RWJFoundation

For America to keep its founding promise—the right to pursue happiness—its people need the opportunity to be healthy. But health is shaped long before someone enters the healthcare system, by housing, jobs, education, safety, and the environments where people live and work.

Across the country, leaders are working every day in their communities to improve those conditions. Follow along as we uplift The Pursuit. https://rwjf.ws/mLQ2NA

Everyone should have the chance to live a healthy life and not worry that getting sick could put their family at risk. But for far too many people, one illness, accident, or medical bill can lead to financial hardship.

For a majority of Americans, making healthcare more affordable and easier to access is a top priority. Together, we can build a healthcare system that puts people first and works for all of us. Join the movement with One Nation, Overcharged

One Nation, Overcharged Join the fight to get healthcare right

RWJF has two exciting funding opportunities.

➡️ Connecting Champions for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Health Professions

Help turn shared values into coordinated action. RWJF seeks an organization or consortium to connect leaders, institutions, professional associations, student groups, and advocates across the health professions to advance diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging.

Letters of intent due: September 24

➡️ RWJF Health Policy Fellows

Shape the future of health policy in Washington, D.C. This fellowship offers a midcareer learning experience at the intersection of health, science, and policy.

Application deadline: November 3

Help spread the word. Anyone interested can learn more and apply on our website.

Funding and Research Opportunities | RWJF The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation funds research and initiatives focused on achieving health equity. Review our active and upcoming funding opportunities.

Belonging isn’t just a feeling. It’s the future we’re building together.

As the nation marks 250 years, a new generation of Black leaders is showing what the next 250 could look like. Not just with hope, but with action.

Rev. Shavon Arline-Bradley, Dr. Uché Blackstock, and Dr. Joel Bervell share the community-led solutions they’re building and their vision for a future where freedom, justice, and belonging are real for everyone.

Because even in challenging times, hope becomes real when it’s put into action.

Black Leaders Describe What America Needs for a Better Future These Black visionaries are keeping hope alive and building a future the next generation deserves.

What can two communities with the same name, but hundreds of miles apart, teach us about belonging?

More than you might expect.

Communities in Focus, a national storytelling project, pairs people from places that share a name together to explore what health means where they live. What they discover is simple but powerful: No matter where we live, we want many of the same things. A place to belong. A home where our families can thrive. A neighborhood that’s safe. A community where everyone has the chance to live a healthy life.

Sometimes common ground is closer than we think.

Communities in Focus Communities in Focus is a national storytelling project that pairs participants from communities across the country to explore what health means where they live—and what they hope for the future.

Policymakers need accurate information to solve real problems. But today, efforts to block honest conversations about health equity are making it harder for researchers to do their jobs. When certain voices are pushed out of research, communities lose the chance to be heard.

We believe community‑engaged research is one of our strongest tools for truth, accountability, and justice.

Can Research Strengthen Democracy? A stronger democracy begins with research that values the knowledge and wisdom of every community.

The Supreme Court’s recent decision to weaken the Voting Rights Act of 1965 has consequences that extend far beyond the voting booth. When people lose their right to vote, they lose power in the decisions that shape their daily lives, including their right to health.

A strong democracy and health go hand in hand. In states where voting is easier, people tend to have better mental health, fewer people are uninsured, and fewer babies die in their first year. And when people get involved in their communities by volunteering or speaking up, they’re more likely to have better physical and mental health.

If you care about how voting works in this country, Avenel Joseph explains why the changes happening how will shape our future in ways we can’t ignore.

The Voting Rights Act Is Gone. Our Nation’s Health Will Suffer the Consequences Voting connects us with neighbors and helps build trust with institutions, affecting how well and how long we live.

Want to understand why your voice in democracy matters far beyond Election Day?

When people vote, organize, and speak up, they help shape the policies and programs that protect our wellbeing. When advocates visit Capitol Hill and share what’s happening in their communities, lawmakers notice. When families talk about high healthcare costs, unsafe neighborhoods, trouble accessing healthy food, leaders are more likely to push for change.

This article breaks down how civic participation can shape the health, safety, and wellbeing of entire communities, including yours.

How Civic Participation Shapes Democracy and Health The work of defending democracy and protecting health belongs to ALL of us. Here’s how we can stand together to build a future where everyone can thrive.

A call is ringing out across the nation—for fairness, for justice, for courage to confront systems that don’t treat everyone equally. The question is whether we will answer.

For years, unjust policies and attacks on democracy, public health, and the safety net have deepened inequities and denied too many people the opportunity to live healthy, dignified lives. Yet even in the face of these challenges, communities are leading the way. Our grantees and partners are showing what it looks like to build solutions where systems have fallen short. They are not just dreaming of a better America for everyone—they are acting on those dreams. Across the country, our grantees are answering the call.

At RWJF, we’re committed to answering that call alongside them—taking bold leaps to build a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right. And for those of us with power, resources, or influence, this is a moment to use them for the good of everyone.

Every act of courage matters. Read and share our full message to help us build the future we all deserve.

Answering the Call for a Healthy, Inclusive Democracy During a time of calculated attacks against our democracy, we hear a call for justice from every neighborhood and community. A call for those with power, privilege, and resources to put those on the line for the betterment of everyone. And we will answer.

Philanthropy stands at critical juncture. We are a sector born from wealth created through profound economic inequality—and at times through harm and extraction. Too often, the social missions we pursue have been shaped by what we prioritize, without accountability to the public.

At RWJF, we are taking a closer look at our history, which has surfaced uncomfortable realities about the origins of our wealth and institutional relationships that shape our work.

How RWJF Is Reckoning with Its History Being honest about our history means dismantling patterns that shape how we confront injustice.