Morristown, NJ - According to Dawn Furnas, "The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation on Nov. 14 announced two organizations will receive a $450,000 grant to oversee the strategy development and management of New Jersey Health Initiatives (NJHI), one of its flagship grantmaking partners. Stemming from its competitive call for proposals, RWJF chose the Morristown-based Community Foundation of New Jersey (CFNJ) and Haddonfield-based Community Foundation of South Jersey (CFSJ) for the task. According to the announcement from Princeton-based RWJF, “CFNJ and CFSJ will partner to amplify RWJF’s role as a place-based funder that contributes to policy change, systems change, and equitable benefits and resources for everyone in New Jersey’s communities.”
Maisha Simmons, RWJF’s senior director of New Jersey grantmaking, said in a statement that the organization is looking to refresh its programming “in an effort to eliminate health disparities in New Jersey – more specifically, the structural, systemic racism that for too long has inhibited communities of color from achieving optimal health.”
Cathy Malone, program officer at RWJF added that the chosen organizations will provide the infrastructure, technical assistance and capital for the programming.
The grant covers work over the next 18 months to redesign NJHI’s programmatic strategies, approaches and operational structures. During the planning phase in 2023, NJHI will not be awarding grants, RWJF said. NJHI anticipates it will issue a call for proposals in the fall of 2023, with funding to begin in 2024.
CFNJ President Hans Dekker and CFSJ Executive Director Andy Fraizer expressed enthusiasm for being selected.
“RWJF and the NJHI program are vital resources for our state and we welcome the opportunity to build on their tremendous success,” Dekker said.
Fraizer added, “This co-creation partnership is for CFSJ a continuation of a commitment to mobilizing voices, building power, claiming spaces, discovering local assets, directing civic energy, learning together, and practicing philanthropy to help create a more equitable region and state.”
Over the past 35 years, NJHI has invested $100 million in more than 300 projects and grants statewide to advance health equity and empower community organizations to be advocates, RWJF said.
Other organizations have made recent announcements about their efforts to improve equity in health care:
Cathy Malone, program officer at RWJF added that the chosen organizations will provide the infrastructure, technical assistance and capital for the programming.
The grant covers work over the next 18 months to redesign NJHI’s programmatic strategies, approaches and operational structures. During the planning phase in 2023, NJHI will not be awarding grants, RWJF said. NJHI anticipates it will issue a call for proposals in the fall of 2023, with funding to begin in 2024.
CFNJ President Hans Dekker and CFSJ Executive Director Andy Fraizer expressed enthusiasm for being selected.
“RWJF and the NJHI program are vital resources for our state and we welcome the opportunity to build on their tremendous success,” Dekker said.
Fraizer added, “This co-creation partnership is for CFSJ a continuation of a commitment to mobilizing voices, building power, claiming spaces, discovering local assets, directing civic energy, learning together, and practicing philanthropy to help create a more equitable region and state.”
Over the past 35 years, NJHI has invested $100 million in more than 300 projects and grants statewide to advance health equity and empower community organizations to be advocates, RWJF said.
Other organizations have made recent announcements about their efforts to improve equity in health care:
- Venture creation and private equity firm Syridex Bio officially launched in Princeton to focus on investing in therapies for diseases that disproportionately affect underserved populations;
- In September, BioNJ launched its Health Equity in Clinical Trials Initiative;
- And the Merck Foundation announced a $20 million initiative designed to help patients living in underserved communities receive timely access to high-quality, culturally responsive cancer care.
