Spitfire partnered with the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) as the agency of record for the Culture of Health Prize, an annual award focused on whole communities that are advancing lasting solutions to health equity. Spitfire began partnering with RWJF in 2021 and, in fall 2023, relaunched the Prize with a focus on highlighting U.S. communities that are removing structural barriers to health equity. After more than a decade and awarding nearly 70 communities across the country, RWJF decided to sunset the Prize. Spitfire supported all communications, media engagement and outreach efforts for the Prize and its final cohort of winners in 2024-2025.
When our partnership began, Spitfire developed a communications plan that addressed the Prize and RWJF’s internal and external goals. We worked closely with Prize programmatic and communications partners (videographers, evaluators, etc.) to share each Prize winner’s story and help each community leverage this national award.
For over 10 years, Prize winners have shown what it looks like to lead on reshaping food systems, focusing on maternal health, emboldening youth leaders, honoring elders, protecting the environment and changing the narrative about their communities. The Prize winners’ work inspires other communities — and policymakers at all levels — to take action to create change. Guided by the awarded communities’ incredible work, Spitfire identified opportunities for collaboration across public health fields and nuances in the Prize’s approach to storytelling that puts the power of story in the hands of Prize-winning communities. We worked closely with community representatives on all of their communications efforts about the Prize, including leading media spokesperson trainings, developing social media toolkits, and drafting location and issue-specific talking points and descriptions of their work and successes.
Spitfire led all aspects of Prize announcement communications. We drafted in-person award celebration remarks that foundation leaders delivered, designed digital rollout materials across RWJF’s social and web channels, earned media attention, conducted partner outreach, and managed videography and photography that celebrated Prize winners and helped share their stories. Spitfire was heavily involved in both the 2023 and 2025 Prize celebrations, including program design, daylong facilitation, and leading storytelling and messaging workshops.
Through Spitfire’s strategic media pitching, the Prize-winner announcements garnered national attention from outlets including Governing, Inside Philanthropy, Native News Online and Philanthropy News Digest. As a result of our efforts, we received local media attention in the Prize winners’ hometowns, such as Hawai’i Public Radio, Green Bay Gazette, WYPR Baltimore and KTOO Juneau.
During our partnership, Spitfire also established the Culture of Health Prize Storytelling Cohort — a year-long program Spitfire spearheaded and facilitated — for a select group of Prize alumni to connect across geographies; collaborate across issues; and learn best practices for compelling, culturally competent storytelling that moves key audiences to action. Through the Storytelling Cohort, we worked with 10 Prize alumni to build their storytelling skills through a curriculum of virtual learning sessions, in-person meetings and one-on-one coaching sessions.
