FWJ Awarded Grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation

The Fourth World Journal (FWJ) is proud to announce that we have received a significant grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) to support two upcoming special issues on Women’s Traditional Medicine, scheduled for publication in 2026. This support underscores the journal’s commitment to amplifying women’s Indigenous healing systems, elevating equity in health, and bridging ancestral practices with contemporary scholarship.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation is the largest health-focused philanthropic organization in the United States, based in Princeton, New Jersey. With an endowment of approximately $13 billion, RWJF supports initiatives that expand access to health care, advance public health, promote equity, and transform systems to remove barriers to wellbeing. 

RWJF's values are deeply grounded in diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI). At a time when progress in these areas is fragile, the foundation is advancing DEI with urgency by investing in diversifying health professions, supporting legal and organizational efforts toward racial equity, and ensuring critical health research includes data disaggregated by race and ethnicity. 

• Advocating for a health system that dismantles structural racism and provides dignified, respectful care for all
  
  
• Envisioning communities with equitable access to safe housing, clean water, decent wages, and opportunity
  
  
• Building an economy that values caregiving, community, and health for everyone—not just economic productivity

The support from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation enables the Fourth World Journal to publish two special issues in January and June 2026, highlighting the contributions of Indigenous women and their healing knowledge. These editions bring attention to traditional practices that address critical health challenges—including chronic disease, mental wellbeing, community resilience, and the intersection of food and ecological stewardship—while elevating voices that are underrepresented in mainstream health discourse. This grant ensures that these perspectives are shared widely, fostering dialogue, scholarship, and recognition of the vital role Indigenous medicine plays in shaping more equitable and sustainable health systems.

• Women as Indigenous healers and knowledge keepers
  
  
• The intersection of traditional medicine with environmental justice, food sovereignty, and feminist Indigenous frameworks
  
  
• Community-based resilience practices, clinical application of Indigenous healing, and policy-informed perspectives
  

This grant enables rich, scholarly, and community-led narratives, aligning with RWJF’s vision of health equity, where diverse knowledge systems contribute to a future where health is a right, not a privilege.

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation’s support reaffirms our mission at FWJ to elevate ancestrally rooted knowledge systems and integrate them into contemporary dialogues on health equity. We are honored to partner with a foundation that shares our dedication to justice, inclusion, and innovative change.

We look forward to engaging scholars, healers, community leaders, and readers in the journey ahead.