By: Kennesha VanBurch, Director, Health Equity and Community Investments
Advancing health equity requires investment in community organizations that are uniquely positioned to create sustainable change. Through Accelerate Change Together (ACT) on Health Equity, we are serving as a community partner to improve health equity across underserved populations in the United States by collaborating with nonprofit organizations that understand the unique needs of their communities and are taking innovative approaches to address them.
In 2023, we provided more than $3.3 million in financial contributions to 46 community organizations through our third-annual ACT on Health Equity: Community Solutions Challenge and National Strategic Collaborations. Recipients were chosen based on several criteria, including their ability to create measurable and sustainable impact toward health equity.
As part of the ACT on Health Equity: Community Solutions Challenge, we awarded 36 US local and regional nonprofits to receive $25,000 each for a total of $900K. Funding will support tailored solutions to help reduce barriers to care and address the impact of social determinants of health, such as housing for families of children with cancer and other life-threatening diseases, reducing food insecurity and waste, and creating pathways to successful careers in STEM for youth in underserved communities.
Through our National Strategic Collaborations, 10 US nonprofits received a total of $2.4 million to support national and regional health equity programming where AstraZeneca has presence and expertise including asthma, cardiovascular disease, chronic kidney disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, diabetes, rare disease, and oncology. The programming is applying a health equity lens to help eliminate barriers that prevent underserved populations from achieving their best health outcomes, including leveraging home-based testing technology, providing nutrition outreach, and identifying suitable donors for transplants and cell therapy.
We look forward to seeing these programs unfold and celebrating the impact they will achieve. Learn more about our recipients and their programs below.
Community Solutions Challenge
Advocates for Women’s Health, Inc.
Almost 25% of women in south Fresno receive no prenatal care before delivery. The Lower Income Support Program helps underwrite costs of care for patients who are on public assistance, unemployed, or whose household income is $14,000/year or less, because every woman deserves proper prenatal care.
Angel Flight West (AFW) has one audacious objective: to remove transportation as a barrier to health equity. Through a network of volunteer pilots and airline partners, AFW provides free air transportation for people who need to travel long distances to access non-emergency medical care and other essential services. AFW serves California and 11 other western states, and because all flight costs are donated, there’s never a charge for an AFW flight. Throughout 40 years of service, more than 100,000 missions have been completed.
In the Asian American and Native Hawaiian/Pacific Islander (AANHPI) community, obstacles like language barriers, low health literacy, and cultural stigma contribute to numerous health disparities. The Journey to Wellness program is focused on improving the health of the AANHPI community by partnering with local health professionals and using low-cost screening tools. Through events and outreach Asia Pacific Cultural Center aims to raise awareness about health in the AANHPI community.
Augusta Locally Grown's Georgia Food for Health program partners with Wholesome Wave Georgia and many other community partners to provide seventy-five food insecure participants, that have chronic food-related illnesses, with vegetable prescriptions yearly. In addition to the vegetables, the multi-faceted program grants plant-based cooking classes, monthly dietician coaching, clinic visits, and wellness classes with the goal of replacing various medications with healthy eating and fitness habits.
The BANJ Health Center’s Uninsured Patient Care Program provides high quality, cost effective primary care services to a low income, minority-based population, including a growing number of unhoused individuals. BANJ offers comprehensive physical examinations and basic lab services utilizing a sliding fee schedule based on current U.S. poverty level guidelines. All patients are seen regardless of their income status, and no one is denied care because of their inability to pay.
The Boston Home is committed to addressing health inequities that people with disabilities, due to progressive and degenerative disorders, face. The Life Enhancing Programs respond to the gap between basic healthcare and quality of life for people by providing services that empower access, independence and health. The Boston Home seeks to support those who deserve connection, accessibility and health equity with limited to no financial burden for the care recipient.
Brighter Bites' mission is to create healthy communities through fresh food. The program aims to improve health outcomes among children and families in under-resourced communities by using the data-driven, evidence-based strategies of distributing fresh produce and implementing nutrition education in partnership with area schools.
California Aquatic Therapy & Wellness Center, Inc.
The Respiratory Health Improvement Project (RHIP) serves school-aged children and promotes early screenings, prevention, and mitigation of respiratory illness among at-risk and vulnerable residents. This project ensures school-age children have free access to critical asthma services and parents receive the education they need to help improve their health and quality of life. RHIP goes out in the community to school sites, churches, and other community events to promote asthma screenings and education and helps to fill a void of access to asthma care and education for underserved low-income children and their parents.
CASA of Los Angeles provides advocacy services by dedicated and highly trained CASA volunteers (Court Appointed Special Advocates) daily to children in foster care who have complex medical/physical and mental/developmental health needs. CASA of LA often serves children that come from historically underserved populations that have experienced the extraordinary consequences of racial disparities and structural inequality that can lead to poverty, neglect and abuse. CASA of LA supports the overall well-being of children and develops individualized advocacy plans to meet the unique needs of each child.
Family House serves as a home for families of children living with cancer and other life-threatening illnesses by providing physical comfort and emotional support. Families travel at least 50 miles to receive treatment at UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. The goal is to alleviate some of their smaller day-to-day stresses so they can focus on caring for their sick child and their siblings. To achieve this, they are provided with housing, extensive food and meal support, social celebrations like BBQs and birthday parties, game nights, story time and arts and crafts.
FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Team 8726
CryptoHawks, FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) Team 8726, aims to promote advanced STEM education among K-12 students by competing in the FRC program, conducting community outreach events, and assisting local FIRST LEGO League (FLL) teams. Participating high school students learn not only CAD, CAM, Java programming, and mechanical skills, but also how to effectively communicate with others through public speaking and teamwork. The ultimate goals are to see students apply skills they learn in both class and the team to something meaningful to them in real life, and to help students realize their passions in STEM and related fields.
Genesys Works NYC (GWNYC) envisions a future where all young adults are equipped and empowered with the knowledge and skills required to achieve career success, upward mobility, and a lifetime of economic self-sufficiency. GWNYC provides pathways to career success for NYC youth in underserved communities through skills training, year-long paid internships during senior year of high school, college and career readiness, and six years of alumni support from high school graduation to launching careers.
Girls Inc. of the Pacific Northwest
Eureka! is an immersive afterschool and summer STEM program for 8th-12th grade girls in Portland, Oregon and SW Washington. Throughout five years in the program, girls explore STEM subjects, career pathways, and post-secondary education readiness. With additional mentorship in leadership and life skills, Eureka! fully fosters girls’ educational, professional, and personal development. Long-term, Eureka! empowers girls to break barriers in STEM, contributing to increased gender and racial diversity in STEM fields, sparking innovation, and creating pathways to brighter futures for women and families.
Greener Partners’ mission is to strengthen community health through urban farming, equitable fresh food access, and discovery-based learning. All children should have access to nourishing food in their school communities. Greener Partners collaborates with schools and community organizations to develop underutilized land into productive school and community gardens that provide fresh food for students experiencing food insecurity. The organization addresses barriers to healthy eating through hands-on gardening, cooking, and food education programs, and through no-cost fruit and vegetable distributions.
Healthy NewsWorks works in under-resourced elementary and middle schools in the Philadelphia region. In partnership with classroom teachers, Healthy NewsWorks delivers programs that engage children ages 5-14 in health-focused journalism. Their unique curriculum integrates reading, writing, health, math, science, media literacy, and civics—plus hands-on experiential learning. The student reporters interview local and national experts in science, medicine, and related fields, learn to distinguish fact from fiction and opinion, strengthen their writing, and build self-confidence.
Identity aims to integrate an inspiring STEM component into the reading support and social-emotional curriculum as a means of building students’ literacy, math skills, exposure to STEM fields, and self-esteem through hands-on STEM activities. The program will work with academically and/or socially/emotionally struggling Latino 2nd and 3rd grade students living in high-poverty neighborhoods. Students will grow their critical thinking skills, creative expression, and comfort with STEM challenges.
It Takes Philly aims to provide barrier-free access to healthcare by creating initiatives that eliminate obstacles to care. Through their program, they work to ensure that pediatric patients have access to pediatric exercise classes, specialized nutritional groups, and trauma-informed yoga sessions tailored for pediatrics. Their pediatric care services encompass vaccination and immunization support, child wellness check-ups, and behavioral health and mental well-being, with an emphasis on accessibility, high quality, and the overall well-being of children in the community.
21st Century is an academic support program serving Erie School District students in grades K-8 who reside in economically distressed areas of the City of Erie. The program motivates students to learn, engages students in productive learning activities, and prepares students to organize and reinforce their learning beyond the classroom.
The Lilac House is striving to create health equity by focusing on the mental and physical health needs of previously incarcerated individuals. This population experiences a high risk of death, acute care utilization, and hospitalization after release. This initiative supports post-incarceration participants through access to mental health services, a Reentry Support group, nutritional food, and improved health literacy.
Mercy Health's mobile healthcare team aims to deliver vital care and vaccination services to underserved communities. Through outreach and vaccination clinics, Mercy Health aims to provide vaccines to the elderly, people with disabilities, and underserved populations.
One Community in Health is an interprofessional team of nursing faculty, nursing students, and dental hygienists who provide screenings, preventive care, specialty referral, education, and case management for American Indian children living on Montana Reservations. This program assists Montana’s Tribal Nations in meeting the Office of Head Start health requirements and providing clinical practice opportunities for nursing students, preparing them to deliver culturally competent care in rural and reservation communities across Montana.
Northeast Regional Cancer Center
The Community-Based Cancer Screening Navigation Program is focused on education, barrier reduction and facilitation of screenings for breast, cervical, colon and lung cancer - targeting low income, underinsured and underserved individuals, while connecting/reconnecting all participants to a medical home to ensure ongoing preventative care. The chosen target screenings are successful in detecting and preventing cancer, offer statistically reliable cost effectiveness yet remain highly underutilized. Through implementation of effective cancer screening protocols, the Navigation Program helps reduce the heavy physical, emotional, and economic toll of a late-stage cancer diagnosis on individuals, families, and community.
This project will address the lack of access to culturally sensitive cancer support services for the medically underserved Latino population in the greater Baltimore Maryland Jurisdiction. Nueva Vida will conduct bilingual/bicultural outreach and education, provide access to preventive (breast, cervical and colorectal) cancer screenings; and provide instrumental support through culturally appropriate patient navigation. The project sets to increase cancer detection and prevention knowledge within the community and promote cancer screening.
Project MEND's objective is to promote the health and self-sufficiency of people living with disabilities or illnesses by providing refurbished medical equipment and assistive technologies. There is no more meaningful impact than helping someone overcome obstacles and barriers to better manage their diagnosis/diagnoses, improve physical health and participate in activities with family and friends. Project MEND aims to provide services to individuals living with disability or illness in South Texas; collect, assess, sanitize, repair, refurbish, and distribute pieces of donated medical equipment; and improve the quality of life for those served.
Samaritan House’s pioneering Food Pharmacy Program is dedicated to advancing health equity, food security, and effective diabetes management. By leveraging the power of the physician’s “prescriptions”, patients diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes are empowered to improve their eating habits and manage their nutritional needs with healthful foods and nutrition education. By reducing dependency on medication, addressing food insecurity, and fostering healthier lifestyles through access to nutritious foods, the Food Pharmacy Program plays a crucial role in combatting diet-related illnesses and improving overall health outcomes.
SC Thrive will connect South Carolina residents to healthcare, food, and other essential quality of life resources through SC Thrive's Connecting Communities to Care (CC2C) Program. The program will educate eligible South Carolinians and school districts about healthcare and social service benefits options, and assist individuals in enrolling in benefits, while bridging the gaps between health care access and food security.
Journey Home Rapid Rehousing (JHRRH) provides short- and medium-term permanent housing placement and stabilization assistance for families experiencing homelessness throughout King County. Case Managers work with families to help them develop a customized plan that addresses the barriers preventing them from accessing and maintaining permanent housing. Landlord Engagement Specialists build relationships with local landlords and property owners, working to create partnerships and negotiate tenancy for program participants.
The MAKERS of Change Assistive Technology Challenge engages high school students to advance their STEM knowledge and learn important lessons about the practical application of assistive technology solutions to support young children with disabilities. The MAKERS Challenge focuses on the use of assistive technology. What sets this project apart is that the solutions designed by the high school student teams will contribute to real change in the community.
The Exploring Bioscience Opportunities program is designed to reaches fifty high school girls and young women throughout the Washington DC Metro area with a specific focus on underserved communities. Throughout the three phases of the program, students will be exposed to the far-reaching opportunities offered in biopharmaceuticals, and how to pursue a career in this expanding area of science.
Climate Corps Education Outside (CCEO) advances science education and environmental literacy in public elementary schools by bringing student learning to the outdoor classroom. CCEO provides partner schools with a dedicated AmeriCorps Fellow that sparks children's interest in science and connects them to the natural world through consistent, NGSS-aligned lessons in school gardens. Additionally, CCEO Fellows steward the outdoor classroom and transform schools into more sustainable communities.
This program will increase access to basic health services for a growing proportion of Stamford Health patients, who have recently arrived from Haiti, South America, Ukraine, and more. This population of immigrants arrive with few economic resources, little or no cultural familiarity, or English literacy. The program will help locate, communicate with, and care for these often hard-to-reach individuals, thereby improving the quality of services. By making community resources more accessible, connecting their peers to health care and social services, and educating them about disease and injury prevention, Community Health Workers (CHWs) will help Stamford Health care for anyone and everyone who walks through the door.
Switzer Learning Center is a dedicated school for students with special needs in Los Angeles County that provides STEM programs to enhance educational, therapy, and enrichment opportunities for students with special needs ages 10-22. Switzer students face unique challenges that require tailored programs and support to help them reach their full potential. Through the STEM Lab for Special Education Switzer Learning Center is helping educate diverse minds, build social confidence and create a path to independence.
Upstate Medical University – Cancer Center
She Matters® is a community outreach program of Upstate Medical University that educates women on the importance of breast cancer screenings. She Matters® is made up of Community Health Workers (CHWs) that go into the community they live in and encourage/help women to schedule a mammogram with the assistance of Upstate She Matters staff. The CHWs provide support by going to appointments and staying in the waiting room until the mammogram is completed. CHWs also make annual phone calls to remind patients of their upcoming appointment.
For over a decade, the Outdoor Learning Lab has connected underrepresented Pittsburgh youth to outdoor experiences. A connection to nature can provide children with many physical, social, and mental wellness benefits, as well as an opportunity to learn educational concepts in new and unique ways. Through a network of partnerships with schools and afterschool sites, Venture Outdoors meets regularly with 700 youth throughout the year, to engage them in activities like kayaking, biking, hiking, geocaching, environmental education, and STEM.
Wake Early College of Health and Sciences
The goal of "WECHS H.E.A.L.S. (Health Equity Advocates Learning & Solving) on Wheels" is to provide a powerful service-learning experiences for students, in Wake’s health science magnet-themed school, as they actively work to reduce health and well-being inequities in their community. The program utilizes an outreach vehicle stocked with health & wellness supplies to serve the needs of our community. WakeMed Center for Community Health will help direct the school-based program of what supplies are most needed in the community. This center works to provide "holistic care to some of the Raleigh area’s most vulnerable residents."
We Don’t Waste believes nutritious food should go to people, not landfills. They reduce hunger and food waste in the Denver area by recovering quality, unused food from the food industry and delivering it free-of-charge to food pantries, soup kitchens, schools, and shelters serving those in need, as well as directly to the community through free Mobile Food Markets. Since 2009, We Don’t Waste has recovered more than 180 million servings of food to distribute to those in need.
National Strategic Collaborations
African American Wellness Project
Founded over two decades ago, the African American Wellness Project (AAWP) is dedicated to health equity and better health outcomes for people of color by serving trusted knowledge and information, guides and resources that enable and encourage African Americans to advocate for themselves and receive improved care, regardless of insurance or circumstances.
BlackDoctor Foundation (BDF) is providing solutions to address health disparities within the Black community. A core principle of BlackDoctor Foundation is to ensure the opportunity to live the healthiest life possible is not a hope but a reality. Understanding how to unlock the cultural codes and speak directly to the Black patient base is key to making a difference in improving health outcomes. By leveraging culturally relevant content, BDF can speak to millions sharing the message that health equity is achieved when every person can “attain his or her full health potential”. The goal is to make sure no one is prevented from achieving this potential due to social position, economic limits or racial injustice.
RARE Concierge is a free service for individuals impacted by rare disease that provides personalized answers to help diagnosed or undiagnosed rare disease patients, families, and caregivers on their unique disease journey. As a centralized hub of information, resources, support, and connections, RARE Concierge provides guidance and support for some of the most pressing needs faced by rare disease patients and advocates. Global Genes aims to further strengthen their commitment to health equity by increasing outreach to underserved individuals within marginalized communities or care deserts and continue to create culturally appropriate collateral about RARE Concierge and the services that it provides.
Program CONNECT broadens lung cancer education, resources, and services within marginalized communities by training and deploying community health personnel to identify, connect, and offer continuous follow-up for those at risk or diagnosed with lung cancer. The objective is to enhance overall health outcomes, strengthen provider-patient relationships, elevate patient satisfaction throughout their healthcare journey, and promote shared decision-making.
Servicewomen and assigned female at birth (AFAB) service members command a vital and often overlooked role across all branches of the U.S. military. HealthyWomen's multi-module ‘health across the lifespan’ educational interventions will address the unmet health and wellness needs of a diverse array of female and AFAB military personnel, female and AFAB veterans, and female and AFAB spouses. In addition to tailored resources for spouses and veterans, HealthyWomen will create a suite of educational tools for servicewomen and AFAB service members to ensure the program meets service members where they are and how they prefer to receive health information.
Working with an FQHC and Healthy.io National Kidney Foundation will be looking at their patient population, specifically those with CVD and/or diabetes, and who have not been in the clinic in the past year. They will be sent a Healty.io Minuteful home testing kit and patients who have an abnormal or abnormally high risk for CKD will receive a follow up to go back to the clinical for formal CKD diagnosis/treatment. Those who are diagnosed will be referred into NKF's Peer mentoring program for support as they navigate their new diagnosis.
National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP)
As a global nonprofit leader in cell therapy, NMDP creates essential connections between researchers and supporters to inspire action and accelerate innovation to find life-saving cures. Because health outcomes and healthcare access barriers are linked, NMDP addresses disparities through diversifying the NMDP Registry, investing in life-saving research, supporting patients from diagnosis to transplant recovery, collaborating with community clinics serving diverse patient populations, and continually assessing practices. With the help of blood stem cell donors from the world’s most diverse registry and an extensive network of transplant partners, physicians, and caregivers, NMDP is expanding access to treatment so that every patient can receive their life-saving cell therapy.
North Carolina Central University, Nutrition & Dietetics Programs
This community nutrition outreach project will reach individuals and families who are food insecure in urban and rural counties in North Carolina. Through community outreach, health screening, nutrition assessment and nutrition education this project will help increase access to foods, nutrition knowledge, skills in food selection, cooking and healthy eating and physical activity particularly reaching underserved, minorities and those at risk for health disparities and those affected by chronic conditions such as diabetes, hypertension, cardiovascular disease and other conditions.
SHARE Self-Help for Women with Breast or Ovarian Cancer, Inc.
SHARE’s Power of Patient Navigation Program seeks to improve patient access, utilization, and adherence to treatment and care to maximize their positive, long-term outcomes. SHARE plans to use Patient Navigation, an evidence-based, best practice, to help patients overcome common health access challenges, such as language barriers, gaps in knowledge, finance issues, care coordination challenges, health literacy, medical mistrust, and other systemic challenges. Historically, Patient Navigators have helped clients effectively bridge gaps in accessing care while providing support and helping them connect with other services needed.
Student National Medical Association
SNMA's National Community Service Protocol Program (NCSP) focuses on educating communities and empowering their members to make healthy lifestyle choices. Utilizing SNMA's extensive 200+ chapter network, NCSP engages youth and adults, aged 15-65, who live in communities where chapters are located. In addition to benefiting the communities where the protocols are implemented, NCSP plays a vital role in preparing future physicians to have an active role in health promotion and disease prevention. SNMA’s membership and community-centered approach serving as both health advocates and role models is a powerful recipe for accelerating change.
