Health insurer Florida Blue, its philanthropic arm Florida Blue Foundation, and GuideWell Mutual Holding Corporation, parent to a family of healthcare companies, have announced $25 million in investments over five years to organizations focused on diversity, inclusion, and health equity. The commitment coincided with the launch of GuideWell’s Equity Alliance, an initiative focused on addressing systemic racism and the resulting health disparities for Black Americans.

“We are at a turning point in the historical fight for equal justice, opportunity and better healthcare for Black people,” said Pat Garaghty, president and CEO of GuideWell and Florida Blue. “We cannot fulfill our mission of helping people and communities achieve better health without doing the urgent and necessary work to end systemic racism. Equity Alliance represents our long-term commitment and responsibility to accelerate support of our Black employees, members and communities. We have a long history of standing up for social and racial equality, but we need to do more. Our strength lies in our diversity and ability to solve problems together. We will make financial and operational investments to foster unity and an equal playing field and create a meaningful and lasting impact in the communities we serve.”

Equity Alliance will be led by a task force comprising both internal stakeholders and outside advisors, Guidewell said. The task force will work in conjunction with ASPIRE, GuideWell’s employee affinity group for people of color, to develop and implement efforts to combat systemic racism and improve healthcare outcomes in underprivileged communities.