25 Years of Gun Violence Prevention Research Grant Making

In 1993, the Joyce Foundation launched our Gun Violence Program (now known as the Gun Violence Prevention & Justice Reform Program), grounded in our belief that gun violence must be treated as a public health issue, and focused on evidence-informed policies and strategies to prevent violence before it occurs. Support for gun violence prevention research has been a consistent through-line in our program’s grant making strategy over the past 25 years, representing about one-third of our total spending.

In a new article for leading public health journal Health Affairs, Program Director Nina Vinik outlines the critical role philanthropy has played in supporting gun violence prevention research. The article is based in part on a recent report released today, we take stock of the impact of the Joyce Foundation’s $32 million investment in gun violence prevention research, which has led to hundreds of scientific publications providing key insights into the nature of gun violence in the U.S. and its solutions. During a time when few other private funders invested and federal funding was nearly non-existent, Joyce’s support has helped produce some of the most seminal research findings on gun violence prevention, building and sustaining the field.

With new interest from philanthropy and policy makers in supporting research on gun violence, there is a growing community of researchers and funders committed to identifying solutions to gun violence. We offer our report as a roadmap for how to invest in this issue in a way that builds on existing knowledge and enhances our shared commitment to public health and safety.