Rochester, NY – December 5, 2016 – Tom Golisano and the Golisano Foundation have been recognized among 30 great givers and causes on Forbes' "Philanthropy's Big Bets for Social Change of 2015."
Nonprofit advisory firm The Bridgespan Group and Forbes magazine teamed up to showcase some of the largest, most promising philanthropic gifts aimed at solving social problems in the U.S. and around the globe. These "big bets" range in size from $25 million to more than $1.5 billion and include funding for a range of issues from providing scholarships for disadvantaged youth to efforts to vaccinate millions of children. The list will appear in the December 20, 2016 edition of Forbes and is available online today.
Tom Golisano and the Golisano Foundation have made a major global commitment to expand access to inclusive healthcare for people with intellectual disabilities, one of the most marginalized populations in the world who often receive virtually no health care at all. Golisano is doing this by partnering with Special Olympics, the largest global public health organization dedicated to serving people with intellectual disabilities.
Through the launch of Healthy Communities in 2012 and its expansion in 2015, U.S. businessman and philanthropist Tom Golisano has committed $37 million to expand Special Olympics' health-related services in more than 100 countries around the world. This model program addresses the severe health disparities faced by people with intellectual disabilities through immediate and long-term solutions.
Through the recent establishment of the Golisano Health Leadership Awards, individuals around the world are being recognized for their extraordinary progress in improving access to health care.
"Having activated year-round health programming in more than 55 locations since our launch, we are on our way to reaching our target of 100 Healthy Communities around the world within five years. While progress is steady and significant, the evidence still points to the need for more work," said Ann Costello, executive director of the Golisano Foundation. "Too few people know the glaring and oftentimes preventable and treatable health problems experienced by people with intellectual disabilities. In communities around the world, people with intellectual disabilities are not receiving equitable health care."
Other donors on Forbes' list include Bill and Melinda Gates, Michael Bloomberg, Donald E. Graham, William and Karen Ackman, David and Dana Dornsife, the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Lilly Endowment, the Rockefeller Foundation, and the David & Lucile Packard Foundation.
