Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity | MP CPI 23 002

Opportunity Information: Apply for MP CPI 23 002

The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), through the Office of Minority Health (OMH), is offering a discretionary funding opportunity to launch and operate a Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity (CIIHE). The purpose of the CIIHE is to strengthen and scale sustainable, community-driven solutions that reduce health disparities and advance health equity for Indigenous communities, specifically focusing on either American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) populations or Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islander (NHPI) populations. The Center is meant to support a broad set of activities, including research, education and training, service-oriented initiatives, and policy development, with an emphasis on approaches that are culturally grounded and aligned with Indigenous values, perspectives, and community priorities.

OMH plans to make two awards under cooperative agreements, and together those two awards will function as one coordinated national initiative. One cooperative agreement will focus on AI/AN communities, and the other will focus on NHPI communities. Each application must focus on only one of these two populations. While an organization is allowed to submit more than one application, each submission must be population-specific and cannot combine both focus groups in a single proposal. Because these are cooperative agreements, OMH will play an active role in the work beyond standard grant oversight, including substantial involvement in helping identify and shape priority areas for the Center. The opportunity explicitly notes that priority topics may include areas like nutrition, food security, and physical activity as they relate to Indigenous health disparities, though applicants should expect OMH to help guide priorities as the Center is implemented.

A key expectation is that the two funded recipients will coordinate closely so the CIIHE operates seamlessly as a single initiative. OMH will facilitate coordination between the two cooperative agreements, and the recipients will be responsible for establishing, convening, and managing a joint CIIHE advisory board. This advisory structure is intended to ensure shared direction, alignment across the AI/AN and NHPI focus areas, and meaningful guidance that reflects Indigenous leadership and community needs. The work is designed to build long-term capacity in communities by increasing the ability of AI/AN or NHPI partners to identify, adapt, and use interventions that are culturally and linguistically appropriate. OMH is looking for evidence-based and/or practice-based interventions, recognizing that effective Indigenous health strategies may come from formal research evidence, longstanding community practice, or culturally grounded models that have demonstrated real-world impact.

The program also emphasizes education and training as a central strategy. Recipients are expected to design and deliver culturally and linguistically appropriate training and educational activities in partnership with Indigenous leaders, AI/AN or NHPI communities, and academic institutions. In addition to training, recipients should be prepared to disseminate interventions and lessons learned so that effective strategies can spread beyond a single site or project. Recipients must also develop and carry out both process and outcomes evaluations, then communicate findings in ways that are useful to communities, practitioners, and decision-makers. In practice, that means not only tracking what was done (process) but also measuring what changed (outcomes), and translating results into accessible products that can support broader uptake and policy or systems improvements.

The opportunity is grounded in well-documented inequities: AI/AN and NHPI populations experience a disproportionate burden of disease, disability, and other negative health outcomes, alongside barriers tied to social determinants of health and access to care. OMH highlights that culturally adapted and culturally grounded public health approaches have been shown to improve outcomes when they reflect Indigenous cultural values and lived realities. This grant is structured to operationalize that principle by funding a Center that can coordinate innovation, strengthen community capacity, and elevate interventions that fit local context rather than relying on one-size-fits-all models.

From an administrative standpoint, the funding opportunity is listed as MP-CPI-23-002 under CFDA 93.137. Eligible applicants include a wide range of entities such as state, county, and local governments; special district governments; independent school districts; public and state-controlled institutions of higher education; federally recognized tribal governments; tribal organizations (including those not federally recognized as governments); public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities; and nonprofits both with and without 501(c)(3) status (excluding higher education institutions in those nonprofit categories). OMH expects to make two awards total, with an award ceiling of $2,250,000. The opportunity was created on June 2, 2023, with an original application deadline of August 1, 2023, and applications were required to be submitted electronically by 6:00 pm Eastern Time.

• The Department of Health and Human Services, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Health in the health sector is offering a public funding opportunity titled "Center for Indigenous Innovation and Health Equity" and is now available to receive applicants.
• Interested and eligible applicants and submit their applications by referencing the CFDA number(s): 93.137.
• This funding opportunity was created on Jun 02, 2023.
• Applicants must submit their applications by Aug 01, 2023 Applications must be submitted electronically no later than 600 pm Eastern Time.. (Agency may still review applications by suitable applicants for the remaining/unused allocated funding in 2026.)
• Each selected applicant is eligible to receive up to $2,250,000.00 in funding.
• The number of recipients for this funding is limited to 2 candidate(s).
• Eligible applicants include: State governments, County governments, City or township governments, Special district governments, Independent school districts, Public and State controlled institutions of higher education, Native American tribal governments (Federally recognized), Public housing authorities/Indian housing authorities, Native American tribal organizations (other than Federally recognized tribal governments), Nonprofits having a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education, Nonprofits that do not have a 501(c)(3) status with the IRS, other than institutions of higher education.

Apply for MP CPI 23 002

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