Systems for Action: Community-Led Systems Research to Address Systemic Racism CFP

Overview

Introduction & Purpose

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is committed to taking bold leaps to transform health in our lifetime and paving the way together to a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right. To achieve that vision, we are deepening our focus on dismantling structural racism, one of the biggest barriers to health in America. Racism and injustice have become embedded in many structures of American society, including the delivery and financing systems that support medical care, public health programs, and social services.

Effective solutions to systemic racism require medical care organizations working in partnership with public health and social services systems. RWJF’s Systems for Action (S4A) signature research program since 2015 supports research studies. The studies test novel ideas for aligning delivery and financing systems across sectors in ways that address the health and social needs of people experiencing health inequities.

This 2025 call for proposals (CFP) will provide funding for a new cohort of community-led pilot studies to produce new, actionable evidence about how to help medical, social, and public health systems work together to address forms of systemic racism. This CFP focuses specifically on systems alignment (SA) interventions that have the potential to dismantle or disrupt the health effects of systemic racism and to positively affect the health and well-being of communities that experience systemic racism. S4A prioritizes SA interventions that, if successful, can be rapidly replicated and spread to many communities and contexts across the U.S. in order to achieve broad national impact.

Please see FAQs for additional guidelines and information.

Total Awards

* Type of Award: Awards funded under this opportunity will be structured as grants. 
* Number of awards: Up to five awards will be funded.
* Amount of awards: Each award will be up to $200,000.
* Award duration: Awards will be up to 12 months.

Key Dates & Deadlines

* Wednesday, January 22, 3-4 pm ET: Informational Webinar. Register here.
* Monday, February 24, 1-2 pm ET: Informational Webinar. Register here.
* January 27 through May 29: Weekly Drop-in Office Hours for Applicants. The four upcoming office hours dates are updated weekly:
* Tuesday, January 23, 3-4 PM ET. Register here.
* Thursday, January 30, 12-1 PM ET. Register here.
* Tuesday, February 4, 12-1 PM ET. Register here.
* Tuesday, February 11, 2-3 PM ET. Register here.
* August 22, 2025: Applicants Notified of Funding Decisions. Date is subject to change.
* October 1, 2025: Projects Start.

Eligibility

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