Health Forward Foundation

02/17/2026

During Black History Month, Health Forward is proud to be the presenting sponsor for Kansas City PBS Reel Black Film Festival.

📅 Feb. 20 & 21
📍 The Gem Theater & American Jazz Museum
🎟️ FREE with RSVP + a VIP Experience option
Link: https://www.kansascitypbs.org/reelblack/

This festival highlights the vibrancy of Black culture through film — from honoring cultural icons and unsung heroes to sparking important conversations about structural racism. By uplifting these voices, we not only celebrate a rich history and vibrant culture, but also advance health equity by replacing harmful narratives with inclusive ones that empower Black and Brown communities in Kansas City.

Join us this weekend in celebrating stories that inspire, challenge, and connect us. 🎬

Get details on Kansas City PBS Black History Month 2025 film festival at The Truman Kansas City.

02/05/2026

Thank you to everyone who joined Health Forward for our 2026 Kansas Advocacy Day!

The time we spent in Topeka was a strong reminder of how important nonprofits are to communities across Kansas. As trusted, on-the-ground partners, nonprofits bring real stories and firsthand experience into conversations with policymakers — helping shape decisions that affect people’s daily lives.

From learning together to connecting with legislators at the Kansas State Capitol, your voices helped lift up what communities need to thrive. We’re grateful for your leadership and your commitment to speaking up for our communities!

02/02/2026

We’re proud to stand alongside Black leaders, funded partners, and community leaders at every level who work every day to make the Kansas City region a place where everyone can thrive.

This month, we celebrate Black history, resilience, and excellence!

01/29/2026

Health Forward Foundation is pleased to announce Jim Casselberry as our next Chief Investment Officer. Jim is a highly accomplished investment management and consulting professional with more than 30 years of experience spanning asset management, impact investing, and strategic advisory roles. He brings a rare combination of investment excellence, strategic vision, and a deep commitment to equity. Please join us in welcoming him to the Health Forward community!

Read the full news release >> https://healthforward.org/news/jim-casselberry-chief-investment-officer/

01/23/2026

Kansas City is leading the way!

Congratulations to the City of KCMO’s Digital Equity Office for being named a 2025 NDIA Digital Inclusion Trailblazer. This work helps more neighbors get connected — to opportunity, to services, and to better health.

We are paving the way for digital inclusion! The National Digital Inclusion Alliance (NDIA) named Kansas City a 2025 Digital Inclusion Trailblazer, recognizing the efforts of our Digital Equity Office to close the digital divide.

What does this mean?

Trailblazers provide models for other local governments to aspire to as communities build digital inclusion ecosystems. We achieved Trailblazer status by prioritizing digital inclusion for residents through:

🖥️ Renovating and upgrading computer labs at our Community Centers and Community Action Network Centers for public access.
📱Offering free digital skills training at these locations to help residents do things like: use KCMO.gov services, communicate with their Council Members, access healthcare provider portals, apply for jobs, and more.
💻 Distributing over 2,000 laptops, tablets, and hotspot devices during 2024-25 to households without high-speed internet or computer access.
📲Building partnerships with nonprofit and corporate organizations to support digital equity efforts.

Learn more: kcmo.gov/news

01/19/2026

Whether in Kansas or Missouri, you can honor Dr. King’s legacy by using your voice to protect our freedom, challenge unfair gerrymandering efforts, and defend the voter referendum process. Vote, reach out, show up, speak out, and join us in advancing a people-powered democracy that strengthens Missouri, Kansas, and our nation.

Read Qiana Thomason's full reflection in honor of Martin Luther King Jr. Day:

Over the past year, our nation has grappled with the loss of rights, resources, and safety which we once took for granted. I have been keen to seek out, notice, and celebrate the actions and leadership of many people of diverse identities, backgrounds, sectors and communities, who stand tall and fir...

01/09/2026

Celebrating 20 Years of Stronger Tomorrows! 🎉 We're highlighting our amazing partners who have been with us on our mission to advance health equity.

Here’s how Emily Brown is building stronger tomorrows. A former member of Health Forward’s Healthy Communities Leadership Academy, Emily started the Food Equality Initiative. Today, she’s advancing system-level change with Attane Health. Drawing on her lived experience as a mom managing her child’s food allergy, Emily has helped to create an integrated, personalized “food as medicine” solution that supports access to nutrient-dense foods, nutrition education, and telehealth coaching.

We are so proud of the work we’ve accomplished together to improve lives in our community!

01/09/2026

Thank you to the advocacy partners, movement makers, and community members who joined us for our 2026 Policy Forum! As the legislative sessions kick off in Kansas and Missouri, we have a unique opportunity to make our communities more inclusive, powerful, and healthy.

The work ahead is clear: we must unify, strategize, and mobilize to protect the issues critical for our communities to thrive. Every person deserves a quality of life defined by the people who live in our communities. And we all have a role to play. Let’s raise our voices and influence the policies that promote well-being for all.

01/02/2026

Celebrating 20 Years of Stronger Tomorrows! 🎉. Building stronger tomorrows requires us to use our voice and our power. Advocacy has always been the lifeblood of Health Forward Foundation. Here's how our partnership with the Missouri Budget Project has created stronger tomorrows.

As their Vice President, Public Policy, Brian Colby, said, “We believe that policy change is real change. We believe that it has a great return on investment, that leveraging federal dollars to Missouri is critical to improving the life and the health, and well-being of the citizens of Missouri, and Health Forward has been a partner in that endeavor for 20 years, and all the wins that we have are really wins with Health Forward as a partner. We believe that we can rely on Health Forward in good times and in bad. We envision a world in which everyone in the state of Missouri can thrive, and that's what we work towards."

We're so proud of the work we've accomplished together to improve lives in our community!

12/26/2025

Celebrating 20 Years of Stronger Tomorrows! 🎉 We're highlighting our amazing partners who have been with us on our mission to advance health equity. Here's how our partnership with HCC Network has created stronger tomorrows in our rural communities.

As their CEO, Toniann Richard, said, “We had an opportunity to assume two rural health clinics that were not going to be sustainable under the rural health clinic model. We successfully assumed those clinics and were able to not only retain all of the employees to keep them employed, but we were able to keep clinics in those communities and grow them.

I think Health Forward is doing a lot as it relates to building a stronger tomorrow, but also just building stronger communities, building stronger leaders, and building people up.”

We're so proud of the work we've accomplished together to improve lives in our community!

12/22/2025

We are filled with gratitude for our community partners who share our path toward health equity. We wish you much joy and comfort this holiday season.

Health Forward's office will be closed starting Monday, Dec. 22, and will reopen on Friday, Jan. 2, so our team can recharge and spend the holidays with their families and friends.

We hope your holidays bring you joy, comfort, and cherished moments.