RWJF Selects 2024 Culture of Health Prize Finalists 

PRINCETON, N.J.—The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) today announced the 10 communities chosen as finalists for the 2024 RWJF Culture of Health Prize. The Prize honors the work of communities at the forefront of addressing structural racism and other injustices to advance health, opportunity, and equity for all. Since its launch in 2013, the Prize has recognized more than 60 communities across the country, inspiring change and highlighting community-led solutions. 

 The following finalist communities are one step closer to the national Prize: 

•  City of Jurupa Valley, California
•  City of Trenton, New Jersey
•  Dan River Region, North Carolina and Virginia
•  Eleven federally recognized tribes in Wisconsin and one federally recognized tribe in Michigan
•  Green Bay, Wisconsin
•  Juneau, Alaska
•  Lower Eastern Shore, Maryland, and Sussex County, Delaware
•  Milwaukee County, Wisconsin
•  Molokaʻi, Hawaii
•  Sacramento, California

“We are excited to learn more about each of these committed communities—and their proven solutions for building a more just, equitable, and healthier world," said Richard Besser, MD, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation.

To earn Prize finalist status, communities demonstrated how their efforts reflect the six Prize criteria:   

• Addressing structural racism and other structural injustices to advance opportunity, health, and equity.
• Committing to lasting changes in policy, systems, and financing that improve community conditions and center people directly impacted by the inequity addressed.
• Working in partnership across sectors, and elevating the expertise and solutions held by people with firsthand experience of the inequities being addressed.
• Engaging in work that preserves and celebrates community through cultural activities and practices that envision and advance a more just future.
• Making the most of available resources to ensure the effort can endure over time.
• Measuring and sharing progress in culturally relevant ways.

The Foundation will select the 2024 Prize winners from among the finalists over the next several months. The 2024 Prize winners will be announced next summer and will receive a $250,000 award and opportunities to share their story and lessons learned with the country.

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

RWJF is a leading national philanthropy dedicated to taking bold leaps to transform health in our lifetime. Through funding, convening, advocacy, and evidence-building, we work side-by-side with communities, practitioners, and institutions to get to health equity faster and pave the way together to a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right.