Systems Change Grants

Overview

Vitalyst Health Foundation is on a mission to connect, support, and inform efforts to improve the health of individuals and communities in Arizona. Established following the sale of the St. Luke’s Health System to a for-profit corporation in 1996, the foundation operated as St. Luke’s Charitable Health Trust (1996–1999) and St. Luke’s Health Initiatives (2000–2016).

Over its history, Vitalyst has invested more than $130 million into Arizona health, in areas ranging from statewide health policy to local community gardens. Along the way, the organization has established itself as a thought leader, convener, framer, and catalyst of key health initiatives and coalitions.

Systems Change
This change is one that is fully sustainable and not connected to grant funds or external expectations, but rather an organizational or cross-system priority to new policies, culture, communication or practices.

• Health Equity Lens: Equity is a lens through which to view every opportunity, decision, or action. Using this lens means taking an approach to determining all strategies, both universal and focused.
• Community Partnership: True partnership involves meaningfully engaging key stakeholders from the beginning, sharing ownership and decision-making, and creatively using existing community resources and assets.
• Sustainability: Sustainability is the difference between funding a program and funding a project. The goal with Systems Change grants is to create lasting change, either through policy or practice, that is sustainable past the grant funding period.
•  Health Outcomes Focus: Health is at the root of what we do. These grants must clearly identify which health outcome(s) will be improved, including the population driving and benefiting from the change and the mechanism(s) for how the policy/practice change is improving the health outcome.

Systems Change Grants invest in efforts that positively address complex community health challenges and reduce structural and/or systemic gaps in health outcomes or opportunities.

Grant Criteria

• 2+ partners working collaboratively, the lead being an Arizona-based nonprofit serving Arizonans
• Clearly identified policy, systems, or environmental change
• Specific health outcomes to be improved and intersections of the Elements of a Healthy Community
• Framed with a health equity lens benefiting and including an identified population
• Budget consistent with the proposed scope of work
• Sustainable solution that endures after the grant funding

Award Amount

• Three-year awards
• Up to 175,000 total

Key Dates

• Letter of Intent Due October 6, 2023
• Notifications of invitation to submit a full proposal will be made on Friday, December 9.
• Proposals Due January 19, 2024
• Presentations to Vitalyst team February 5 to February 9, 2024

Systems Change Information Session 

Watch the Information Session recording here. Click here to view the slide deck. For Frequently Asked Questions, click here.