2022-23 Annual Report: Moving Health Forward
This year’s annual report highlights how the Wisconsin Partnership Program (WPP) is improving health and advancing health equity in Wisconsin through innovative and impactful projects and partnerships that reach across a wide range of health challenges, communities, populations and geographic areas.
The 2022–2023 annual report provides an account of grantmaking, program activities, and a financial overview for the period of July 1, 2022 through June 30, 2023.
In fiscal year 2023, the Wisconsin Partnership Program awarded 20 new grants and supported the progress of 66 active grants and 26 concluding projects. Our grant programs supported novel research, innovative education and workforce development initiatives and community-led partnerships to improve health and advance health equity.
Download the 2022–23 annual report (PDF)
Fiscal Year 2023 Overview
Message From Dean Robert N. Golden and Dr. Amy Kind
It is our pleasure to present the Wisconsin Partnership Program’s annual report for the fiscal year 2022–2023.
The University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health (SMPH) and the Wisconsin Partnership Program are steadfast partners working towards a shared mission of improving health and advancing health equity.
This year the Wisconsin Partnership Program (WPP) continued to advance its mission through 20 new grants and 66 active partnerships that are propelling research and innovation, strengthening the medical and public health workforce and working to improve health and advance health equity for individuals, families and communities across our state.
Guiding this work is our understanding that some communities and populations are disproportionately impacted by health inequities, including the health impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic and social factors that influence health and well-being. We continue to partner with grantees to address these challenges and are pleased to share highlights of our progress and impact.
For example, community grantees are using WPP COVID-19 Response awards to support the social and emotional health of our state’s adolescents as they navigate the lasting impact of COVID-19 on their worlds. As another example, a tremendously successful WPP-funded partnership with Marshfield Clinic Health System and students at UW-Eau Claire and UW-Stevens Point is addressing patients’ urgent health needs, including food, housing and transportation, while making a lasting positive impact on the students’ career trajectories.
The Wisconsin Partnership Program continues to drive innovations in medical education and workforce development. An exciting new partnership with the Native American Center for Health Professions at the SMPH will support NACHP’s work to increase the representation of American Indian/Alaska Native health professionals in the health sciences fields.
Partnership-funded researchers are working across the spectrum of basic, clinical and translational science. Grantees are investigating the mechanisms of complex health problems including blindness, breast cancer and obesity. They are also seeking ways to improve health and enhance health care delivery through projects that provide innovative care and social support for new mothers and improve intensive care experiences for those with serious illness.
These highlights and more are featured in the report. The information within this report truly exemplifies the remarkable breadth, reach and impact of the Wisconsin Partnership Program as it partners to advance the exceptional work of many grantees and collaborators.
Thank you for your ongoing support of the Wisconsin Partnership Program. Together we will continue to work toward our shared vision of elevating health and health equity throughout Wisconsin.
Sincerely,
Robert N. Golden, MD Robert Turell Professor in Medical Leadership
Dean, UW School of Medicine and Public Health
Vice Chancellor of Medical Affairs University of Wisconsin–Madison
Amy JH Kind, MD, PhD
Executive Director, Wisconsin Partnership Program
Associate Dean, Social Health Sciences and Programs, UW School of Medicine and Public Health
Fiscal Year 2022–23 Grants
Grants awarded
Dollars awarded
Total active grants
*Data from July 1, 2022–June 30, 2023
Fiscal Year 2023 Grants Awarded
Education and Research Grants
- 3 New Investigator Grants
$449,121 awarded - 1 Strategic Research Grant
$899, 556 awarded - 4 Strategic Education Grants
$6.1 million awarded
Community Grants
- 2 Community Impact Grants
$1 million awarded - 10 Maternal and Child Health Grants
$1.5 million awarded
Selected Grant Highlights
The work of the Wisconsin Partnership Program and its grantees touches all corners of the state, across a wide range of health challenges, communities, populations and geographic areas. Learn how Wisconsin Partnership Program grantees are positively impacting health and advancing health equity across our state through these selected examples:
- Connecting Campuses, Clinics and Communities
- Designing Effective Therapies to Cure Blindness
- Improving Health for People in Recovery
- Improving ICU Care for Older Adults near End-of-Life
- Improving Postpartum Care for Black Mothers
- Increasing Indigenous Representation in Medicine
- Supporting Adolescent Mental Health
Building Capacity and Connection
Convening Events
During the past year, WPP offered opportunities for community grantees to connect and learn through convening events. These events are designed to support capacity-building, provide networking opportunities, respond to grantee needs and interests and highlight the successes and impact of grantees through collaborative presentations.
This past year, WPP hosted an in-person convening event in Milwaukee for its Maternal and Child Health grant recipients. The event offered participants the opportunity to meet, share ideas and discuss challenges and solutions to reducing the health disparities in Black maternal and infant health outcomes.
WPP also hosted a virtual event, Navigating Social Media for Nonprofits, for community partners and public health departments. The event featured a national expert as well as a panel of three WPP grantees representing urban and rural areas of the state, who shared their organizations’ strategies, challenges and success in managing their social media presence.
These events were well-received by participants and WPP will continue to offer convening events, both virtual and in-person, to build connection and meet the needs of our community grant partners.
Evaluation Support
WPP is building capacity in Wisconsin non-profits and public health departments. Evaluation can be challenging and costly, yet it is a vital component of demonstrating success and making the case for sustainability for any project or program.
To help increase capacity in this arena, WPP grant recipients are offered the chance to attend regular office hours with a doctoral-level expert in evaluation theory and methods to get assistance with evaluation-related questions, operations and strategies. In addition, each new community grant recipient has the opportunity to engage in an evaluation consultation with this expert at the start of their grant to help them plan evaluation activities across the duration of their grant award, building organization-specific evaluation knowledge and capacity for the future across each program.
Reporting Outcomes and Impact
WPP publishes outcome reports for concluded grants to highlight the progress, achievements and impact of our grant partners. View the Funded Projects page for information about new awards, active grants and results of concluded grants.
Amount leveraged in funding derived from WPP-funded projects
Articles, presentations and other media sharing findings of WPP projects
Unique collaborations funded by WPP grants
*Data from July 1, 2022–June 30, 2023