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Kraft Prize for Excellence and Innovation in Community Health

Are you changing the landscape of community health? You may be eligible for the $100,000 Kraft Prize for Community Health Excellence and Innovation!

Boston Health Care for the Homeless Program team standing outside the Community Care in Reach mobile unit, committed to bringing service around the Boston area.
Kraft Prize for Excellence and Innovation in Community Health logo

The Kraft Prize for Excellence and Innovation in Community Health recognizes and celebrates transformative organizations, programs, or innovations that are making a measurable impact on health outcomes and have the potential to serve as scalable models for improving community health.

The winner will demonstrate a clear and measurable impact on community health in at least one of the following priority outcomes:

  • Cancer
  • Cardiometabolic disease
  • Maternal health
  • Substance use disorder

Innovations can include efforts that address access and quality of care or social factors such as food insecurity, economic mobility, or housing stability that impact these health outcomes.

Prize details

Deadline

All applications were due on April 4, 2025. The application period for the 2025 Kraft Prize is now closed.

Eligibility and application requirements

We encourage applications from:

  • Healthcare professionals
  • Non-profit organizations
  • Private-sector leaders, innovators, and inventors

Applicants must be based in the U.S.

Applicants must apply through the application portal and submit two letters of recommendation from community partners or organizations. Additionally, at least one member of the winning team must attend and present at the 2025 World Medical Innovation Forum on September 15-17, 2025, in Boston, MA.

All applicants will be evaluated and selected in an objective and nondiscriminatory manner. There are no limitations based on race, gender, creed, religion, national origin, or sexual orientation.

Learn more about eligibility, application requirements, and opportunities for the winning team here.

* The prize money and the value of other benefits awarded may be considered taxable income to the award recipients. Awardees are encouraged to contact their tax professional or the IRS with any questions; Massachusetts General Brigham and the Kraft Center for Community Health cannot provide tax or legal advice.

Meet the 2025 Kraft Prize winner & finalists

Kraft Prize winner: ThriveLink

ThriveLink is an innovative telephonic AI enrollment solution that empowers families to verbally complete and submit applications for safety-net programs like health insurance, food stamps and utility assistance. Led by founder and CEO, Kwamane Liddell, ThriveLink uses AI-powered phone agents that guide patients through enrollment in safety-net programs, Medicaid redetermination, transportation services, wellness visits, and more – using voice, not screens. Since its founding, ThriveLink has submitted over $2 million in applications for 2,500+ families and partnered with leading health systems to improve health outcomes.

Kraft Prize finalist: Mae

Mae is a digital first solution that was built to address the specific clinical, social and cultural needs of expectant mothers. Led by founder and CEO, Maya Hardigan, Mae combines community-based doula support, care coordination, risk tracking, and education throughout the perinatal period. The platform also enables early identification of needs and pregnancy-related risks to support earlier interventions.

Kraft Prize finalist: Sober Sidekick

Sober Sidekick is a peer-led application that gamifies peer-to-peer support to help decrease the rate of relapses among individuals seeking treatment for substance use. Led by founder and CEO, Chris Thompson, who created the platform based on his own recovery experience, the customizable program ensures immediate and accessible support for individuals struggling with substance use disorder.

  • Christopher Coburn

    Christopher Coburn
    Chief Innovation Officer, Mass General Brigham

  • Dr. Michael Howell, MD, MPH

    Michael Howell, MD, MPH
    Chief Clinical Officer, Google

  • Dr. Dana Kraft

    Dana Kraft, MD, MPH
    Board-Certified Ophthalmologist

  • Ayesha Jaco

    Ayesha Jaco, MAM
    Executive Director, West Side United

  • Barbara Lubash

    Barbara Lubash
    Principal, Atlantic Pacific Advisors

  • Alister Martin

    Alister Martin, MD, MPP
    Department of Emergency Medicine, Mass General Brigham
    Assistant Professor, Harvard Medical School Faculty Center for Social Justice and Health Equity

  • Uli Stilz

    Uli Stilz
    Founder and Head of the Bio Innovation Hub, Novo Nordisk

  • Dr. Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH

    Elsie Taveras, MD, MPH
    Chief Community Health & Health Equity Officer, Executive Director, Kraft Center for Community Health, Mass General Brigham

  • John Vu

    John Vu, MPH
    National Vice President of Community Health, Kaiser Permanente

Frequently asked questions

Eligibility is open to U.S.-based:

  • Non-profit and private-sector leaders
  • Community health practitioners
  • Healthcare professionals
  • Non-profit organizations
  • Innovators and inventors

The review committee will carefully consider the impact of each applicant’s innovative work, focusing on measurable health outcomes. For additional eligibility questions, please contact the Kraft Center for Community Health.

All applications were due on April 4, 2025. The application period for the 2025 Kraft Prize is now closed.

Applications will first be reviewed for eligibility by the Kraft Center for Community Health team. Following the first round of review, a diverse committee of internal and external community health and innovation experts will review, score, and select the prize recipient and finalists.

For additional information or questions about the Kraft Prize, please visit the application portal where you can find more details and contact information for the Kraft Center for Community Health team.

About the Kraft Center for Community Health

The Kraft Center for Community Health at Mass General Brigham is dedicated to expanding access to high-quality, affordable healthcare for medically underserved patients and communities. Established in 2011 through a generous donation from Robert Kraft, the Center aims to catalyze innovative solutions to real-world community health problems, implement these solutions locally, and scale them to improve health outcomes for disadvantaged populations across the country.

Learn more about the Kraft Center.