Amplify and educate
about the importance of CHWs to health outcomes and health equity.
The 2025 Challenge
Community Health Workers:
Catalysts for a Reimagined
Health System
The inaugural Common Health Challenge spotlighted Community Health Workers (CHWs) as trusted professionals who build bridges among clinical, public health, and community organizations to facilitate access to services and improve health.
CHWs are a linchpin for effective collaboration across health care and public health. While we saw a burgeoning of CHW programs during the pandemic, that progress is now in jeopardy as COVID-19-related funding and attention ebbs across the nation. But a different path is possible, where CHWs are stitched into the fabric of our health system.
0+
Organizations took the inaugural 2025 Challenge
$0
Through the Catalyst Awards
0+
Members joined the CHW Community of Practice
The three-pronged approach
How the 2025 Challenge drove impact
The 2025 Common Health Challenge supported communities throughout the U.S. by advancing, encouraging, and amplifying locally driven, collaborative CHW initiatives that bridge the divides between health care and public health. With expert advising from the National Association of Community Health Workers and HealthBegins, the Coalition implemented a three-pronged approach.
Identify and articulate the mutual benefit
to organizations that integrate CHWs into systems and workflows.
Strengthen CHW partnerships
to build sustainable collaborations.
2025 Catalyst Awardees
The 11 awardee organizations demonstrated significant progress in their locally based initiatives to support the establishment of sustainable relationships between health care and public health service providers. Learn more about the 2025 Catalyst Awardees’ projects.
In alphabetical order, the 2025 Catalyst Award recipients are:
- AIRnyc, New York
- Henry Ford Health, Michigan
- IMPaCT Care, Indiana
- MaineGeneral Health, Maine
- Mní Wičhóni Health Circle, North Dakota
- RIPIN, Rhode Island
- South Louisville Community Ministries, Kentucky
- Sueños Sin Fronteras de Tejas (SSFTX), Texas
- Tacoma-Pierce County Health Department, Washington
- Tennessee Community Health Worker Association, Tennessee
- Virginia Commonwealth University Health System (VCUHS), Virginia
The 2026 Common Health Challenge
Regional Action Networks: Catalyzing Collaboration Across Communities
The 2026 Challenge highlights Regional Action Networks – collaborations between health care and public health organizations working across geographic borders and sectors to tackle shared health priorities, improving outcomes for patients and communities.
Take the Challenge by committing your organization to focus on building or strengthening Regional Action Networks and cross-sector partnerships.
