Rolling Deadline after January 8, 2024
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) has called for proposals for Evidence for Action: Innovative Research to Advance Racial Equity.
Please note that the application for this call for proposals (CFP) will be down for maintenance beginning Dec. 22, 2023, at 3:00 p.m. ET through Jan. 8, 2024, at 10:00 a.m. ET. This is for the LOI phase only.
Evidence for Action (E4A), an RWJF program, funds research that expands the evidence needed to build a Culture of Health explicitly emphasizing advancing racial equity. The foundation recognizes that achieving racial equity is impossible without focusing on the foundational and structural drivers of health, often referred to as the social determinants of health (e.g., housing, education, built environment, economic opportunity, law enforcement, and others). Therefore, it partners with researchers, practitioners, community leaders, advocates, and policymakers across the many sectors and domains that impact health and well-being to develop evidence about what works to dismantle or remedy unjust systems and practices and produce more equitable outcomes for people and communities of color.
E4A prioritizes research to evaluate specific interventions (e.g., policies, programs, practices) that have the potential to counteract the harms of structural and systemic racism and improve health, well-being, and equity outcomes. The foundation is concerned both with the direct impacts of structural racism on the health and well-being of people and communities of color (e.g., Black, Latina/o/x, Indigenous, Asian, Pacific Islander people, and other races and ethnicities)—as well as how racism intersects with other forms of marginalization, such as having low income, being an immigrant, having a disability, or identifying as LGBTQ+ or a gender minority.
This funding is focused on studies about upstream causes of health inequities, such as the systems, structures, laws, policies, norms, and practices that determine the distribution of resources and opportunities, influencing individuals’ options and behaviors. Research should center on the needs and experiences of communities exhibiting the greatest health burdens and be motivated by real-world priorities. It should be able to inform a specific course of action and/or establish beneficial practices, not stop characterizing or documenting a problem’s extent.
E4A seeks grantees who are deeply committed to conducting rigorous and equitable research and ensuring that their findings are actionable in the real world. In addition to research funding, RWJF also supports grantees with stakeholder engagement, dissemination of findings, and other activities that can enhance their projects’ potential to “move the needle” on health and racial equity.
There is no explicit range for allowable budget requests. Applicants should request the amount of funding needed to complete and disseminate findings from the proposed research project—including direct and indirect costs for the entire duration of your grant. The size of the budget will be weighed in relation to the importance and likely contribution of the proposed work. Pilot studies and formative stage research are expected to correspond with lower budgets. As a research funding program, E4A does not fund the costs of program implementation or operations.
Organizations must be based in the United States or its territories to be eligible. Submissions from teams including U.S. and international members are eligible, but the lead applicant must be based in the United States. Preference will be given to applicant organizations that are either institutes of higher education, public entities, or nonprofits tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and are not private foundations or Type III supporting organizations. Other types of nonprofit and for-profit organizations are also eligible to apply.
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