We’re excited to announce that we are partnering with Accelerating Collaborations for Evaluation (ACE) to offer a Matching Service to connect E4A applicants involved in community initiatives with research partners so they can work together to develop or enhance an applicant’s evaluation strategy to better align with E4A funding criteria.
“In the three years since E4A launched, the need for building partnerships between practitioners and researchers has become increasingly apparent. We are so pleased to be launching ACE, and in so doing, be responsive to requests we've received from our applicants to help facilitate this type of collaboration.” — Nancy Adler, E4A Director
ACE was selected from a distinguished group of applicants to our recent Matching Service Call for Proposals because of their innovative approach to and capacity for building sustainable collaborations, their appreciation of the complexity of the types of partnerships we are seeking to advance, and their understanding of a Culture of Health. ACE brings together investigators and practitioners from Johns Hopkins’ Center for Health Services and Outcomes Research of the Bloomberg School of Public Health and Center for Health Equity in the School of Medicine, which together have access to robust networks of researchers who can act as potential partners for our applicants. ACE will also build a registry of researchers who are interested in being paired with organizations implementing interesting intereventions to improve the Culture of Health.
“Across the country, there is a surge of innovative programs that promote a Culture of Health. There are organizations out there with great ideas and interventions but no resources for evaluation. One of the best things about the Matching Service is that we’ll be connecting people with common interests and complementary expertise/experience to facilitate their success in evaluating these initiatives. If communities and researchers can demonstrate the effectiveness of these programs they can get further support and ultimately serve as a model for others. ” — Jill Marsteller & Albert Wu, ACE Co-Directors
E4A funds rigorous research evaluating the impact of policies, programs and partnerships on health, well-being, and equity. The goal of the ACE Matching Service is to facilitate the best partnerships to enhance applicants’ abilities to successfully apply for E4A funding opportunities and meet our selection criteria for rigor of research designs and ability to carry out proposed projects. We also hope the Matching Service will help expand our research portfolio to include representation from new researchers and sectors, increase the diversity of grantee backgrounds and perspectives, and help organizations establish partnerships that build evidence for their work.
"The objectives the Matching Service is designed to achieve are relevant beyond E4A to all of RWJF's efforts to build a Culture of Health. As a rolling submission program, E4A is well-suited to launch this service; but we're excited to learn from this initiative and apply it more broadly across the foundation." — Alonzo Plough, RWJF VP, Research-Evaluation-Learning and Chief Science Officer
To learn more about the Matching Service and how to participate, visit www.evidenceforaction.org/applicant-technical-assistance or email EvidenceforAction@ucsf.edu.