Evaluation of the NJHI Upstream Action Acceleration Initiative

The Change Our Client Seeks

In its first phase, the New Jersey Health Initiatives (NJHI) Upstream Action Acceleration Initiative – funded by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation – helped twelve community-based cross-sector coalitions focused on community engagement and increasing local capacity to adopt change strategies addressing factors influencing health prior to the onset of disease and illness.

The Role We’re Playing

Serving as a learning partner with NJHI and its technical assistance partner, Healthy Places by Design, Equal Measure continues to assess the extent to which the coalitions understand the public health implications of upstream environmental-, policy-, and systems-change efforts to address social determinants of health and identify how cross-sector collaboration can help build healthier communities. Part of this role is engaging as a formative learning partner, gathering data and insights as the initiative continues to unfold, and as appropriate, help shape the evolution of the investment. In our engagement, we conduct interviews to reflect on the first year’s progress toward policy and systems change goals, facilitate reflection sessions on interview themes, and present on how to use data to share updates on impact. This collaborative position enables us to tell the story of the portfolio at the initiative level, including lessons learned. In the second phase of the initiative, we continue in this role, while documenting the impact of and response to the COVID-19 pandemic among 30 NJHI grantees.