The Hunger to Health Collaboratory (H2HC) and Newman’s Own Foundation are pleased to announce the winners of the 2025 Prizes for Innovation, which recognize innovative and systemic food and nutrition programs advancing youth health equity in the US. The six winners will receive awards totalling between $25,000 and $100,000 – for an award pool of $300,000 – to continue their work advancing food and nutrition policy for youth, nutrition education and school food, and Indigenous food justice for youth.
“As a nation, we are facing profound food, nutrition, and health challenges, and critical federal funding and staffing to address these issues are being cut,” said Nicolene Hengen, Executive Director of the Hunger to Health Collaboratory (H2HC). “The H2HC Prizes for Innovation are designed to uplift the changemaking work creating long-term solutions to improving health equity and our national well-being.”
This year’s prizes are presented in collaboration with Newman’s Own Foundation, a private grantmaking foundation whose mission is to nourish and transform the lives of children who face adversity.
“We’re delighted to support this year’s Prizes for Innovation with Hunger to Health Collaboratory,” said Alex Amouyel, President and CEO of Newman’s Own Foundation. “The six prize recipients have the power to transform our food system for kids, creating a healthier, more equitable future.”
$100,000 award recipients for Food and Nutrition Policy Work Advancing Health Equity for Youth
- Community Food Advocates (New York, NY): Nearly one in five NYC children – disproportionately Black and Latinx – experience hunger, which has lifelong impacts on their physical health, mental wellness, and academic achievement. Community Food Advocates works to ensure that all New Yorkers have access to healthy, affordable, culturally affirming foods in a sustainable, equity-centered food system, advanced by high-impact public policy. The organization’s goal is to build the most innovative school meals program in New York City by developing and scaling highly effective nutrition collaboratives in every school.
- The Policy Project (Salt Lake City, Utah): In Utah, one in six students experience food insecurity, preventing thousands of children from thriving academically, emotionally, and developmentally, and uneven school capacity limits participation in existing free meal programs, keeping available food resources out of reach for many eligible students who need them. The Policy Project is leading a bold and collaborative approach to build a more equitable future using a strategic framework called the Policy Pathway, which aims to create systems that work better for everyone and ensure that policies aren’t just passed, but that they’re embraced, implemented, and sustained.
$25,000 award recipients for Nutrition Education and School Food
- Boulder County Farmers Markets (Boulder, CO): Boulder County Farmers Markets is dedicated to strengthening the community’s regional food system by supporting, promoting, and expanding access to locally grown and made products for all members of the community. The organization believes that everyone deserves access to fresh, local, nutrient-dense food, and works in partnership with farmers, ranchers, and food businesses to make that possible. The organization is currently working to implement Farm to Early Care and Education (ECE) at 82 childcare programs across Boulder County.
- Grades of Green (El Segundo, CA): Grades of Green is an environmental nonprofit providing free educational lessons, projects, and resources to empower K-12 students to take action and lead environmental change in their communities. Since 2009, Grades of Green has activated over 800,000 students across 600+ schools, helping them drive meaningful change through student-led programs that blend academic learning with civic action. In partnership with Vista Charter Middle School, Grades of Green plans to co-create a holistic, student-powered program that transforms an underutilized campus into a vibrant hub for health, sustainability, and community connection.
$25,000 award recipients for Indigenous Food Justice for Youth
- Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska (Juneau, AK): The Central Council of Tlingit & Haida Indian Tribes of Alaska is committed to promoting self-sufficiency and preserving traditions to all Tribal Citizens. To shrink the knowledge gap between elders and youth, the organization’s Traditional Food Security program partners with the Early Education department to replace less healthy, non-traditional items on the Head Start menus with Indigenous foods from the region. This has allowed more than 230 students ages 3-5 years-old to connect with the same foods that have provided for its people since time immemorial, lessen consumption of processed foods, and reduce reliance on the food systems of the continental US.
- Dream of Wild Health (Minneapolis, MN): Dream of Wild Health is one of the longest continually operating Native American organizations in Minneapolis, which is home to one of the largest concentrations of urban Native Americans in the United States. Its mission is to restore health and well-being in the Native community by recovering knowledge of and access to healthy indigenous foods, medicines, and lifeways. Its programs impact over 12,000 people each year, creating opportunities for youth employment, entrepreneurship and leadership; increasing access to Indigenous foods through farm production, sales and distribution; and community organizing and outreach around reclaiming cultural traditions, healthy indigenous food, cooking skills, and policy and systems change.
In addition to funding awards, all Prize winners will be invited to attend the H2HC Fall Summit in Boston, Massachusetts, on November 6, 2025, alongside fellow prize winners and leaders from across sectors working to create innovative solutions, systemic change and inclusive outcomes that advance food justice for kids.
About the Hunger to Health Collaboratory:
The Hunger to Health Collaboratory (H2HC) is an innovative national model that convenes cross-sector thought leaders to explore innovative, systemic solutions to food and nutrition challenges with a focus on equity and the social drivers of health, including at an annual Fall Summit in Boston in November. H2HC created its Prizes for Innovation in 2022 and has awarded $400,000 since the program’s launch.
About Newman’s Own Foundation:
Newman’s Own Foundation is a private grantmaking foundation whose mission is to nourish and transform the lives of children who face adversity. The Foundation continues Paul Newman’s commitment to use all the money that it receives—100% of the profits and royalties—from the sale of Newman’s Own products in service of its mission. Through the efforts of Paul Newman and Newman’s Own, over $600 million has been given to social impact organizations since 1982. Today, Newman’s Own Foundation grantee partners promote nutritious food in schools, advocate for Indigenous food justice, and create joyful experiences for children living with serious illnesses.