Ruth Shaber

Ruth Shaber is an American physician, philanthropist, and author. She is the founder and president of the Tara Health Foundation, a private foundation focused on gender, economic, and racial justice, and the co-founder and board chair of Rhia Ventures, a nonprofit organization dedicated to advancing reproductive and maternal health equity. She was named to the Forbes Impact 50 list in 2020.

Early life and education

Shaber graduated from Yale University with a Bachelor of Arts in chemistry in 1982. She received her MD from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania in 1986 and completed her residency in obstetrics and gynecology at the University of California, San Francisco.

Medical career

In 1990, Shaber joined Kaiser Permanente South San Francisco Medical Center as an obstetrician and gynecologist. From 2007 to 2012, she served as medical director of the Kaiser Permanente Care Management Institute, where she oversaw evidence-based medicine programs that translated medical research into clinical practice across Kaiser Permanente's regional and national systems.

Philanthropy and impact investing

Tara Health Foundation

In 2014, Shaber founded the Tara Health Foundation, a private foundation initially focused on improving the health and well-being of women and girls through the creative use of philanthropic capital. To support this strategy, Tara Health funded research to develop new tools for gender lens investing, including collaborations with the University of Pennsylvania's Center for High Impact Philanthropy and the Wharton School Social Impact Initiative. As of 2025, the foundation had deployed over $100 million in grants, investments, and debt toward its mission and was on track to complete its planned spend-down by the end of the decade.

Rhia Ventures

In 2018, Shaber co-founded the Reproductive Health Investors Alliance, later known as Rhia Ventures, as an initiative incubated within the Tara Health Foundation. Shaber serves as board chair of Rhia Ventures.

Publications

Marime-Ball, Patience and Ruth Shaber. The XX Edge: Unlocking Higher Returns and Lower Risk. Simon & Schuster, 2022. .