The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is striving to create a future in which health is a right accessible to all, not a privilege reserved for a few. Central to this vision is the Foundation’s focus on dismantling structural racism, which it recognizes as one of the most significant obstacles to achieving health equity in the United States. RWJF acknowledges that racism is deeply embedded in systems that govern the delivery and financing of medical care, public health programs, and social services, making bold and systemic change essential for progress.
To address these challenges, RWJF’s Systems for Action (S4A) program—active since 2015—supports research that explores how to better align medical care with social and public health systems. The goal is to develop and test innovative solutions that directly confront the interconnected effects of systemic racism. By funding studies that promote collaboration across sectors, S4A helps identify approaches that can meet both the health and social needs of populations facing persistent inequities.
The 2025 call for proposals invites community-led pilot studies that aim to generate actionable evidence on how cross-sector systems alignment interventions can disrupt the health impacts of systemic racism. These studies must demonstrate potential for scalability and replication across various communities and settings, supporting RWJF’s broader goal of achieving nationwide health equity. Through this initiative, the Foundation is prioritizing transformative interventions that not only improve health outcomes but also reimagine the structures responsible for delivering care and support.