RWJF

RWJF is seeking proposals for a multi-faceted research project that would enhance the collection and analysis of more nuanced data that captures the rich and wide-ranging diversity within the Asian American population. This funding opportunity will provide up to $800,000 in support. #DataEquity #HealthEquity #Funding

CALL FOR APPLICATIONS | The Center for Health Care Strategies is seeking a diverse cohort of Medicaid leaders to join the Medicaid Pathways Program class of 2025. This leadership development program, supported by the RWJF, aims to support Medicaid leaders in strengthening the necessary leadership skills to successfully oversee a complex organization like Medicaid and advance strategic initiatives that improve health and foster greater community engagement. Applications are due August 14. https://bit.ly/3J23iPE

While we still have a way to go in overcoming our risk-averse instincts as a foundation, I am proud that RWJF is staying the course on race-conscious programming, because it is grantees and partners, not us, who face acute, mounting risks. Staying the course is not a status quo endeavor. It has required, and continues to demand, that we: (1) Organize within and beyond our own philanthropic organizations to proactively protect and advance race-conscious grantmaking and workplace DEI initiatives, so that our organizational culture and practices align with, sustain, and shore up our desired grantmaking at a time of backlash (2) Use data on historical and ongoing disparities and inequities, as well as employee, grantee and partner advocacy to make the case for race-conscious approaches as a remedy for laws, policies and practices, including our own, that have contributed to barriers for many communities and organizations (3) Avoid overcorrection, which means working with partners who will help us to continue race-conscious initiatives in lawful and legally defensible ways, rather than conceding to the chilling effect of anti-equity legal decisions, and to learn from equity-affirming legal actions and decisions, rather than merely adjusting to an adverse legal landscape (4) Engage in philanthropic repair to learn from our own missteps and shift historical practices that over-emphasize legal, reputational and/or financial risks to us as foundations while creating undue burdens and further risks for grantees from our bureaucracy and inaction Only then will we make authentic, agile, and deeper investments in communities most harmed by systemic racism and other forms of discrimination.

The RWJF & WITH Foundation invite collaborative proposals that advance disability justice in public health and center the goals, perspectives, and needs of adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (I/DD) in Communities of Color. Contribute to a health and healthcare system that is fair and just, treats all people with dignity and respect, and rectifies past harms and prevents future ones by submitting a proposal by August 15th, 2024 at 5:00pm PT. https://lnkd.in/g3get3h

At the Presidents’ Council of the Disability & Philanthropy Forum, we seek to disrupt ableism in philanthropy by supporting disabled-led movements and calling on other leaders in our sector to model important systems change.   More than 61 million disabled Americans – or 1 in 4 adults – continue to experience the structural barriers that are embedded in our health and healthcare systems. As STAT points out, this year marks the 25th anniversary of the Olmstead Decision that outlawed the segregation of disabled people in institutions. Progress on being fully inclusive of people with disabilities has been too slow.   One way to accelerate progress is for those in Philanthropy to sign and implement the Disability Inclusion Pledge, a commitment to doing more, and then move from the pledge to action through significant funding commitments to both the Disability Inclusion Fund at Borealis Philanthropy and the Disability & Philanthropy Forum. Learn more about what we do at the Presidents’ Council and how to join us at the link in the comments.   https://lnkd.in/e2jENHYM

Nominate a book, film, or show for our list that is well worth it! Writers, directors, and media producers are shaping meaning for millions of us navigating the complex issues we grapple with in today’s world. The media we choose to consume can influence our thinking and inspire ways to cultivate a more equitable future. That’s why RWJF is curating a list of books and shows that are well worth the time. TELL US: What are you reading, watching, or listening to that should be considered? https://lnkd.in/ejqgxNSB

We all want to live in a country where everyone—no matter their race, ethnicity, class, income, or zip code—has a fair and just opportunity for wellbeing. To get there, RWJF supports two equity-promoting levers: the ballot measure process and race-conscious policymaking. ◻️ In the past decade, ballot measures have been crucial in the adoption of policies that advance health and racial equity. ◻️ Race-conscious initiatives are an effective way to begin to right the wrongs of our nation's past. In the wake of recent policy wins intended to advance equity, we're also witnessing efforts that impede progress. Our work aims to ensure that those with the greatest barriers to opportunity are setting the agenda and our laws are designed to address past harm from discriminatory government actions.

Housing is a key social determinant of health. Homeownership provides more than just a place to live. It creates financial security and is a primary path to building intergenerational wealth. Organizations like the Housing Partnership Network (HPN) help finance housing-focused community development financial institutions (CDFIs), equipping them with the resources they need to provide mortgages to people with low incomes, who, often, are excluded from traditional financing. But despite their demonstrated success, these groups remain underfunded. We’ve invested $15M in HPN in a unique pass-through structure for funding to reach four CDFIs working closely with community members to provide them with low-cost, long-term mortgages. CHN Housing Partners is one of these recipients. For Claudette Williams, a CHN borrower, “owning a home is about an investment and having something that’s your own.” There are several barriers that income-strained communities experience when trying to buy a home. Learn more about this investment and how mortgage lending can help these communities access capital and thrive: https://rwjf.ws/3IFG6Gr

The end of June saw the second anniversary of the Dobbs decision, as well as a another set of alarming SCOTUS rulings that stand to undermine our civil rights. This is a call to action for philanthropy—RWJF included—to recommit to bolder action in support of equity and justice, including reproductive justice.  For too long, stigma and politics surrounding abortion and structural racism have derailed efforts to advance reproductive justice as a condition for fully securing health as a fundamental right. The consequences are already playing out in states where harsh abortion restrictions coincide with a nearly 40% increase in maternal mortality rates, a crisis that disproportionately affects Black and disabled birthing people, among other marginalized groups.   Philanthropy has been part of this collective problem. For example, it was only in 2021—as the Supreme Court was hearing arguments in two cases challenging state abortion bans—that we at RWJF officially weighed in on abortion and reproductive health. While our birth justice grantmaking preceded our 2021 statement, it was not until later that we began funding broader reproductive rights (to include abortion) and reproductive justice.   I was inspired by my conversation last month with Indra Lusero, Tenesha Duncan, Tamila Gresham and Halie Eshe Cole in discussion at the Funders for Birth Justice & Equity Summit where we reflected on how we can continue to create lasting change, including: - Prioritizing support for organizations led by and for those most affected: Despite facing acute risks, these organizations are developing solutions and coalitions to address intersecting forms of oppression and advance reproductive justice. Read about some approaches here: o    https://lnkd.in/eJd8cv9F; o    https://lnkd.in/e_9gzTTa - Engaging in philanthropic repair to address our harmful role in the reproductive justice ecosystem: This includes rebalancing our focus on imagined or potential legal threats to our well-resourced institutions, toward the real, acute risks faced by grantees daily. At RWJF we are continuing our equity transformation process to ensure our culture and practices align more deeply with our mission. This includes learning from our own missteps, and shifting historical practices by offering flexible funding for multi-issue grassroots efforts and technical and legal assistance to grantees to protect and advance their race-conscious initiatives. The list doesn’t end here. These and other steps are key to shoring up our efforts to ensure that health is no longer a privilege but a right.

Happy Disability Pride Month!   Poet and scholar Audre Lorde once said, “There is no such thing as a single-issue struggle because we do not live single-issue lives.”   In the spring, Borealis Philanthropy launched the Black Disabled Liberation Project, seeded by a $1 million dollar investment from RWJF. The project is a collaboration of Borealis’ Black Led Movement Fund and Disability Inclusion Fund to resource organizing that happens at the intersection of disability and Blackness.   One in 4 Black adults have a disability, and with our explicit but not exclusive focus on dismantling racism, we understand that racism intensifies all other barriers that Black disabled people in America face.  As part of this fund, and under the guidance of disability justice leaders Yomi Wrong and India Harville, 10 grantee partners were selected to receive two-year grants of $100,000 each.   It's an honor to follow the lead of these groups, guided by disability justice principles, as they reimagine systems that reinforce anti-Blackness, systemic racism and ableism.