If lead poisoning sounds like one of those long-conquered health threats of yesteryear, well, that’s because it is — at least, it is in wealthier communities and countries. But in low- and middle-income countries around the world, and even some places in the U.S., lead exposure, even at low levels, remains an ongoing danger. It’s especially harmful to children, for whom it can cause impaired cognitive development with lifelong consequences. Philanthropy, however, has in recent years only contributed about $15 million annually to address the lead threat.
The good news is that lead poisoning is a problem that can be solved, and newly announced philanthropic funding represents a redoubling of efforts to eliminate lead poisoning once and for all.
Last month at the U.N. General Assembly, for example, USAID and UNICEF announced the launch of the Partnership for a Lead-Free Future, bringing together governments, public and private-sector entities in a $150 million program. USAID says it’s the first public-private initiative designed to eliminate lead poisoning, which kills 1.5 million people per year — mainly in low- and middle-income countries — and may account for as much as a 20% gap in educational outcomes between people in high- and low-income countries. The accumulated burden of harm from lead exposure costs an estimated $1.4 trillion in global GDP each year.
At the same time, Open Philanthropy announced its Lead Exposure Action Fund (LEAF), assembled with several philanthropic partners, including the Alpha Epsilon Fund, the Gates Foundation, the ELMA Foundation, Lucy Southworth, Good Ventures and others. The LEAF partners have committed $104 million to the effort so far, of which $20 million has already been committed in grants to organizations addressing several sides of the lead issue, including awareness, development of better lead-acid battery recycling, and new portable technologies for detection of lead in paint. Open Philanthropy says LEAF will allocate the remainder of the funding by the end of 2027.
And most recently, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA), a 23-year-old nonprofit and philanthrosphere stalwart that provides consulting, management and grantmaking services to funders working across the globe, announced a new program to combat the often overlooked lead crisis.
Through its new Eliminating Lead Poisoning Innovation Fund, RPA plans to direct $10 million — contributed through its broad philanthropic network — to focus on the lead issue. It’s the first of a series of new “big bets” from RPA, a set of wide-ranging efforts the nonprofit hopes will bring more philanthropic attention to pressing global issues.
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“It’s not a problem we see in our own backyard”
Lead has long been identified as a human health threat. Starting in the 1960s, the U.S. implemented policy to remove lead from gasoline (in the U.S., leaded gas was phased out completely by 1996; other countries have also eliminated leaded gas). Lead has also been an ingredient — also now outlawed in many countries — in products like paint, cosmetics, building materials, among others. But lead is still widely used in many regions, said Latanya Mapp, president and CEO of RPA. Some of the sources of lead are pretty surprising; for example, in spices for food. Around the world, more than 50% of children in low- and middle-income communities have harmful levels of lead in their blood, according to RPA.
This makes lead exposure a crucial matter of environmental justice and equity — and the numbers suggest that even a modest uptick in philanthropic commitments could pay big human dividends. “We in philanthropy haven’t really thought about lead poisoning because it’s not a problem we see in our own backyard,” Mapp said. “But when we look at the effects of it, and when we look at the cost of actually doing something about it, there’s no reason why we can’t resolve it.”
RPA will collaborate with the Partnership for a Lead-Free Future to assemble a global philanthropic partnership to focus on one key part of the lead problem: developing new solutions to detect lead in people, as well as in the built environment, food supplies and other avenues of exposure in communities that still face lead toxicity.
RPA’s fund will focus on advancing low-cost, portable and affordable tools to measure blood lead levels and lead in the environment. It will also launch an innovation prize program to support breakthroughs that may have been previously underfunded, and will establish an expert advisory board, including representation from front-line communities, to steer the fund’s strategy.
Removing lead from manufacturing and products around the world will be another key part of the task, much of it involving action by governments. “We know that others are covering pieces of this problem — the policy, the advocacy, the actual changing of paint formulas and things like that,” Mapp said. “[Methods to detect lead] is our piece of a much larger partnership.”
RPA’s new “Big Bets” strategy
The Eliminating Lead Poisoning Innovation Fund is Mapp’s first major initiative at RPA since she assumed the role of president and CEO about eight months ago. She is only the second leader in the organization’s history, having succeeded founding CEO Melissa Berman, who led the organization since its start in 2002. Prior to joining RPA, Mapp held leadership positions at the Global Fund for Women, Planned Parenthood Global, UNICEF and USAID.
The lead poisoning fund is also the first under the banner of RPA’s new “Big Bets” program — a plan to bring philanthropic attention, coordination and funding to tackle pressing needs around the world. The Big Bets could focus on just about anything, Mapp said — health, economic development, gender equity — depending on how RPA and its partners around the world could advance solutions.
As a provider of a “broad tent” of philanthropic services, as previous CEO Berman put it, RPA is in a prime position to coordinate organizations and programs, both in the U.S. and globally. Though named for John D. Rockefeller, RPA is a separate entity from the Rockefeller Foundation and other funders and nonprofits that carry the Rockefeller name. Through its 20-plus years, RPA says it has facilitated more than $4 billion in grantmaking in more than 70 countries, and manages more than $500 million in annual giving by families, foundations and corporations. It’s also a fiscal sponsor for more than 100 projects, providing governance, management and operational infrastructure.
“A big part of what I’ve been doing is going around and listening both internally and externally to find out about what the field needs — what’s missing for philanthropy and what RPA could bring to the table,” Mapp said. So far, Mapp and team have identified about 20 areas as potential Big Bets to be rolled out over the next five years. The size of the financial commitments remains to be determined, but will vary with the individual project, as will the funding partners RPA works with.
In addition to the Lead Poisoning Innovation Fund, Mapp did mention a couple of upcoming Big Bets that RPA has identified. One, the Colombian Future Fund, is a $100 million, five-year plan to work with Colombia-based philanthropy to support causes like sustainable development and equity in that nation. Another Big Bet to be announced in the coming months will focus on social issues in East Africa, including gender equality.
“We’re using Big Bets because we know it will be something in the philanthropic space where we’re really clear where philanthropic dollars or resources can make a difference,” Mapp said. “Being able to identify these bold agendas and go after them in partnership with others is a good definition of what RPA does, which is to try to understand how best to use philanthropic dollars.”
