Moderna Launches Foundation to Promote Access to Quality Care

Moderna recently launched the Moderna Charitable Foundation to promote public health, access to quality healthcare, and educational opportunities, particularly in underserved populations.

The foundation and its grant program will focus on charitable programs and support local and global communities impacted by the pandemic, advance scientific education and innovation, promote public health access to healthcare, and advocate for inclusion and diversity.

Last year, the Moderna Board of Directors approved an initial up-front endowment of $50 million for the foundation. Most recently, the foundation announced nearly $5 million in initial grants to five local and global nonprofit organizations addressing many area needs.

First, part of the funding went to Boston Medical Center's Good Grief Program to meet growing demands for trauma-informed, culturally responsive therapeutic services for children who have experienced loss due to COVID-19. And a grant awarded to Heading Home will help provide permanent housing for extremely low-income individuals in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Moderna also awarded a grant to the International Rescue Committee to support infection prevention and control programs for improved health systems in West and Central Africa and a grant to Life Science Cares to support nonprofit partnerships and programs fighting poverty and its effects in the greater Boston area.

Finally, a grant to Year Up will support a workforce development program that closes the opportunity to divide between young adults and companies.

"The Moderna Foundation is an extension of the positive societal impact we have made following the development of our COVID-19 vaccine and reflects our continued commitment to communities impacted by COVID-19," Stéphane Bancel, CEO of Moderna, said in the announcement.  

"We are excited to extend our social impact and support the causes our employees care most about as we work relentlessly to improve human health with our mRNA technology," Bancel continued.

Notably, the foundation offers Moderna employees the opportunity to give back to their communities and directly support various causes through matching volunteer and donation programs.