Earlier this year, Sway Studios announced its partnership with the Alliance Healthcare Foundation as the Innovation Partner for the $1 Million 2022 Innovation Initiative (i2) Challenge Grant. This initiative seeks market-based and transformational systems-change solutions designed to enhance access, quality, and health outcomes for the most systematically marginalized and under-resourced populations in San Diego and Imperial counties, while also aiming to reduce costs.

The Alliance Healthcare Foundation received an impressive 63 applications for this year’s Innovation Initiative (i2) Challenge Grant, attracting social impact entrepreneurs from both San Diego and Imperial counties, as well as from outside the region, thanks to the support of various Innovation Affiliates promoting the grant opportunity.

The evaluation and selection of this first cohort involved a collaborative effort between the Alliance team and five Community Residents—individuals with lived experience in health disparities. This diverse perspective ensured a thorough assessment of the applications.

In this first phase of the i2 journey, 25 qualified applicants were chosen based on their solutions aimed at closing equity gaps in health and wellness. The selected candidates focus on addressing the root causes of inequities and actively involve the populations they seek to serve in developing their solutions. This Phase 1 cohort will engage in 10 weeks of entrepreneurial and educational workshops, including pitch practice, under the guidance of Sway Studios and in partnership with the Alliance Healthcare Foundation.