acial and social injustices and inequities have long plagued society and the health of communities of color across the United States. In 2021, Johnson & Johnson created the Health Equity Innovation Challenge as a part of the company’s commitment to help eradicate the public health threats of racial and social injustices by eliminating health inequities for people of color. The Challenge aims to support innovative solutions developed by local entrepreneurs, start-ups, innovators, and community-based organizations that have the potential to advance health equity.
Our 14 inaugural Awardees possess lived experience and a deep understanding of the communities they serve and were selected from a pool of more than 180 applicants based on their work generating solutions to help close racial health gaps in their communities.
A community-based approach to advancing health equity requires investing in the people and organizations that are already working to develop solutions to address the unique needs of their communities. This year, we’re bringing the Challenge to five cities where communities of color face significant health inequities: Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York City, and Philadelphia. Johnson & Johnson will award up to $75,000 of seed funding to selected applicants. Resources and support also include:
The opportunities for change, founded in innovation, are boundless. Our goal is to invest in transformative solutions – one idea, and one community, at a time.
An external group of public health and health equity experts will review submissions with the aim of ensuring a relevant, localized, and independent assessment in each of the five Challenge cities. Each application will be evaluated based on the ability to meet the following criteria:
Applications will open on October 2, 2023.
1 Mentorship, including subject-matter assistance, may be provided if requested, and if such assistance does not present any legal or compliance issues for the Johnson & Johnson Health Equity Innovation Challenge. Any mentorship will be non-binding on the Award recipient and will in no way be construed as directing the use of Award Funds by the Award recipient.
2 As appropriate by expertise and/or regulatory considerations.
3 Submitters should be located within defined greater metropolitan areas of Atlanta, Chicago, Los Angeles, New York, and Philadelphia.