Pfizer has awarded over $2 million to 11 nonprofits to fund community-driven research and intervention projects focusing on the causes of racial and ethnic disparities in health care and health outcomes.

Pfizer’s Multicultural Health Equity Collective and Pfizer’s Institute of Translational Equitable Medicine developed the Communities in Action for Health Equity grant program to fund community-based solutions to health inequities throughout the country. The program focuses on four key intervention areas: health care facilities and delivery; workforce pathways; policy; and research and data.

“The Communities in Action for Health Equity grants program resulted from many candid discussions with health equity leaders about how we can move forward more equitable care and actually drive systemic change,” said Niesha Foster, vice president of global health and social impact at Pfizer, in a Pfizer news release. “Our partners are truly at the forefront of this work, and, while we know this will be a multiyear effort, we feel Pfizer can play an important role in bringing multidisciplinary leaders together and investing in the community-led solutions they helped identify.”

 The Black health advocacy nonprofit BLKHLTH received a grant to implement a training program for undergraduate and graduate students who plan to join the health care workforce and are interested in acting as health equity advocates for local communities.

Another grantee, WNC Health Network, will use its newly awarded funds to advance its mission to reduce racial health disparities in western North Carolina by collaborating with community-based organizations and data experts to identify barriers to care for underserved, marginalized communities.

“Communities in Action for Health Equity takes a critical step forward in advancing the equity research agenda by investing in organizations steeped in and trusted by historically underserved and underrepresented communities,” said Pfizer’s chief medical officer Aida Habtezion, MD.

For the full list of grantees, click here.

To read more, click #Health Equity. There, you’ll find headlines such as “Children of Color Receive Worse Pediatric Care,” “New Video Series Delves Into Racism in Cancer Care” and “Being Black and Pregnant in the Deep South Can Be a Dangerous Combination.”