WW Wellness Impact Award | WW USA
Meet the winners
A new initiative to empower community leaders and break down the barriers to wellness—for everyone.
Every community deserves the resources for healthy living, but in the reality of today’s world, not every community has access to them.
With the first-ever WW Wellness Impact Award, we’re aiming to uplift community-led solutions by selecting five organizations to receive a $15,000 grant and more.
For our inaugural year, to help address the systemic inequities faced by marginalized communities, each of our winners will be dedicated to the advancement of wellness in communities of color.
Meet the 2021 winners!
Soul Trak Outdoors
Why we love them: Soul Trak is on a mission to empower outdoor advocates—and save our planet. Currently, people of color account for only 20% of national forests, national wildlife refuges, and national park visits. This organization is aiming to change that number by engaging disenfranchised communities through recreation, service, and leadership in nature—while amplifying the voices of diverse leaders.
“Black people are the most underrepresented group in outdoor spaces. This underrepresentation is rooted in traumatic historical connections to rural, forested areas in our country: Black people have spent centuries under forced labor on these lands and have seen trees become symbols of loss. Soul Trak Outdoors is the culmination of my desire to serve as a bridge for Black and Brown communities to access and reclaim their right to our nation’s diverse green and outdoor spaces.”
Esperanza Community Farms
Why we love them: Esperanza Community Farms is aiming to change the food system. Going beyond just supplying food, it ensures low-income, farm-working families have access to fresh, pesticide-free, culturally preferred fruits and vegetables—delivered to their door. ECF also helps give marginalized voices the crucial tools to fight for food justice within their communities.
“All of our work this year is building up to taking the lead in the planning and execution of a community-based food justice conference in fall 2022. A key purpose of this conference is to realize the potential of traditionally excluded community members in addressing solutions to the food insecurity they live with everyday.”
Selected by WW members!
Backyard Basecamp
Why we love them: To Backyard Basecamp, access to nature is a basic human need. Through immersive educational programs, this organization helps young people of color establish a connection with and feel confident outside by teaching them to enjoy the outdoors—wherever they are. It also works to break down systemic barriers inhibiting a connection between urban dwellers and nature, in part through its work to transform a massive vacant lot in Baltimore into a multi-use community space.
“COVID-19 has truly brought to light the structural inequities and barriers to nature-connection that exist for urban dwellers. Our long-term vision is to inspire Black, Indigenous, and People of Color to find nature where they are and empower them to explore the natural world further.”
Black Girls Do Bike
Why we love them: Black Girls Do Bike works to ensure everyone has the ability to enjoy the freedom, empowerment, and positive effects of cycling. With a focus on girls and women of color, this organization is establishing a comfortable place where female cyclists can support, advise, organize group rides, and promote skill-sharing.
“What started as a simple idea to organize women around a common interest has turned into a movement that is connecting and changing people—like Sharon in Dallas whose husband passed away after a battle with cancer. After months in the house, she discovered cycling, which helped her reconnect with the world and find new meaning.”
EatWell Exchange
Why we love them: When registered dieticians and best friends Ash and Jaz started EatWell Exchange, they wanted to shift the conversation around “healthy foods.” Through nutritional, farming, and culinary education, this organization works to decrease health disparities in low-socioeconomic communities while keeping culturally relevant foods on the table.
“Working with diverse populations, we noticed that other food programs lacked respect and focus for the clients’ culture and were not mindful of the barriers that communities of color and low-socioeconomic communities face in regards to food access and security. For us, democratizing wellness is giving everyone a fair chance at a healthier life.”
Congratulations to our international winners: Restoration and Empowerment for Social Transition (REST) Centres, Vincent de Paul Belgium, MIND, Community Friends, The Mum’s Clique, Cheesy Waffles Project, Generation Pep, Co'p1.
Thank you to all of our inspiring finalists: Black Girls Cook, Pride ROC, Feed Black Futures, Free Black Therapy, Asian Americans for Housing and Environmental Justice.
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The five award-winners received:
- A $15,000 grant awarded by WW
- Free WW memberships for key members of the organization
- Inclusion in WW’s giving cycle and targeted storytelling campaigns
- Exposure to WW leadership and experts, plus our millions of members
Questions? We have answers!
If you don’t see your question answered below, shoot us an email us at wwgood@ww.com.
Yes! You do not need to be a WW member to vote for the Wellness Impact Award winners.
You may only vote once.
The voting window closes on May 21, 2021.
One winner will be selected through a public vote. We allow one vote per person by clicking on the "Vote now" button under your organization of choice above. Voting is open from May 7 through May 21.
Please contact wwgood@ww.com. We will do our best to respond within 72 hours.
Yes, for the 2021 WW Wellness Impact Award only U.S. based organizations are eligible.
Yes - each year WW will select a different focus area for the WW Wellness Impact Award. If you meet the eligibility criteria for the 2022 award, you will be eligible to apply regardless of previous application status.
Organizations can submit an application for the 2021 WW Wellness Impact Award at ww.com/impactaward through April 9. All applicants will be notified whether they are a finalist by May 7, and invited to participate in a final round interview. A total of ten finalists and five winners will be selected.
The $15,000 grant can be used towards program, operating and/or marketing costs. The funds may not be be used for lobbying or political purposes.
Winners will be announced in June. Four of the 5 winners will be selected by a WW committee and one by the WW member community.