Addressing Childhood Obesity and Health Inequities

Introduction & Purpose

For over 20 years, RWJF has been a national leader in childhood obesity prevention efforts across the nation. As we approach the conclusion in 2025 of the Foundation’s focused commitment to preventing childhood obesity, we want to ensure that work continues in ensuring all children and families in the U.S. can thrive.

We’ve learned over the past two decades that to achieve progress in preventing childhood obesity and advancing health equity, we must prioritize certain considerations. Advancing goals in this area depends on deliberately addressing the many social, economic, and physical factors that contribute to obesity, including longstanding structural racism across the systems that circumscribe our lives. Among the bright spots is a growing momentum of local solutions that center equity and justice, sustainability, new financing approaches, and community priorities.  

Through this call for proposals (CFP), we are interested in advancing efforts that will support, sustain, and evolve the work of organizations and communities that have been at the forefront of equity-oriented childhood obesity prevention. The CFP seeks projects with the potential to support, sustain, and evolve the field in promoting systems-level change to prevent childhood obesity, address structural racism, and advance health equity.

As we look ahead to 2025, we remain steadfast in our commitment to health and racial equity—and to helping ensure that the childhood obesity prevention field is strong and poised to continue to innovate and thrive.

See Call for Proposal for further details.

Eligibility & Selection Criteria

• Eligible applicants must have the organizational infrastructure that demonstrates sufficient capacity and history to conduct proposed efforts in a timely, well-managed way that leads to desired outcomes.
• Eligible applicants must be based in the United States or its territories.
• Awards will be made to organizations, not individuals.
• Applicants may include but are not limited to nonprofit, private sector, and government organizations; local or state-based philanthropy and intermediary/backbone organizations; academia; professional membership organizations; and community-based state, and national advocacy organizations or coalitions. The Foundation may require additional documentation to confirm that eligibility requirements have been met. 
• We encourage projects that engage and center communities most impacted by structural racism and other systems of oppression; partnerships spanning state and community-level organizations; and entities that have not applied or been awarded a grant from RWJF previously. 
• We encourage partnerships and collaborations. Two or more organizations may partner to develop and implement a concept/proposal. While each collaborating organization must be described in detail in the proposal, only one organization can be the lead contact in the application process and may engage the other organization(s) through a subcontract or grant.
• We encourage applicant organizations that are led by or that reflect the leadership of Black or African American; American Indian, Alaska Native, or Indigenous; Hispanic, Latinx/e, or Latin American; Middle Eastern or North African; Asian or Asian American; and/or Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander communities and those from Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic-serving Institutions, Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs), Alaska Native-Serving Institutions, Native Hawaiian-Serving Institutions, and Asian American Native American Pacific Islander-Serving Institutions (AANAPISIs). 
• Preference will be given to applicants that are 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 Type III supporting organizations. The Foundation may require additional documentation.
 

Key Dates & Deadlines

June 27, 2024 (3 p.m. ET) 
Deadline for receipt of concept papers submitted online.* 

August 29, 2024 
Invitations to submit full proposals (to select applicants). 

October 24, 2024 (3 p.m. ET) 
Deadline for receipt of full proposals submitted online.* 

December 18, 2024 
Finalist notifications. 

March 2025 
Awards begin.

Total Awards

Types of Award: Awards funded under this opportunity will be structured as one-time awards that can take various formats (project grant; general operating support; endowment; and others), determined collaboratively with RWJF and the prospective grantee/institution.

Number of Awards: The program will distribute up to $22 million in funding. The number of awards will depend on the budgets of selected projects; we anticipate making up to six awards of varying sizes.

Amount of Award: Each award will be a minimum of $1,000,000. Applicants should request the amount of funding they will need to complete the proposed project. 

Award Duration: Funding will be awarded for projects that can be 12 months to 48 months in duration.