Change Matrix, RWJF Partnership Highlights Underrepresented Minority Researchers

At Change Matrix (CM), we understand the value of creating opportunities for researchers so that they may apply their knowledge to advance the public health field. It is with great pleasure that we announce that we have been selected by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to serve as the National Coordinating Center for the project, Allied Institutions for Change (AI4C).

The nation is at a crucial point in time when multiple pandemics like Coronavirus, racial injustices, and environmental racism are shining a bright light on pervasive health inequities that exist in our society. Researchers, especially those of racially and ethnically diverse backgrounds, are in a unique position to help address health disparities, enhance the results of dissemination strategies, and strengthen the public health impact of their research.

CM will partner with RWJF to develop criteria and select seven schools of public health to participate in a two-year change initiative. This initiative will invite participants to learn, convene, plan, and begin to implement action steps to create a more inviting, supportive, and inclusive environment for their historically underrepresented researchers. For this work, Change Matrix has engaged partners who hold faculty positions in schools of public health, have been scholars and researchers in schools of public health, and who sit on the Equity Committees for their universities. As the National Coordinating Center for AI4C, our own Change Specialists and external partners will be matched in teams of two to work as Adaptive Change Specialists with each selected university. Led by CM Co-Directors Rachele Espiritu and Elizabeth Waetzig, the teams will support strategic planning, capacity building, and systems-level change efforts.

Our team is thrilled to support RWJF in its work to increase the pathway of underrepresented early career researchers in academic settings who can develop actionable evidence and data to improve health equity through knowledge building.