The Hope and Heal Fund is a gun control advocacy group created and controlled by the left-of-center New Venture Fund, a funding and fiscal sponsorship nonprofit administered by the philanthropy consulting firm Arabella Advisors. ¹ HHF makes grants to organizations that push gun-control issues, with a specific focus on the state level in California. ²

Member Organizations

HHF advertises many left-of-center and progressive organizations as “members” of the project. Some of the organizations listed are the Akonadi Foundation, a left-leaning identity politics, social justice, and immigration advocacy organization; Heising-Simons Foundation, a left-of-center philanthropic organization associated with the family of hedge fund manager James Simons; and the Pritzker Family Foundation, a left-leaning foundation associated with Democratic Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker. ³

The Williams Institute

HHF made a grant of an undisclosed amount in 2017 to the Williams Institute on Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity Law and Public Policy, a left-leaning think tank focusing on LGBT issues operated by the UCLA School of Law. The grant was labelled to address “Gun Violence in the LGBTQ Community.” The Williams Institute subsequently released multiple reports regarding LGBT adults and gun ownership as a result of the grant. The findings of the research conveyed that LGBT adults are less likely to own a gun than their heterosexual counterparts. ⁴⁵

Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence

HHF made two grants in 2017 and 2018 to the Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence (EFSGV), a left-leaning gun-control policy advocacy organization. The grant was labelled for the purpose of “Firearm Suicide Prevention via Reducing Access to Firearms.” EFSGV later published a paper proposing means of further restricting firearms sales. ⁶⁷

Leadership

Brian Malte is the executive director of HHF. He previously worked for more than 15 years as the senior national policy director for the Brady Campaign to Prevent Gun Violence, a long-standing gun control organization.⁸

Ally Barron is the development and communications officer of HHF.

Maggie Mayer is a national urban fellow for HHF.

Mary Kopp is the program manager of HHF.

Funding

Rosenberg Foundation, a left-leaning philanthropic organization that gives mainly to social justice-based organizations, made a $100,000 grant to New Venture fund labelled to support Hope and Heal Fund. ⁹

The California Wellness Foundation made two grants to Hope and Heal Fund totaling $1.25 million labelled to be used for “core operating support.” ¹⁰

Blue Shield Foundation of California, a left leaning giving organization associated with the healthcare giant Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, made a $100,000 grant to New Venture Fund in 2017 labelled to be used for the Hope and Heal Fund in 2017. ¹¹

As of November 2020, Hope and Heal fund has provided grants to: ¹²

• Advance Peace
• Berkeley Media Studies Group
• Educational Fund to Stop Gun Violence
• Gifford Law Center to Prevent Gun Violence
• National Institute for Criminal Justice Reform
• Violence Policy Center
• The Williams Institute

1. “Contact Us,” Hope and Heal Fund. Accessed February 22, 2019. https://hopeandhealfund.org/contact-us
2. “Contact Us,” Hope and Heal Fund. Accessed February 22, 2019. https://hopeandhealfund.org/contact-us.
3. “Homepage.” Hope and Heal Fund. Accessed April 03, 2019. https://hopeandhealfund.org/.
4. Hope and Heal Fund. “HHF Grants 2017-2018.” Hope and Heal Fund. Accessed April 03, 2019. https://hopeandhealfund.org/grants.
5. “Gun Violence and LGBT Adults.” Williams Institute. November 19, 2018. Accessed April 03, 2019. https://williamsinstitute.law.ucla.edu/research/violence-crime/gun-violence-and-lgbt-adults/.
6. Hope and Heal Fund. “HHF Grants 2017-2018.” Hope and Heal Fund. Accessed April 03, 2019. https://hopeandhealfund.org/grants.
7. Allchin, Adelyn, Vicka Chaplin, and Joshua Horwitz. “Limiting Access to Lethal Means: Applying the Social Ecological Model for Firearm Suicide Prevention.” Injury Prevention: Journal Of The International Society For Child And Adolescent Injury Prevention, June 25, 2018. doi:10.1136/injuryprev-2018-042809.
8. “User Profile: Brian Malte.” LikedIn. https://www.linkedin.com/in/brian-malte-095851132/
9. “Our Grantees.” Our Grantees – Rosenberg Foundation. Accessed April 04, 2019. https://rosenbergfound.org/grantmaking/our-grantees/.
10. “Search Our Grants.” The California Wellness Foundation. Accessed April 04, 2019. https://www.calwellness.org/money/search-grants/.
11. “Grants – New Venture Fund.” Blue Shield of California Foundation. Accessed April 04, 2019. https://blueshieldcafoundation.org/grants/grantee/new-venture-fund.
12. “Our Work.” Hope and Heal Fund. Accessed November 18, 2020. https://hopeandhealfund.org/our-work/.