Hillman Foundation Expands Grants for Nursing-Led Health Innovations

NEW YORK, NY – January 06, 2026 – The Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation (RAHF) today announced a significant expansion of its 2026 grant opportunities, committing new and increased funding across three of its premier programs designed to foster nursing-driven innovation. The initiative aims to develop and scale interventions that improve health outcomes, with a pronounced focus on marginalized and vulnerable populations often underserved by the traditional healthcare system.

The latest Requests for Proposals (RFPs) cover the Hillman Emergent Innovation (HEI), Hillman Emergent Innovation: Serious Illness and End of Life (HSEI), and Hillman Innovations in Care (HIC) programs. This expansion represents a strategic investment in the unique capacity of nurses to devise practical, person-centered solutions to complex health challenges.

“When nurses innovate, everyone benefits – patients, families, and communities,” said Ahrin Mishan, Executive Director of The Rita and Alex Hillman Foundation, in a statement accompanying the announcement. “That’s why it’s incumbent on us, especially at a time when critical funding is under threat, to seed the field as broadly as we can.”

A Strategic Investment in Frontline Innovators

The foundation's decision to bolster its funding comes at a critical time. While the press release alludes to threats against critical funding, the challenges extend to the healthcare workforce itself. The strain on the nursing profession, exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, has led to high rates of attrition, potentially shrinking the pool of experienced professionals available to conduct vital research and development. The foundation's expanded commitment can be seen as a direct effort to counteract this trend by providing tangible resources and support to keep innovation thriving at the clinical level.

This year's expansion includes a strengthened partnership with The Arthur Vining Davis Foundations (AVDF), which has increased its contribution to the HSEI program. This collaboration, which began in 2021, specifically targets the development of interventions to improve serious illness and end-of-life care. The partnership underscores a shared belief that nurses are exceptionally positioned to identify patient needs and spearhead improvements in care for those facing life-limiting conditions, particularly within communities that have historically faced discrimination and systemic barriers to quality care.

By welcoming proposals from a wide array of organizations, from community health clinics to major academic research centers, the foundation reinforces its belief that transformative ideas can originate anywhere. The grants are designed to empower frontline practitioners who have firsthand knowledge of the gaps and failures within the healthcare system.

From Bold Ideas to Scalable Solutions

A key element of the Hillman Foundation’s strategy is its structured “innovation pipeline,” a suite of interconnected programs that nurture projects from inception to widespread implementation. The 2026 funding opportunities enhance each stage of this pipeline.

For bold, early-stage ideas with minimal existing evidence, the Hillman Emergent Innovation (HEI) program will award up to ten grants of $50,000 each. Past HEI projects exemplify the creativity of this early-stage funding, with initiatives such as an AI-driven intervention to increase PrEP utilization among Black women at high risk for HIV and a project to improve the heart health of caregivers in rural Appalachia.

Similarly, the Hillman Emergent Innovation: Serious Illness and End of Life (HSEI) program provides $50,000 grants for pre-evidence interventions in palliative care. Thanks to the expanded partnership with AVDF, this program will award up to eleven grants this year. Previous HSEI-funded work includes groundbreaking projects like training incarcerated individuals to serve as end-of-life companions for their peers and developing a motivational interviewing strategy for nurses to help individuals with serious mental illness complete advance directives.

For more mature, evidence-based interventions ready for growth, the Hillman Innovations in Care (HIC) program offers a substantial boost. The foundation has doubled the number of available awards, offering up to four grants of $250,000 each for two-year projects. This program is designed for innovations that have demonstrated strong preliminary evidence and are poised for broad replicability. An example of a project that has received HIC support is the AC Care Alliance (ACCA), which leverages faith- and community-based services to help people with advanced illness and their families navigate the healthcare system.

At the final stage of the pipeline, the invitation-only Hillman Innovation Dissemination (HID) program provides a single $200,000 grant to support the scaling of established models. The 2025 award supported the Sexual Assault Forensic Examination Telehealth (SAFE-T) System, a critical program that uses telehealth to bring high-quality sexual assault care to rural and underserved communities.

Targeting Health Equity Gaps

Underpinning the entire initiative is a deep commitment to advancing health equity. The foundation explicitly seeks innovations that address the needs of marginalized populations, who disproportionately suffer from health disparities due to systemic discrimination, socioeconomic barriers, and geographic isolation. The portfolio of previously funded projects demonstrates a clear focus on this mission.

Grants have supported the development of culturally concordant care models, such as a community-based end-of-life doula program for seriously ill LGBTQ+ patients who often face stigma and mistreatment in healthcare settings. Other projects have focused on the unique challenges of people experiencing homelessness, including a trauma-informed self-care program for older women managing chronic diseases.

The foundation has also funded work to support neurodiverse patients by training peer navigators and adapting communication guides for people with intellectual or developmental disabilities. Recognizing the profound neglect within the carceral system, grantees have pioneered solutions for the rising number of incarcerated individuals facing dementia and serious illness. This targeted approach ensures that philanthropic dollars are directed toward creating tangible change where it is most needed, challenging conventional care strategies and working to narrow persistent gaps in health outcomes.

Interested applicants for the HEI, HSEI, and HIC programs are encouraged to review the full Requests for Proposals on the foundation's website. An optional informational webinar for prospective applicants will be held at 1 p.m. ET on Wednesday, January 21, 2026. The deadline for submitting Letters of Intent is February 20, 2026, at 5 p.m. ET, marking a crucial opportunity for nurse innovators to secure the resources needed to turn their visionary ideas into reality.