Robert Wood Johnson Foundation
Encyclopedia
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) is the United States
' largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care; it is based in Princeton, New Jersey
. The foundation's mission is to improve the health and health care of all Americans. The foundation has $7.5 billion in assets, generating grants approaching $400 million a year to "address the nation’s most complex health and health care issues. The Foundation aims to use these private resources in the service of the public, and in a way that prompts new public policy, inspires action from the private sector, and changes systems for delivering the best health care to the most people."
built the family firm of Johnson & Johnson
into the world's largest health products maker. He died in 1968. He established the foundation at his death with 10,204,377 shares of the company’s stock.
, who was selected to serve as president and CEO in December 2002. Prior to Lavizzo-Mourey's tenure, Steve Schroeder
served as the Foundation's president from 1990 - 2002. Under the leadership of Schroeder, the foundation played a major role in curbing tobacco use in the US, spending $446 million from 1991 to 2003 toward that goal, and it plans to use those experiences to shape its attack on childhood obesity. Since 1995, the number of adult and teenage smokers has declined 12.6 percent and 18 percent, respectively.
Childhood Obesity: Reversing the childhood obesity
epidemic by 2015 by improving access to affordable healthy foods and increasing opportunities for physical activity in schools and communities across the United States.
In April 2007, the foundation committed $500 million to reversing the childhood obesity epidemic. The President and CEO is personally committed to reversing this epidemic by 2015; she is quoted saying the following:
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has been working over the past several years to support programs that offer potential for wide-scale change in communities and schools. These include efforts to bring supermarkets back to under served communities and programs to improve nutrition, physical activity, and staff wellness in schools nationwide. The Foundation partnered with the Food Trust, a non-profit in Philadelphia, whose mission is to ensure that everyone has access to affordable, nutritious food. The Food Trust’s research on childhood obesity led the Philadelphia school system to ban soda vending machines from all of its schools, the strongest measure in the country.
Health Insurance Coverage: Ensuring that everyone in America has stable, affordable health care coverage through the development of policies and programs to expand health coverage and maximize enrollment in existing coverage programs.
Public Health: Strengthening the practice of public health and the implementation of policies to ensure the system can fulfill its vital role in protecting the safety and health of all Americans.
Quality/Equality: Helping communities set and achieve ambitious goals to improve the quality of health care in ways that matter to all patients and their families, and in particular to patients from specific racial and ethnic backgrounds who often experience lower-quality care.
Human Capital: Fostering a diverse group of promising scholars and professionals through leadership development, training and research to ensure that our nation has a sufficient, well-trained workforce to meet our needs.
Vulnerable Populations: Supporting promising new ideas that address health and health care problems that intersect with social factors—housing, poverty and inadequate education—and affect society's most vulnerable people, including low-income children and their families, frail older adults, adults with disabilities, the homeless, those with HIV/AIDS, and those with severe mental illness.
Pioneer Portfolio: Promoting fundamental breakthroughs in health and health care through innovative projects, including those from nontraditional sources and fields.
The Foundation’s Pioneer portfolio focuses developing and implementing new ideas in new and unexpected ways, or new methodologies that inform the future of health and health care. The portfolio seeks disruptive ideas from all fields and invests in innovators who are looking to make long term social change. One example of a pioneering endeavor that fits into the portfolio is using video games to promote health. Although video games are often linked to the physical inactivity, Pioneer team is examining how video games can be used to help kids increase their physical activity level. The team is also examining whether or not an “X Prize” can be used to foster new ways of thinking about health and health care.
, a restaurant industry trade group
which opposes many anti-drunk-driving measures, and the Center for Consumer Freedom
, a coalition of restaurant and food companies (quoting the American Beverage Institute), have labeled RWJF as anti-alcohol or neo-prohibitionist.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
' largest philanthropy devoted exclusively to health and health care; it is based in Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton, New Jersey
Princeton is a community located in Mercer County, New Jersey, United States. It is best known as the location of Princeton University, which has been sited in the community since 1756...
. The foundation's mission is to improve the health and health care of all Americans. The foundation has $7.5 billion in assets, generating grants approaching $400 million a year to "address the nation’s most complex health and health care issues. The Foundation aims to use these private resources in the service of the public, and in a way that prompts new public policy, inspires action from the private sector, and changes systems for delivering the best health care to the most people."
History
Robert Wood Johnson IIRobert Wood Johnson II
Robert Wood "General" Johnson II was an American businessman. He was one of the sons of Robert Wood Johnson I . He turned the family business into one of the world's largest healthcare corporations.- Early life :Johnson was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey...
built the family firm of Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson
Johnson & Johnson is an American multinational pharmaceutical, medical devices and consumer packaged goods manufacturer founded in 1886. Its common stock is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the company is listed among the Fortune 500....
into the world's largest health products maker. He died in 1968. He established the foundation at his death with 10,204,377 shares of the company’s stock.
Leadership
Currently, the Foundation is led by Risa Lavizzo-MoureyRisa Lavizzo-Mourey
Dr. Risa Lavizzo-Mourey is the President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, America's largest philanthropy devoted to health and health care...
, who was selected to serve as president and CEO in December 2002. Prior to Lavizzo-Mourey's tenure, Steve Schroeder
Steve Schroeder
Steven A. Schroeder is Distinguished Professor of Health and Health Care at the University of California, San Francisco . He served as the President and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation from 1990 to 2002. Schroeder is known for his work in promoting smoking cessation strategies.Dr...
served as the Foundation's president from 1990 - 2002. Under the leadership of Schroeder, the foundation played a major role in curbing tobacco use in the US, spending $446 million from 1991 to 2003 toward that goal, and it plans to use those experiences to shape its attack on childhood obesity. Since 1995, the number of adult and teenage smokers has declined 12.6 percent and 18 percent, respectively.
Grantmaking areas
These interest areas include:Childhood Obesity: Reversing the childhood obesity
Childhood obesity
Childhood obesity is a condition where excess body fat negatively affects a child's health or wellbeing. As methods to determine body fat directly are difficult, the diagnosis of obesity is often based on BMI. Due to the rising prevalence of obesity in children and its many adverse health effects...
epidemic by 2015 by improving access to affordable healthy foods and increasing opportunities for physical activity in schools and communities across the United States.
In April 2007, the foundation committed $500 million to reversing the childhood obesity epidemic. The President and CEO is personally committed to reversing this epidemic by 2015; she is quoted saying the following:
Combined with a lack of safe playgrounds and cutbacks in school physical education programs, the absence of healthy food alternatives is one of the factors leading to an alarming increase in childhood obesity rates across the United States. These rates have soared among all age groups of children, more than quadrupling among those between the ages of 6 to 11 in the past 40 years. Today, more than 33% of children in the United States—approximately 25 million kids—are reported to be overweight or obese. The crisis is particularly acute in minority and low-income populations, which have significantly higher rates of obesity.
The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation has been working over the past several years to support programs that offer potential for wide-scale change in communities and schools. These include efforts to bring supermarkets back to under served communities and programs to improve nutrition, physical activity, and staff wellness in schools nationwide. The Foundation partnered with the Food Trust, a non-profit in Philadelphia, whose mission is to ensure that everyone has access to affordable, nutritious food. The Food Trust’s research on childhood obesity led the Philadelphia school system to ban soda vending machines from all of its schools, the strongest measure in the country.
Health Insurance Coverage: Ensuring that everyone in America has stable, affordable health care coverage through the development of policies and programs to expand health coverage and maximize enrollment in existing coverage programs.
Public Health: Strengthening the practice of public health and the implementation of policies to ensure the system can fulfill its vital role in protecting the safety and health of all Americans.
Quality/Equality: Helping communities set and achieve ambitious goals to improve the quality of health care in ways that matter to all patients and their families, and in particular to patients from specific racial and ethnic backgrounds who often experience lower-quality care.
Human Capital: Fostering a diverse group of promising scholars and professionals through leadership development, training and research to ensure that our nation has a sufficient, well-trained workforce to meet our needs.
Vulnerable Populations: Supporting promising new ideas that address health and health care problems that intersect with social factors—housing, poverty and inadequate education—and affect society's most vulnerable people, including low-income children and their families, frail older adults, adults with disabilities, the homeless, those with HIV/AIDS, and those with severe mental illness.
Pioneer Portfolio: Promoting fundamental breakthroughs in health and health care through innovative projects, including those from nontraditional sources and fields.
The Foundation’s Pioneer portfolio focuses developing and implementing new ideas in new and unexpected ways, or new methodologies that inform the future of health and health care. The portfolio seeks disruptive ideas from all fields and invests in innovators who are looking to make long term social change. One example of a pioneering endeavor that fits into the portfolio is using video games to promote health. Although video games are often linked to the physical inactivity, Pioneer team is examining how video games can be used to help kids increase their physical activity level. The team is also examining whether or not an “X Prize” can be used to foster new ways of thinking about health and health care.
Criticism
The American Beverage InstituteAmerican Beverage Institute
The American Beverage Institute is a restaurant industry trade group which opposes the use of anti-drunk-driving checkpoints and other measures whose proponents claim reduce the incidence of drunk driving. They are actively involved in public relations campaigns supporting various interests of the...
, a restaurant industry trade group
Industry trade group
A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association or sector association, is an organization founded and funded by businesses that operate in a specific industry...
which opposes many anti-drunk-driving measures, and the Center for Consumer Freedom
Center for Consumer Freedom
The Center for Consumer Freedom , formerly the Guest Choice Network, is a non-profit American lobby group. It describes itself as "dedicated to protecting consumer choices and promoting common sense," and defending "the right of adults and parents to choose how they live their lives, what they eat...
, a coalition of restaurant and food companies (quoting the American Beverage Institute), have labeled RWJF as anti-alcohol or neo-prohibitionist.
See also
- List of wealthiest foundations
- Office of Alcohol and Other Drug AbuseOffice of Alcohol and Other Drug AbuseThe Office of Alcohol and Other Drug Abuse at the American Medical Association was established by the temperance-oriented Robert Wood Johnson Foundation with an initial grant of $5 million, followed by more substantial funding....
- Faith in ActionFaith in ActionFaith in Action is a network of interfaith, volunteer caregiving service providers with hundreds of locations throughout the United States. It was initiated by the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, a national charity dedicated to improving the health and health care of Americans, headquartered in...
- Public healthPublic healthPublic health is "the science and art of preventing disease, prolonging life and promoting health through the organized efforts and informed choices of society, organizations, public and private, communities and individuals" . It is concerned with threats to health based on population health...