Connecting Champions for Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Belonging in the Health Professions

Introduction & Purpose

RWJF seeks to fund one lead organization or consortium to serve as a national network-weaver for diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB) in the health professions. The selected grantee will connect and support leaders, organizations, and institutions across the ecosystem, strengthening relationships, aligning strategy and communications, and facilitating shared learning and collective action. By building the connections and infrastructure needed for collaboration, the grantee will help advance belonging, accountability, and systems change across health professions education and healthcare institutions.

Achieving a healthcare system grounded in equity requires both a diverse health professions workforce and institutions committed to advancing diversity, equity, inclusion, and belonging (DEIB). While diverse teams improve quality of care and health outcomes, RWJF has learned that increasing representation alone is insufficient without addressing structural and institutional barriers that shape belonging, leadership, advancement, and accountability. Structural racism and other forms of systemic inequity continue to limit opportunity across the health professions education and healthcare institutions.

Lasting change requires not only supporting diverse leaders, but also strengthening connections among educational institutions, healthcare organizations, professional associations, accrediting and credentialing bodies, students, advocates, community actors, and others within the health professions ecosystem, whose relationships, actions, practices, and mindsets shape health outcomes for the communities they serve. These relationships create the support, trust, shared learning, and coordinated action necessary to advance DEIB and build a more equitable healthcare system. 
 

Eligibility & Selection Criteria

• Applicants must be either public entities or nonprofit organizations that are tax-exempt under Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code and are not private foundations or non-functionally integrated Type III supporting organizations. The Foundation may require additional documentation. 
• Applicant organizations must be based in the United States or its territories.
• Applicants must apply as a single organization but may represent a consortium. Consortium-based applications must identify one lead organization that will serve as the primary grant holder and be responsible for grant management, coordination, and reporting.
• Demonstrate the ability to manage large, complex grants and coordinate work across multiple partners.
• Applicants must have the capacity to operate at a national level and engage constituents across the health professions ecosystem. 
   

Key Dates & Deadlines

• September 24, 2026 (3 p.m. ET)
  Deadline for receipt of Letters of Intent.
   
• November 6, 2026
  Applicants are notified whether they are invited to submit full proposals.
   
• January 22, 2027 (3 p.m. ET)
  Deadline for receipt of full proposals.
   
• June 1, 2027
  Grant start date.
   

Total Awards

• Type of Award: Awards funded under this opportunity will be structured as grants. 
   
• Number of Awards: RWJF anticipates making one award of up to $2,000,000 to a lead organization capable of serving as the network-weaver. RWJF may consider supporting a consortium-based proposal in which a lead organization serves as the primary grant holder and coordinates strategic partners with complementary expertise. 
   
• Amount of Award: Up to $2,000,000 
   
• Award Duration: 24 months