WW Wellness Impact Award | WW USA
Health access is a human right. It’s a core WeightWatchers® belief, but not all communities have access to the resources they need to live a healthy life. To help fight systemic injustice faced by marginalized groups, the WW Wellness Impact Award empowers organizations that are breaking down barriers to health in communities of color.
The “why” behind the award
For the third-annual WW Wellness Impact Award, we’re honoring organizations dedicated to improving the weight health of Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) communities. Three winning groups will receive a $20,000 grant and more.
Community has always been at the heart of WeightWatchers, and while we’re dedicated to making healthy living accessible to all, major disparities still exist:
- Research shows that BIPOC communities face staggeringly worse health outcomes than their white counterparts. For example, BIPOC people have disproportionately higher rates of chronic diseases, including diabetes, obesity, heart disease, and certain forms of cancer.1
- And due to systemic bias toward these historically-excluded communities, they also face lack of access, unequal treatment, and distrust in the system when seeking care. Consider this: Zip codes with predominantly Black populations are 67% more likely to have a shortage of primary care physicians.2
These statistics can feel defeating and hard to overcome. But community-led organizations are committed to doing the work—giving BIPOC communities the tools and agency to change their health narrative.
2 Access to care: Health Services Research. (2012.) “Residential segregation and the availability of primary care physicians.” https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3416972
Congratulations to our 2023 winners!
Black Women For Wellness
Empowers Black women and girls to improve their health and wellbeing through education and advocacy. Its comprehensive programming aims to eliminate the health disparities faced by Black women and girls, including disproportionately high rates of nutrition-related diseases like diabetes, high-blood pressure, heart disease, and more.
“We know the solutions, hold the resources, and bear the responsibility to create the shifts and changes needed for our health. It's on each of us to develop our personal power, uplift acknowledged leadership, and above all, contribute to our community's survival and growth." —Janette Robinson Flint, founder and executive director
Dion’s Chicago Dream
Combats food insecurity at the intersection of last-mile delivery and logistics—and addresses deserts across the city of Chicago. Its model champions workforce development and the stabilization of food quality through three key programs, including fresh produce delivery food.
“I’m truly honored to do this important health equity work. At Dion’s Chicago Dream, we’ve centered health, equity, dignity and logistics to amazing results. Every day we represent the good that can happen when intentionality and purpose meet.” — Dion Dawson, founder and executive director
Healthy Hood Chicago
Strives to reduce the 20-year life-expectancy gap that exists between underprivileged communities and affluent communities in Chicago. Healthy Hood Chicago works to educate on and eradicate the five most common diseases in communities of color, which are largely preventable through access to health resources.
“It is not enough to create an island of equality in an ocean of injustice” — Rev. Tanya Lozano Washington
Thank you to our additional finalists, Harlem Wellness Center and Getting Grown Collective, who are also doing incredible work to improve health outcomes in marginalized communities.
Meet our past honorees
2022 winners | 2021 winners
Unfortunately, we are no longer accepting applications - the submission window ran from May 8 through September 30.
Applications were accepted until midnight ET on September 30, 2023.
After all applications are submitted, WW Good evaluates all applications based on the criteria listed on the website and selects five finalists. The five finalists will then participate in final round interviews and three award winners will be selected.
All winners will be selected by an expert committee, based off of the outlined evaluation criteria and finalist interviews.
The $20,000 grant can be used towards program, operating and/or marketing costs. The funds may not be used for lobbying or political purposes.
- Submit founder bio, organization description, logo, and 2-3 photos for WW marketing
- Provide approvals on promotional content (Expected time commitment: 5 hours total)
- Participate in one one-hour partner phone call in December 2023 to discuss program updates and opportunities for collaboration
- Participate in potential media requests, including member engagement opportunities (Expected time commitment: 5-10 hours total)