Our Issue Areas
Peterson Philanthropies works to identify and accelerate pragmatic solutions based on common sense and common ground. We support initiatives to foster substantive, fact-based solutions and actions to improve the policymaking process, economy and everyday life of Americans.
Our work focuses on three issue areas:
Fiscal Sustainability and Economic Growth
America is on an unsustainable fiscal path that threatens our economy, places a growing burden on future generations and undermines our leadership role in the world. As we add trillion after trillion of debt every year, we diminish the opportunities for Americans to build a future with prosperity and progress. If our fiscal challenges remain unaddressed, the conditions for inclusive economic growth deteriorate, and our children and grandchildren are left with a tremendous future interest burden caused directly by our own irresponsibility today.
Peterson Philanthropies works with leading policy experts, elected officials, and the public to build support to put America on a sustainable fiscal path. The good news is that there are many available policy options which can successfully stabilize our growing debt. We seek and advocate for pragmatic solutions across party lines to strengthen our nation’s fiscal foundation over the long term and promote a growing, thriving economy. We engage in grant-making, partnerships and research to educate and connect with citizens and policymakers from a variety of perspectives, with a significant focus on the next generation.
High-Performance Healthcare
The U.S. healthcare system is the most expensive in the world, yet our health outcomes are worse than many other nations. America’s inefficient healthcare system worsens our fiscal outlook, undermines our economy and threatens our personal health and wellbeing. Our citizens often endure unnecessary, ineffective, or even harmful treatments, lowering the quality of their lives. Moreover, the high cost of healthcare makes everything in our economy cost more, effectively reducing incomes, adding to our national debt, and diminishing our future prosperity.
Peterson Philanthropies works to transform U.S. healthcare into a high-performance system by finding innovative solutions that improve quality and lower costs, and accelerating their adoption on a national scale. We collaborate with key thought leaders, policymakers, and stakeholders across the healthcare system and political spectrum to improve our physical and economic health.
Effective Democracy
Since America’s founding nearly 250 years ago, democracy has been at the heart of our societal progress, economic strength and leading role in the world. While our core institutions remain strong, the nation faces serious threats to democracy as a result of trends including reduced trust in elections, broadly shared misinformation and increasing polarization. These developments erode the national conversation and essential exchange of ideas that is required for effective policymaking.
Peterson Philanthropies engages in a range of nonpartisan efforts to support a healthy, functioning democracy in the United States. Through grants and other projects, our work supports secure, accurate and transparent election administration, improved access to unbiased, fact-based information, and more constructive and productive policymaking. Addressing these fundamental challenges is critical to effectively implementing the common sense policy solutions that are necessary to secure America’s future prosperity for the next generation.
Across the work of Peterson Philanthropies, our approach includes the following programmatic activities:
- Research & Analysis: We partner with a range of policy organizations from across the political spectrum to analyze and develop policy solutions and improve understanding and the overall policymaking process in our issue areas.
- Grants & Partnerships: We support aligned partners developing and executing on a range of innovative engagement, education and advocacy initiatives focused on the key goals of our missions
- Education & Awareness: We execute and fund initiatives that increase awareness and mobilize informed citizens and young people to drive a thoughtful national dialogue around our issues. We provide platforms and shared spaces for leading thinkers and policymakers to have constructive, substantive discussions.
- Advocacy: We support policymaking efforts across the political spectrum in our issue areas to develop and advance common sense solutions to America’s most pressing national challenges.