Data Visualization of Structural Racism and Place

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF), its grantees, and partners have demonstrated the impact of using data to communicate and increase understanding of how the conditions of place impact community health. Structural racism produces a complex set of barriers (often invisible) that undermines opportunities for health and wellbeing for many communities. Yet researchers and data producers—especially those with vital comprehensive, nationwide data that include findings at smaller state and local levels—often struggle to communicate their findings in ways that resonate for policymakers, community partners, and others who are best positioned to make decisions informed by this information. Data visualization, or tools that make it easy to visualize complex measures, can be a powerful means to communicate data showing structural racism’s impact on communities and to contextualize the legacy of racism.

This Call for Proposals will fund up to eight interdisciplinary teams that each consist of researchers/data producers, data scientists, communications experts, designers, and national social change networks/alliances or national-level social change organizations. Funding will support the creation of data visualizations as tools to provide an understanding of structural racism’s impact on place, health, and wellbeing.

Because organizations in individual sectors may find it difficult on their own to communicate an effective understanding of the impact of structural racism to diverse audiences (e.g., policymakers, advocates, funders and investors, or the media), collaboration is needed across organizations and/or disciplines such as academia, design, media, policy, public health, and social services. Together, these sectors can combine their relevant expertise to design new ways to understand and communicate the impacts of structural racism.

Eligibility Requirements

• A collaboration of multiple organizations or parties is required. The collaboration must include at least one individual or organization in each of the following sectors: (1) researcher/data producer; (2) communications expert (e.g., generalist, creative lead, or graphic designer); and (3) national-level social change organization, network, or   alliance committed to advancing racial and health equity, who have relationships and/or reach to engage aligned community organizations or affiliates.
• While each collaborating organization must be described in detail in the proposal, only one organization may represent the collaboration and be the lead contact in the application process.
• Data resources with national coverage and the ability to scale down to smaller units of analysis, like county, city, and/or census tract and that can provide disaggregated data will be preferred. However, data resources that have wide coverage of multiple cities, rural areas, or regions will also be considered. Single state, county, or city datasets do not qualify.

Application Instructions

Please submit:

1. A one‐page letter of intent with a description of proposed aims and approach.
2. If the final application requires a diversity statement or statement of broader impacts, please summarize your plans to address the specific requirements on an additional page.
3. CV (not biosketch) of the PI.

to limitedsubs@uw.edu by 5:00 PM Friday, May 12, 2023. Proposals are due to the sponsor 6/2/2023, so you will need to have your materials in to the Office of Sponsored Programs by 5/23/2023 if given the go‐ahead by the Limited Submissions review committee.