Hunger to Health Collaboratory 2026 Prizes for Innovation
Uplifting innovative work addressing food and nutrition challenges through community-driven solutions, policy innovation, and cross-sector collaborations.
H2HC launched its national Prizes for Innovation in 2022 to elevate innovative, systemic food and nutrition work that advances health equity around the U.S. H2HC is building a community of Prize winners and stakeholders focused on food and nutrition access, economic empowerment, knowledge sharing, and social justice.
2026 Food Justice for Kids Prize
H2HC is collaborating with Newman’s Own Foundation, Humanitix, and The Henry P. Kendall Foundation to launch the 2026 Food Justice for Kids Prize, and up to $1.4 million in funding will be shared among 14 innovative organizations across the U.S.
The Food Justice for Kids Prize will award grants up to $100,000 each, payable over two years, to as many as 14 nonprofits, Tribes, schools, and school districts in the U.S. that support kids (up to age 18) learning about healthy food, eating nutritious school meals, and engaging with Indigenous foods. H2HC will award up to two Prizes to organizations focused on nutrition education and school food policy projects with a state and/or national focus.
Program Focus Areas
- Indigenous Food Justice: Projects and policy work supporting kids advancing food sovereignty or engaging with, gathering, growing, and cooking Indigenous foods.
- Nutrition Education and School Food: Projects and policy work supporting kids learning, growing, and cooking healthy and culturally relevant foods; eating nutritious and culturally relevant school meals and integrating local food in schools; or improving access to school meals.
Nominations
We are inviting nominations of innovative nonprofits, Tribes, schools, and school districts for the 2026 Food Justice for Kids Prizes. The deadline for nominations is Tuesday, April 21, 2026, 1:00PM ET.
Learn more and nominate an organization at foodjusticeforkids.org.
How it works:
- Nominate a nonprofit, Tribe, school, or school district working to ensure all children in the U.S. can access, learn about, and engage with nutritious, culturally relevant food.
- The nominated organization will receive instructions on how to apply.
- Reviewers representing different communities, lived experiences, issue areas, and sectors will review applications along with staff from Newman’s Own Foundation, Humanitix, The Henry P. Kendall Foundation, and the Hunger to Health Collaboratory.
- Food Justice for Kids Prize grant recipients will be announced in fall 2026. Sign up for our monthly newsletter, H2HC Connections, and follow us on LinkedIn and Instagram to learn about our 2026 winners.
Applications
Innovative nonprofits, Tribes, schools, and school districts can apply for the 2026 Food Justice for Kids Prizes directly through the JustFund platform. The deadline for applications is Tuesday, April 28, 2026, 1:00PM ET.
Learn more about the application process and platform at JustFund.us.
Key Dates
| February 17, 2026, 1:00 PM ET | Nomination and Application Period Opens |
| February 27, 2026, 3:30 PM ET | Informational Webinar |
| March 25, 2026, 4:00 PM ET | Informational Webinar |
| April 21, 2026, 1:00 PM ET | Nomination Period Closes |
| April 28, 2026, 1:00 PM ET | Application Period Closes |
| August 2026 | Finalists Notified |
| Fall 2026 TBD | H2HC 2026 Fall Summit |
About the Co-Funders
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, the Foundation has given over $625 million to social impact organizations since 1982.
Today, Newman’s Own Foundation grantee partners promote nutritious food in schools, advance Indigenous food justice, and through the SeriousFun Children’s Network, create medically inclusive camp experiences. Learn more at newmansown.org.
Humanitix
Humanitix is the ticketing platform that dedicates 100% of profits to charity.
With tickets for good, not greed, Humanitix takes the booking fees we all hate paying and dedicates the profits to charity. Your booking fees help provide access to education, healthcare, and life’s basic necessities to millions of humans across the world.
Event hosts switch to Humanitix for the stress-free ticket management experience, lower fees, and real human support. And with nearly 20 million tickets sold across the world, ticket buyers love that every ticket they buy has a positive impact. Learn more at humanitix.com
Henry P. Kendall Foundation
Since 2011, The Henry P. Kendall Foundation has worked with partners to advance a resilient, regional food system in New England. We envision a future where healthy, local, sustainably produced food is broadly accessible and provides lasting health, economic, and environmental benefits. Our grants support farm to school initiatives, regional supply chain coordination, leadership development and networks, mobilization around the vision of New England Feeding New England, and the advancement of public priorities. For more information, visit kendall.org.
Hunger to Health Collaboratory
The Hunger to Health Collaboratory (H2HC) convenes and celebrates changemakers to highlight systemic work in food and nutrition that advances health equity. Since 2018, H2HC has committed $2.2 million to support work that addresses food and nutrition challenges through community-driven solutions, policy innovation, and cross-sector partnerships. The H2HC community meets every year to share progress and learnings and celebrate H2HC Prize for Innovation winners at the H2HC Fall Summit.