bi3, HealthPath Foundation and Interact for Health continue their commitment to foster capacity through one-year grant awards
bi3, a funding initiative to transform health for all people, HealthPath Foundation of Ohio and Interact for Health are seeking applications for its second cohort through the Data for Equity Funding Collaborative. The Collaborative plans to award 12-month grants of up to $25,000 to as many as ten non-profit organizations to develop their organizational capacity around data and evaluation in service of health equity.
Data and evaluation efforts are not inherently objective and unbiased. When data accurately captures the experiences of all people, it can shed light on racial, socioeconomic and geographic disparities in health outcomes and their underlying inequities, root causes and histories.
bi3, HealthPath and Interact for Health launched the Data for Equity Funding Collaborative last year in response to a 2021 survey of Greater Cincinnati health-focused non-profits. The main areas that emerged for organizational capacity building were: 1) evaluation, impact, data and learning and 2) equity-focused leadership and practices.
“bi3’s purpose is to lead the way to a day when every person has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible,” Jill Miller, President & CEO of bi3 said. “Developing an equitable data collection and assessment baseline is core to successful health outcomes. Partnering with Interact for Health and HealthPath Foundation to standardize and use data more equitably better positions our community to develop solutions to reduce health disparities and ultimately lead to healthier outcomes.
This is the second round of funding awards available through the Data for Equity Collaborative. In 2022, the first cohort of ten organizations each received a one-year $25,000 grant. Throughout the year, participating organizations engaged in training, technical assistance, and shared learning opportunities, focusing on community engagement and culturally responsive evaluation.
“The Data for Equity grant has allowed RefugeeConnect an opportunity to dive deeper into our evaluation practices, engaging our entire Community and Health Navigator team—all of whom are refugees and immigrants—in helping us incorporate more equitable data collection and evaluative practices,” Kristin Burgoyne, Executive Director of RefugeeConnect said. “As a result, we are more aligned with understanding the larger refugee community’s needs.”
“Interact for Health strives to achieve health equity and ultimately address the root causes that lead to disparities in the first place,” Kate Schroder, President and CEO of Interact for Health said. “Supporting our community non-profits to better access and use health equity data helps all of us. We have gaps in life expectancy of up to 26 years between neighborhoods that are just a few miles apart. We are excited to support community partners in their efforts to close gaps and help improve outcomes for everyone.”
In addition to grant funding, ongoing technical assistance, training and shared learning opportunities will be available as the grantees identify needs. Grant funding can be used to build an organization’s capacity to:
- Align a new or existing practice or program with equitable evaluation principles.
- Engage the voices of those with lived experience in programming and evaluation efforts.
- Analyze data and findings to better understand various populations and the effectiveness of services.
- Build the knowledge and capacity of organizational staff to understand data with an equity lens.
- Make continuous quality improvement to ensure equitable practices.
- Execute improvement plans to create better experiences and outcomes for customers and staff.
Proposals are due at 5 p.m. EDT Friday, September 29. To see the complete details of the request for proposals and to apply, visit www.interactforhealth.org/open-funding/.
About bi3
bi3 transforms health for all people in Greater Cincinnati by fueling innovation and health equity through grantmaking. bi3 leverages its strategic partnership with TriHealth and partners with community-based organizations to spark and scale new solutions to deep-seated community health issues, envisioning a day when all people in Greater Cincinnati achieve their best health. Learn more at www.bi3.org.
About HealthPath Foundation of Ohio
HealthPath Foundation of Ohio focuses on achieving the results of Oral Health, Healthy Ohioans, and Age-Friendly Communities, with a vision all Ohioans, regardless of status, wealth, or circumstances will have the ongoing opportunity to achieve their fullest health potential HealthPath has a 36-county area in Ohio. With an endowment of more than $37 million, HealthPath has awarded more than $21 million in grants to address some of the most pressing, yet neglected, health issues faced by Ohio’s indigent population. Learn more at www.healthpathohio.org.
About Interact for Health
Interact for Health partners to ensure that people in our region have a just opportunity to live their healthiest lives, regardless of who they are or where they live. We advance health justice through grantmaking, collaboration, learning, convening and engagement. Interact for Health is an independent foundation that works in 20 counties in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana. Learn more at www.interactforhealth.org.
