2026 Momentum Grants
Momentum Grant Funding Opportunity
At the Advancing a Healthier Wisconsin Endowment (AHW), we are driven by a vision for a healthier Wisconsin.
As Wisconsin’s largest health philanthropy, AHW seeks to propel the most promising work and ideas to improve health and advance health equity in Wisconsin today, and for generations to come. From urban centers to rural and agricultural communities and self-governed tribal nations, we are committed to maximizing the health of ALL Wisconsinites. We do that by providing funding and resources to researchers, organizations, and communities devoted to the health and well-being of the people they serve.
We accelerate innovation, collaboration, and impact by fueling research- and community-identified opportunities. Learn more about our story and AHW’s areas of focus.
AHW’s Momentum Grants support collaborative teams to address Wisconsin's leading health challenges by implementing efforts to advance public and community health, pursuing new paths of research, developing innovative programs and resources to advance Wisconsin’s current or future health workforce, and conducting research to inform policy and practice to advance health and health equity in Wisconsin. Successful projects will demonstrate impact on the identified health need during the project period. Applicants may request up to $250,000 for a 24-month period, beginning July 1, 2026.
Funding Opportunities
- Overview
- Overview
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Funding Summary
AHW’s Community-Led Momentum Grants support community-driven efforts carried out by eligible community-MCW academic partnerships to implement innovative projects to advance health and health equity in Wisconsin. Applicants may request up to $250,000 for a 24-month period, beginning July 1, 2026, to carry out efforts in alignment with AHW’s community-based areas of focus – public and community health, and health workforce education and development.
The Public and Community Health area of focus supports implementation and evaluation of health improvement interventions to address community-identified and community-prioritized health needs, inform policy and practice, improve health outcomes, and reduce disparities in the long-term. Successful applicants will deepen understanding of the drivers of the public’s health in Wisconsin and affect measurable improvement in targeted health indicators. Eligible Public and Community Health proposals may include diverse project ideas, such as but not limited to:
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Implementing evidence-based practices, programs, and systems changes to address community-prioritized health needs, evaluating impact on key health indicators, and developing sustainability and expansion plans for continued impact on community health.
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Actively applying existing knowledge through authentic engagement with impacted populations and active dissemination efforts – such as convenings, social marketing campaigns, policy briefs, toolkit development, and white papers, among others – to inform current policies and practices that could produce measurable changes in key health indicators in the future to improve health outcomes and advance health equity.
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Generating, analyzing, using, and disseminating high-quality findings across disciplines – including community-driven epidemiological studies, program evaluation, gap analysis, health systems studies, needs assessments, and resource allocation studies, among others – to develop and disseminate new knowledge to inform policy and practice changes.
The Health Workforce Education and Development area of focus supports development, implementation, and evaluation of programs and resources to better recruit, retain, and advance community-based health workforces that are responsive to Wisconsin’s health needs. Successful applicants will implement community-driven strategies to nurture a multifaceted health workforce, including peer support specialists, community health workers, school nurses, public health professionals, and others whose day-to-day work aims to positively improve the health of their communities. Eligible Health Workforce Education and Development proposals may be focused on a variety of activities, such as but not limited to:
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Developing, adapting, and/or piloting workforce development resources to enhance the knowledge, capacity, and skill sets of community-based health workforces to address continually evolving community health needs and prepare the next generation of health leaders.
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Applying evidence-based practices to maximize the purpose, resilience, and fulfillment of targeted or multidisciplinary health workforces and gathering initial evaluation to demonstrate the potential positive impact on health and health equity.
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Implementing innovative, community-driven strategies to recruit, retain, and support continuous learning among Wisconsin’s community-based health workforces, and evaluating impact on the health workforce and key health indicators to inform future sustainability and expansion of promising strategies.
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Funding Summary
AHW’s MCW-Led Momentum Grants support eligible MCW-led collaborative teams to implement innovative research projects to advance health and health equity in Wisconsin. Applicants may request up to $250,000 for a 24-month period, beginning July 1, 2026, to carry out efforts in alignment with AHW’s areas of focus – health-focused research, and health workforce education and development.
The Health-Focused Research area of focus supports projects to conduct novel basic, clinical, and population health research and to pursue new paths of study addressing Wisconsin’s leading health priorities. Successful applicants will conduct innovative research and discovery, strengthen academic research capacity, and increase translation and dissemination of new knowledge. Eligible Health-Focused Research proposals may include wide-ranging project ideas, such as but not limited to:
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Conducting novel basic, clinical, or translational research to build on promising preliminary data and produce key findings during the project period that advance the research field, contribute to academic dissemination and leveraging efforts, and inform future efforts to directly advance practice, policy, or treatment to improve health and/or health equity.
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Implementing population health interventions and programs to conduct population health research in collaboration with impacted populations resulting in direct impact during the project period on key health indicators, dissemination of project findings to the community, contribution to academic dissemination and leveraging efforts, and products to inform future efforts to advance practice and policy to improve health and health equity.
The Health Workforce Education and Development area of focus supports development, implementation, and evaluation of programs and resources to better recruit, retain, and advance MCW-based health workforces that are responsive to Wisconsin’s health needs. Successful applicants will implement strategies to nurture a multifaceted health workforce, including healthcare professionals employed by MCW and its affiliates, the next generation of healthcare and health leaders trained by MCW, and community-based health workforces that directly work with MCW programs. Eligible Health Workforce Education and Development proposals may be focused on a variety of activities, such as but not limited to:
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Developing, adapting, and/or piloting workforce development resources to enhance the knowledge, capacity, and skill sets of MCW-based health workforces to address continually evolving health needs and prepare the next generation of health leaders.
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Applying evidence-based practices to maximize the purpose, resilience, and fulfillment of targeted or multidisciplinary health workforces, and gathering initial evaluation data to demonstrate the potential positive impact on health and health equity.
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Implementing innovative strategies to recruit, retain, and support continuous learning among Wisconsin’s health workforces based at or engaged with MCW, and evaluating impact on the health workforce and key health indicators to inform future sustainability and expansion of promising strategies.
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