AFRICAN AMERICAN WELLNESS PROJECT
Striving for Health Equity by Empowering African Americans
Mission
Our mission is to improve the health among people of color by not only providing health information but providing tools to better utilize a health care system which is often unfair or unjust to African Americans. To this end, we produce a range of initiatives on various media platforms to connect to our audience, such as Black Doctors Speak, our regular podcast, African American Wellness Watch, a weekly Facebook Live event in partnership with BlackDoctor.org, a monthly newsletter, and a growing presence on the traditional airwaves of television and radio, where in addition to local radio shows we broadcast Health Public Service Announcements reaching 1.2M TV viewers on 2500 stations and 4.5M radio listeners on 10,000 stations.
Ruling year
2010
Executive Director
Mrs. Monique LeNoir-Pittman
Founder
Dr. Michael Lenoir
Main address
2940 Summit
Oakland, CA 94609 USA
EIN
30-0102430
NTEE code
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations (E01)
Alliance/Advocacy Organizations (F01)
IRS filing requirement
This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.
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Communication
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
Mental Health Initative
The African American Wellness Project, a non-profit working to reduce health disparities in the Black community, is excited to announce that in the wake of the mental health crisis exacerbated by the COVID pandemic, AAWP advisory board member and celebrity children’s author, Tyrell Zimmerman, will donate 100% of the proceeds of his book titled, My Dream, My Reality, centered around children’s mental health and trauma to support AAWP’s Mental Health Initiative through the end of the year.
Zimmerman, former 2010 National Football League Draft prospect, and current financial guru, is
recognized nationally and locally for his work with at-risk youth and his work in the sports and
entertainment industry as a mental health advocate. He authored this book to serve as a tool for children
and adults to have guided discussions around trauma.
Media Projects
Our regular Podcast "Black Doctors Speak" is at https://www.blackdoctorsspeak.org/podcast
We also have projects with Blackdoctor.org 19,000,000 hits on website per month and 3,000,000 facebook fans, we have one Facebook Live per week.
This year we hope to host at least four Facebook Live projects dealing with issues that impact minority and underserved communities. We will focus primarily on hypertension, and stroke, diabetes, asthma and obesity.
Through our Radio partnerships with KBLX, KPFA and others, as well as PSA distribution agreements nationwide, we reach tens of millions of African Americans and People of Color, spreading positive informational messaging on health and wellness to reduce health disparities.
Vivacare Health Resources
On our website, www.aawellnessproject.org, we have a partnership with Vivacare to give a wide array of tools for our health education mission, health consumers can learn about all kinds of diseases and conditions, and how to manage them or get the care they need. This is the direct link to the resource - https://aawellnessproject.vivacare.com/toolkit
Healthwise - Symptom Checker and Encyclopedia
We started a partnership with Healthwise to host their symptom checker tool and health encyclopedia on our website, free of cost to all our visitors. They can log on to the site, enter symptoms (data is protected) and receive cost-free information about their health. Thereafter they can search the relevant condition on our site and become an informed health consumer and advocate for good healthcare for themselves.
Child Vaccination for COVID-19 (under 18 years)
As our challenges with the pandemic continue, one question we used to receive regularly was about parents' concern for their children. They lacked knowledge and a trusted partner to understand and make informed decisions about their children's health. AAWP is planning a series of programs and dedicated resources on our website to inform and educate parents of color to make those choices safely and with peace of mind.
Black Health Coalitions and Partnerships
AAWP is working with local San Francisco Bay Area partners to find other groups that also serve People of Color in the Health and Wellness space. We believe that by combining our efforts we can create a multiplier effect in the fight to end health disparities. Already we have combined with groups such as the Alameda County Health Alliance to do Coronavirus Updates in the form of Video PSA's.
Ethnic Health Report
Our Founder Dr. Lenoir publishes a weekly address called the Ethnic Health Report in audio and written form. This is a summary analysis of the key health issues of the day that affect People of Color and it is written in a digestible format for our thousands of email newsletter readers. Already it is being noticed and becoming a unique source of trustworthy information in the space.
Where we work
External reviews
Photos
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
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Who are the people you serve with your mission?
The African American community of the San Francisco Bay Area where our HQ is, but broadly around the country, particularly those focused on improving their personal health in addition to fighting for health equity for African Americans.
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How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.), Focus groups or interviews (by phone or in person), Community meetings/Town halls, Suggestion box/email,
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How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,
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What significant change resulted from feedback?
In town halls we recently held, we received live questions from concerned parents about their children not having availability to Covid-19 vaccinations (at that time, vaccinations were limited to 18+). So we made youth and child vaccination one of our key initiatives for 2021, coinciding with the increased availability of vaccination for younger people.
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With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,
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Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We take steps to get feedback from marginalized or under-represented people, We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on demographics (e.g., race, age, gender, etc.), We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback, We ask the people who gave us feedback how well they think we responded,
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What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
It is difficult to get the people we serve to respond to requests for feedback, The people we serve tell us they find data collection burdensome, It is difficult to find the ongoing funding to support feedback collection, Staff find it hard to prioritize feedback collection and review due to lack of time,
Financials
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Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Connect with nonprofit leaders
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- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
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Connect with nonprofit leaders
SubscribeBuild relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.
- Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
- Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
- Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations
Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.
AFRICAN AMERICAN WELLNESS PROJECT
Board of directorsas of 1/29/2022
Dr. Oliver Brooks
African American Wellness Project
Term: 2022 - 2021
Michael Campbell
Maria Costen
Estetban Burchard
Bruce Hardy
Kim Scott
Oliver Brooks
Kevin Martin
Tiffanie Marie
Michael Munson
Martin Wyatt
Board leadership practices
GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.
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Board orientation and education
Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes -
CEO oversight
Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Not applicable -
Ethics and transparency
Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Not applicable -
Board composition
Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes -
Board performance
Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Not applicable
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 01/29/2022GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more
- We ask team members to identify racial disparities in their programs and / or portfolios.
- We disaggregate data to adjust programming goals to keep pace with changing needs of the communities we support.
- We employ non-traditional ways of gathering feedback on programs and trainings, which may include interviews, roundtables, and external reviews with/by community stakeholders.
- We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
- We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
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