Upstream Action Acceleration

NEW JERSEY HEALTH INITIATIVES

New Jersey Health Initiatives (NJHI)’s Upstream Action Acceleration initiative furthers the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s vision of building a Culture of Health by supporting the efforts of existing community-focused, cross-sector coalitions to adopt and implement “upstream” environmental, policy, and systems changes. The initiative is also intended to accelerate coalitions’ work in areas they have already identified as priorities for improving community health.

Healthy Places by Design has supported this initiative in four phases by:

1. Serving as strategic thought partners during program development;
2. Participating in the calls for proposals and selection phases, including providing coaching to the communities invited to submit;
3. Providing collaborative learning services, including facilitating in-person convenings to build an informed network of local leaders as well as hosting monthly virtual learning sessions in the form of webinars or affinity group discussions; and
4. Contributing to program wrap-up and dissemination.

NJHI staff first learned about Healthy Places by Design through our management of the Roadmaps Action Acceleration and Collaborative Learning initiative. Inspired by that approach, NJHI partnered with Healthy Places by Design to leverage our unique strengths, which included a national perspective; expertise in community change and policy, systems, and environmental strategies; and our history of collaboration with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. A previous investment by NJHI supported community coalition capacity building. This new Upstream Action Acceleration initiative furthers NJHI’s vision of building a culture of health by supporting 12 existing community coalitions to accelerate their work.

 

“I can’t overemphasize how pleased we are with this partnership. We take a fierce pride in how we come across, and appreciate that Healthy Places by Design brings the same level of professionalism. They invested so much in the front end, at the 30,000-foot level, that they had a good sense of what this was about and where we are trying to go. It makes it easier for them to know how to work with us now. They were at the front end [of this effort], when we readily admitted that we stole their ideas from other upstream work.”

BOB ATKINS
Director, NJHI

 

“Everything is so well-planned, well- thought-out, and well-aligned with our work that there are no worries. We work with a lot of consultants, and Healthy Places by Design is one I know will deliver on time and what they promise… It’s stellar work.”

DIANE HAGERMAN
Deputy Director of Programs, NJHI