Ongoing Robert Wood Johnson Foundation investment will support organizing, policy advocacy and narrative change in nearly a dozen states 

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE  
Aug. 5, 2026  
Contact: Jack Cardinal, jcardinal@communitycatalyst.org   

BOSTON, MA — Community Catalyst, the nation’s leading health justice advocacy organization, today announced the launch of Voices for Health Justice 3.0 (Voices), the next phase in its groundbreaking, multi-year effort centered on building community organizing, policy knowledge and narrative change across the country in service of healthcare reform. 

Alongside Voices 3.0 Community Catalyst is advancing the organization’s pioneering Health Justice Intelligence (HJI), an emerging data infrastructure for the health justice movement. HJI documents what works, identifies patterns across states, and treats stories as data in the push for systems change. HJI has the potential to give Voices partners and funders a shared and credible evidence base to track results, replicate proven strategies across state lines, and demonstrate impact at a scale dedicated partners across the country have asked for. 

“The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s continued investment in Voices reflects something rare in this field: a proven model backed by the infrastructure that achieves impact,” said Linda Goler Blount, MPH, President and CEO of Community Catalyst. “Voices has already delivered structural, statewide wins — universal paid sick leave, expanded health coverage, protected child care access — and 3.0 lets us scale that model strategically, with the data to show exactly where this investment is moving the needle, state by state and across the country. We are grateful for their commitment to protecting the health of our communities.”  

Voices 3.0 will see Community Catalyst, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and Community Change working alongside partner organizations in nearly a dozen states to strengthen community power in service of healthcare reform through organizing, policy advocacy, narrative change, capacity building and shared learning — all connected through Community Catalyst’s data infrastructure. 

Since 2021, The Voices program has empowered state and local groups across the country to protect and invest in their communities, including but not limited to: 

  • Paid sick leave for all workers in New Mexico 
  • Protecting the closure of Head Start centers in Oakland, CA 
  • Granting healthcare coverage to pregnant people and kids in Colorado and Maryland, regardless of immigration status 
  • Expanding childcare subsidies in Ohio 
  • Preventing cuts to substance use disorder programs and Medicaid health insurance in Indiana 
  • Breaking down barriers to kids accessing Medicaid health insurance in New Jersey 
  • Expanding access to healthcare for Illinois seniors, regardless of immigration status 

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About Community Catalyst  
Community Catalyst is a leading nonprofit national health advocacy organization dedicated to advancing a movement for racial equity and health justice. We partner with local, state and national advocates to leverage and build power towards a health system that is affordable, accessible and accountable to all people. Health systems will not be accountable to people without a fully engaged and organized community voice. That’s why we work every day to ensure people’s interests are represented wherever important decisions about health and healthcare are made: in communities, state houses and on Capitol Hill. For more information, visit www.communitycatalyst.org.