Project — the foundation's largest documented state-agency partnership. CEO Tanir Ami (annual compensation $280,875) publicly framed the investment as addressing disparate emergency care outcomes across zip codes and socioeconomic strata. The initiative encompasses statewide equity metrics development, community paramedicine toolkit updates, and a 2025 EMS data summit.

In October 2024, Carestar joined the Possibility Lab at UC Berkeley and Alameda County Health's EMS Agency to fund a first-of-its-kind two-phase workforce equity study led by Dr. Meredith Sadin of UC Berkeley's Goldman School of Public Policy. The study examines the effect of EMS provider race and gender match on patient satisfaction, followed by a statewide survey of EMS personnel.

The foundation has also published its 2026-2030 Strategic Plan, articulating a five-year commitment to systems change, movement-building, and community power in EMS reform across California. Board Chair is currently Fatima Angeles, with Joseph Chiang MD serving as Vice Chair/Treasurer. No leadership transitions have been reported. The Transformations & Innovations program is closed to new applications pending the 2026 cycle opening.

Anchor every section in specific racial equity outcomes. Carestar's application materials, annual reviews, and entire grantee portfolio center outcomes for Black, Indigenous, Latinx, and Asian communities in emergency care. Generic health equity framing is insufficient — name which specific populations you serve, quantify the EMS disparity you are addressing, and describe the measurable equity outcomes your work will produce. The 2023 Annual Review cites statistics like 63% of California's population identifying as non-White versus only 32% of firefighters as the type of data that animates their funding decisions.

Form your collaborative before you write a word. The Transformations & Innovations Grants explicitly require diverse community representatives, an EMS agency partner, and ideally LEMSA involvement. Even for General Operating grants, the portfolio shows a consistent preference for organizations bridging formal EMS systems with BIPOC community groups. Identify your partners first, then apply together.

Use the correct channel for your LOI. Applications begin at carestarfoundation.org/apply with an eligibility quiz. If eligible, send a 200-300 word summary to grants@carestarfoundation.org. This LOI window is a real filter — write it as a substantive pitch: name your collaborative partners, cite the disparity, state your geographic focus within California. The foundation responds within approximately two weeks.

Time your approach around program cycles. The Transformations & Innovations program is not accepting applications as of early 2026; the next cycle opens mid-2026 with a tentative May 31, 2026 deadline. Community Paramedicine grants are fixed at $50,000 and may operate on a rolling basis. Confirm current availability directly at grants@carestarfoundation.org before investing in a full application.

Reference the 2026-2030 Strategic Plan by name. The foundation articulated explicit five-year goals around systems change, movement-building, and workforce diversification. Applicants who map their work to these priorities using Carestar's own language signal genuine partnership rather than opportunistic grant-seeking.

Design for multi-year commitment. 82% of grants are multi-year. A single-year proposal reads as misaligned with the funder's trust-based philosophy. Describe phases, milestones over 2-3 years, and a sustainability plan beyond the grant period.

California residency is a hard gate. All eligible applicants must be California-based nonprofits or public entities. Rural, frontier, and tribal areas receive priority consideration within the Transformations & Innovations program.