Listen, trust, fund: The future of community-led innovation

What happens when you invest differently in local leaders on the frontlines of racial health equity? Watch their stories and help us spread the word: #supportlocalinnovation

Local organizations that deliver critical services with limited funding are the ones that deeply understand the issues facing their communities and could lead in driving innovative, meaningful solutions that advance health equity. But when they are kept in a constant state of survival – without the resources to generate and implement new ideas – we all lose out.

With support from the Deloitte Health Equity Institute (DHEI) and Collaborosity, Health Leads launched the Makers Residency in 2023 after identifying a gap in support and funding for the earliest, often-overlooked stages of social entrepreneurship. Over 10 weeks, The Residency provided five visionary community leaders with hands-on coaching, financial resources, technical assistance and peer support as they designed innovative solutions to tackle health inequities in their communities.

“There are not a lot of opportunities like what Health Leads is providing — to trust people who are on the ground to do what’s needed.”

— Niasha Fray, Gregory B. Davis Foundation

Only 3% of venture funds go to Black and Latino ventures, and Black and Brown racial justice nonprofits get 34% less funding than white-led groups. (Source)

See what’s possible when communities have the space and support to bring their vision to life.

Teguo Daniel Djoyum, Director of Public Health
African Chamber of Commerce | Denver, Colorado

The African Chamber of Commerce is proposing specific language for a legislative bill to support RIM (Refugee, Immigrant, Migrant) Community Health Workers (CHWs).  They are conducting a pilot test by hiring non-traditional health workers to demonstrate to state legislators and key stakeholders the significant benefits these CHWs bring to the healthcare system.

The Gregory B. Davis Foundation is developing the Virtual Empowerment Zone (VEZ) to provide a dynamic online platform for Indigenous and Black community members to connect meaningfully, bridging information gaps caused by limited access to community boards and coalition efforts. They are committed to democratizing access to information and resources.

Niasha Fray, Board Member
Gregory B. Davis Foundation | Roanoke Valley Area, North Carolina

Lanakila Mangauil, Founder & Executive Director
HŌʻĀ | Honoka’a, Hawai’i

Ho’a is developing a prototype named Kipuka, which is a new cooperative focused on creating opportunities to reconnect Kānaka Maol and Kamaʻāina communities with their environment. The prototype employs a unique model of engagement, collaboration, and reciprocity between for-profit, non-profit, and community partners, providing a template that other local communities can replicate. 

Kristin Urquiza, Co-Founder & Executive Director
Marked By COVID | San Francisco, California

Marked By Covid is launching the “COVID is Not Over” campaign to mobilize California changemakers in addressing the ongoing impacts of COVID-19 on Latine and other communities of color. The campaign focuses on raising awareness about Long COVID by collaborating with entertainment industry leaders to feature patient voices, identifying children orphaned by the pandemic to connect them with the groundbreaking HOPE Accounts, and developing educational materials for funders and policy-makers that highlight the ongoing needs of affected communities and solutions.

Langston Verdin, Founder & Executive Director
MKE FreshAir Collective | Milwaukee, Wisconsin

MKE Fresh Air Collective plans to integrate youth education and awareness with air quality monitors that share real-time air quality data with community and policymakers. This includes launching a collaboration with TRUE Skool, a local youth arts organization, to implement an afterschool series on air pollution and its health effects that culminates in a youth-led mural project.  

A new way of investing

We believe that funders that are committed to equity and community-centric work have a real opportunity to make their dollars go much further by funding programs that enable those with the best understanding of their community issues to design and drive the solutions to their own challenges. 

With the time, space, and resources to address the persistent problems that are untold and unseen by institutions with investing power, these leaders can design solutions that not only fill gaps in immediate services, but build toward broader, more lasting system change.

“This should be the way we are prepping changemakers”

— Teguo Daniel Djoyum

  • Ensure capacity for local leaders to keep existing programs running well while making time to create novel solutions to an ongoing challenge. Offer more flexible timelines and grant periods to allow for creativity while building safe-to-fail opportunities through testing.

  • Evolving philanthropic approaches will change our mindsets and actions from directing to listening and from assuming to trusting and by doing so we will follow the lead of those closest to those challenges and likely to the solutions. When funders ask what this looks like, it can include: 

    • Host listening sessions with grantees and non grantees and ask what would they need money for? Then incorporate those suggestions on your funding model. 

    • Make flexible investments beyond restricted funding for programs and projects. This might include funding a retreat for leadership to pause and think about future programming, funding general expenses, etc.

  • Continue to fund existing services, but evolve how we think of impact. Redefine impact to include learnings derived from a pilot or test project for an approach that can solve not only an immediate problem, but can be spread or grow for longer-term impact.

  • Support community-level design and testing of new programs, services, and technologies. Ensure communities are owners of data/information collected about them and direct how that information is interpreted and narrated.

Join us

Building on the success of our inaugural cohort, we’re excited to launch the next wave of the Residency and reach more local leaders from under-resourced communities across the country. With each new group of Makers, we aim to refine our approach, share our learnings, and scale our model to foster even more equity-centered, community-driven innovation.

Take action to support this work

Your donation is crucial to ensuring that Health Leads can continue to support and uplift local leaders. Together, we can make a lasting impact on our communities by fostering innovation where it matters most.

Spread the word

Help us amplify the voices of local innovators leading the charge for community-driven change on LinkedIn, Twitter, and Facebook!

Reach out to learn more

To learn more about investing in this work or explore partnership opportunities, reach out to innovation@healthleadsusa.org

Together, we can build a network of local health equity leaders who have the power, influence, and funding to drive the innovative solutions their communities need.