Today, Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors (RPA) is taking action against one of the world’s most urgent and overlooked public health emergencies—lead poisoning. Through the Eliminating Lead Poisoning Innovation Fund, we are investing $10 million to drive bold innovations that will transform how we detect and fight lead exposure, especially in neglected low- and middle-income communities. As RPA President and CEO Latanya Mapp emphasized, “Lead poisoning is a byproduct of environmental and economic injustice, and it affects far too many.” In collaboration with Partnership for a Lead-Free Future (PLF), an initiative by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), RPA will tap its global philanthropic network to establish an advisory board of lead-poisoning experts and frontline communities.

Here is the stark reality: over half the children in these communities have dangerously high levels of lead in their blood. Lead poisoning does not just harm; it devastates. It limits cognitive development, lowers IQ scores, and widens the already massive gaps in education and opportunity. This is a crisis of environmental injustice, killing 1.5 million people annually—more than HIV/AIDS and malaria combined—And yet, lead poisoning remains hidden in plain sight.

Unlike many complex global issues, lead poisoning is surprisingly solvable with relatively low costs. In fact, Bangladesh eradicated lead in spices at a cost of roughly one penny per person. Atul Gawande, Assistant Administrator for Global Health at USAID, said it best, “We can end childhood lead poisoning. Innovation—for example, to make it easier to detect lead in the environment and in people’s bodies—can speed success dramatically.” Philanthropy is the engine that can make this innovation happen.

Yet, donors currently spend only $15 million to address lead poisoning. In response, USAID and UNICEF, along with a host of private philanthropies, launched the $150 million PLF on September 23 during the United Nations General Assembly (UNGA)/Climate Week. The Partnership’s strategy as has four elements:

• measure lead in the environment and in the blood
• regulate the use of lead
• replace lead with non-toxic alternatives
• enforce the changes

As a core PFL partner, RPA’s Eliminating Lead Poisoning Innovation Fund will advance technology and solutions that measure and monitor lead in the blood and in the environment. We believe philanthropy can fill the critical gap between what we know and what actually gets done. We will deploy the flexible, catalytic capital necessary to drive real change. 

Innovation as the Path Forward
When we talk about solving big problems, we’re talking about big, bold innovation. The Eliminating Lead Poisoning Innovation Fund is about driving solutions that will make it easier and cheaper to detect lead—in our homes, in our schools, in our water. Imagine low-cost, portable tools that can quickly measure lead in blood or find contamination in soil! That’s the kind of game-changing technology this fund will make possible. 

 At RPA, we have long believed in the role of prize philanthropy to push forward the most innovative ideas. Prize competitions help elevate new voices, surface groundbreaking solutions, and challenge the status quo. Innovation goes beyond technology—it is about opening doors to new thinking and new solutions through flexible, targeted support. 

Big Bets on Transformative Change
The Eliminating Lead Poisoning Innovation Fund is the first of RPA’s commitments to action on bold, high-impact efforts that tackle some of the world’s most pressing challenges. This fund is our first Big Bet because we know that philanthropy can—and must—drive transformative change toward a more just world. 

We are not just investing in technology or research; we are investing in communities, in justice, and in the future of our planet, the future of children whose potential has been stunted by this entirely preventable crisis. 

Explore more about the Eliminating Lead Poisoning Innovation Fund by reviewing an overview here. 

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