Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Commitment

Updated February 2018

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Commitment 

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is working to take bold leaps to transform health in our lifetime and pave the way, together, to a future where health is no longer a privilege, but a right. Achieving this goal requires focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion

To that end, we are committed to fostering diverse perspectives. We recognize that individuals’ perspectives are shaped by a host of factors, such as their race, ethnicity, gender, physical and mental ability, age, socioeconomic status, gender identity and expression, sexual orientation, familial status, education, religion, legal status, military service, political affiliation, geography, and other personal and professional experiences.

We know that the presence of diverse perspectives alone is not sufficient. Therefore, we also are committed to creating inclusive environments where all individuals are encouraged to share their perspectives and experiences. We believe that only through valuing our differences and similarities, and remaining vigilant in advancing equity, will we be able to maintain an equitable workplace and actively pursue equity in all aspects of our work. We commit to being continuous learners and working alongside others to cultivate equity, diversity, and inclusion.

Bringing Our Commitment to Life

Updated September 2022

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is committed to building a Culture of Health that provides everyone in America a fair and just opportunity for health and wellbeing. Achieving this goal requires focus on equity, diversity, and inclusion. Our Guiding Principles and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Commitment speak to our dedication to these important areas. However, it’s one thing to talk about your values. It’s quite another to live them. 

Since updating our Guiding Principles and Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Commitment over the past few years, we have been working to bring them to life in all aspects of the Foundation. They are a core focus of our executive goals, and work is underway to put these important values into practice in our day-to-day work, based on the Foundation's role as a funder, a community citizen, an economic entity, and an employer.

Currently, we are seeking to operationalize our Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion Commitment by:

• Recruiting and retaining staff from diverse backgrounds, perspectives, expertise, and/or lived experiences. 
• Engaging a diverse pool of consultants, contractors, and suppliers who have values similar to ours;
• Conducting accessibility audit across all units; and
• Developing an equity, diversity, and inclusion strategy for the Foundation.

Sharing our employee demographic data publicly for the first time in 2019 was another important step for us. We want to live up to our commitment to equity, diversity, and inclusion as well as to the expectations that we are and will continue to be transparent. That data represented some of what we report to the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. However, we recognized that these data do not come close to conveying the full meaning of diversity.

Beginning in 2020, we began working with the Center for Effective Philanthropy to collect demographic data that reflect more of the attributes that contribute to the diversity of our society and provide a deeper understanding of the demographic profile of not only the Foundation’s employees, but our Board of Trustees and grantees as well. The data below represent what we collected in 2020 from our employees, Trustees, and grantees (grant project directors). The demographics survey has been successful in providing a baseline understanding of, and sparking important discussions related to, the perspectives that are currently included in our work and the ones that must be elevated further. As we continue to work toward equity, diversity, and inclusion, we expect to collect demographic data on an annual basis.

More information on this new data collection approach may be found in this analysis. You may also browse the full set of survey questions and frequently asked questions. We will continue to publicly share updates on our demographics and our other equity, diversity, and inclusion efforts as we move forward.

We are privileged to do the work we do. We are committed to fostering diverse perspectives and actively pursuing equity in all aspects of our work. We have dedicated ourselves to creating inclusive environments where all individuals are encouraged to share their perspectives and experiences. We are proud of our successes and accomplishments, and we believe our best achievements lie ahead.

Note: RWJF Employee Demographic Data are available for 2014–2019.

The data represented in the charts below were collected in 2021.