Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF)
$450,000 won
Narrative Approach
Verified Win

Building a Culture of Health narrative: centering community voice in your RWJF proposal

RWJF funds proposals that demonstrate authentic community co-design, not consultation. Frame your project as community-led from the problem definition stage, and you cut through the noise of clinically-framed applications.

Dr. Maria Santos

Director of Community Health Initiatives

Central Valley Health Partnership

71 upvotes

The Strategy

RWJF's Culture of Health framework is not a buzzword checklist — reviewers score on whether community members shaped the problem definition, not just the implementation plan. The winning move is to open your narrative with a community-voiced problem statement (a quote, a story, a participatory data finding) BEFORE you introduce your org's credentials. Structure your narrative in three layers: (1) the community-defined problem with hyper-local data, (2) your org's role as a convener/facilitator (not a savior), and (3) the community…

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rwjf
culture-of-health
community-voice
health-equity
participatory
narrative

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