Meet the First RWJF Roadmaps to Health Prize Winners

These six communities are creating a culture of health in their backyards. They were selected from more than 160 applicants for their innovative strategies.

Creating a Culture of Health

The RWJF Roadmaps to Health Prize honors outstanding community partnerships that are helping people live healthier lives.

Throughout the country, people are coming together with a shared vision, strong leadership, and commitment to making needed and lasting changes that are enabling individuals to live long and healthy lives. The invitation to apply for this prize is being extended to all U.S. communities working toward better health.

Twelve communities have been chosen as finalists for the second annual RWJF Roadmaps to Health Prize. In June 2014, up to six winning communities will be announced as winners, and each will receive a no-strings-attached $25,000 cash prize.

Learn more about the 2013-2014 RWJF Roadmaps to Health Prize finalists.

The RWJF Roadmaps to Health Prize goal is to raise awareness and inspire locally-driven change across the country. Winners of the 2013-2014 Prize will be announced in June 2014.

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County Health Rankings & Roadmaps

The RWJF Roadmaps to Health Prize was launched to further the work of the County Healthy Rankings & Roadmaps program, which aims to educate the public and policy-makers on the multiple factors that influence community health—such as education, economic conditions, and the physical environment—and to provide solutions that will improve community health.

Read more about the program

Winners Gallery

A renewed focus on schools promoting academic achievement and good health in New Orleans included gardens, cooking classrooms, state-of-the-art kitchens and new physical activity programs.

View photos from winners of the 2012-2013 RWJF Roadmaps to Health Prize.

  1. New Orleans, Louisiana
  2. Fall River, Massachusetts
  3. Minneapolis, Minnesota
  4. Cambridge, Massachusetts
  5. Manistique, Michigan
  6. Santa Cruz County, California

Prize Finalists

The following communities are finalists for the 2013-2014 RWJF Roadmaps to Health Prize. Winners will be announced in June.

  • Bexar County, Texas                                      
  • Brownsville, Texas
  • Buncombe County, North Carolina          
  • Canton, Ohio
  • Durham County, North Carolina                               
  • East Baton Rouge Parish, Louisiana
  • Franklin County, Maine                                
  • Sitka, Alaska
  • Spokane County, Washington                   
  • Taos Pueblo Tribal Community, New Mexico
  • Van Buren County, Iowa   
  • Williamson, West Virginia

Related Topics

2012-2013 RWJF Roadmaps to Health Prize

Winners of the inaugural RWJF Roadmaps to Health Prize were honored on February 20, 2013, at an event held at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in Princeton, New Jersey. Prize winners were chosen for their innovative strategies to improve community health. Learn about their road to health.

See more RWJF videos

Six Communities on the Road to Health

Winners of the inaugural RWJF Roadmaps to Health Prize included large urban settings and small rural ones; places with tremendous resources and places with few resources to draw from; places with relatively good health and in places with poor health. Meet these diverse communities to discover their innovative ideas on creating healthier places to live. Could your community be next on the road to a health?

Cambridge, Massachusetts: Improving Health Equity

Cambridge—best known for its world-renowned universities—is improving health equity by addressing public health challenges like obesity and school readiness.

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Fall River, Massachusetts: Cross-Sector Partnerships

Fall River is tackling pressing health problems through a public, private, and non-profit partnership.

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Manistique, Michigan: Encouraging Healthy Choices

The small rural town of Manistique, in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, is empowering everyone to play a role in the community’s health by enabling residents to make healthier choices.

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Minneapolis, Minnesota: More Than 40 Community Organizations, Working Together

In Minneapolis, community organizations are joining forces on initiatives that promote healthy living and help create job opportunities for high-risk youths.

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New Orleans, Louisiana: Prevention-Based Change

A cross-sector partnership in New Orleans is making public health and prevention a major component of the ongoing recovery effort.

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Santa Cruz County, California: A Focus on Youth

Santa Cruz County is investing in the health of its young people by expanding insurance coverage, creating an ordinance around healthy restaurant options, and curbing youth drinking.

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