RWJF Announces 2022 Award for Health Equity Winners

Princeton, N.J.—The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) announced nine winners of the 2022 Award for Health Equity. The award celebrates individuals who have changed health systems and policies at a local level to increase the chance for everyone to have a fair and just opportunity for health and wellbeing. The winners received a cash prize of $3,000 and will be featured in the 2022 RWJF Award for Health Equity celebratory video, which will be accessible on RWJF’s YouTube channel on December 5, 2023, at 12:00 p.m. EST. RWJF will honor the award winners from 2016 to 2022 on December 6, 2023, at the RWJF Award for Health Equity Virtual Summit. 

The RWJF Award for Health Equity was launched in 2015 and supports national membership organizations that focus on public health, healthcare, social justice, civic leadership, community development, education, and philanthropy in recognition of their important work in the field. Those organizations find and select changemakers in their communities who are improving the health and wellbeing of the people they serve.

As our nation grapples with persistent inequities in health and healthcare, the honorees show us both the path to health equity and the multifactor, holistic approach to health that this path requires. This year’s award cohort includes, among others, a social innovator working to fill gaps in understanding between healthcare providers and the LGBTQ+ community; a healthcare activist organizing self-help networks and community education workers who serve immigrants in rural Mississippi; and a children’s advocate who helps young people experience the natural world while learning social and leadership skills. 

“The 2022 Award for Health Equity winners have taken on the urgent and difficult work of systems change to achieve health equity. They have made substantial inroads, improving the everyday lives of people and communities, by advancing innovative approaches to services and care,” said Fiona Kanagasingam, vice president of Equity and Culture at the Foundation. “They are building bridges to connect the disconnected, to serve the marginalized, and to build new paths to health and wellbeing for everyone.”  

This year’s winners include: 

Shawn Fung-A-Ling of the I Am Human Foundation—Selected by AIDS United

Dr. Raynald Samoa of City of Hope Medical Center—Selected by the Asian & Pacific Islander Caucus for Public Health

Drs. Zea Malawa and Anu Manchikanti Gomez of the Abundant Birth Project—Selected by Community-Campus Partnerships for Health

Lorena Katherine Quiroz Lewis of the Immigrant Alliance for Justice and Equity—Selected by Hispanics in Philanthropy

Rhonda Breland-Gil of Wesley Woods Senior Living—Selected by LeadingAge

Nancy Lascheid of the Neighborhood Health Clinic—Selected by the National Association of Free and Charitable Clinics

Alma Stewart Allen of the Louisiana Center for Health Equity—Selected by the National Civic League

Velma Bailey of St. Louis Torchbearers 2—Selected by the National Recreation and Park Association

Elliott Orrin Hinkle of Unicorn Solutions, LLC—Selected by Youth M.O.V.E. National

About the RWJF Award for Health Equity

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Award for Health Equity recognizes and celebrates individuals who have successfully changed systems and policies that affect health and wellbeing, thus helping to reduce health disparities and move the nation toward health equity. Learn more at www.rwjf.org/equityaward.

About the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is committed to improving health and health equity in the United States. In partnership with others, we are working to develop a Culture of Health rooted in equity that provides every individual with a fair and just opportunity to thrive, no matter who they are, where they live, or how much money they have.