Capital Access and Grant Funding
Committed to supporting communities, small businesses, social entrepreneurs, and innovators to reduce health disparities and create social change.

EmPOWERED to Serve Investments
The need to come together to find solutions for longer, healthier lives is more critical than ever.
Investing for Community Impact
The American Heart Association is committed to supporting communities, small businesses, social entrepreneurs and innovators who are working to reduce health disparities and create groundbreaking social change.
Grants are a crucial part of this support as organizers of community health efforts struggle with fewer resources to address an increased demand for services. We provide communities with a bank of resources that help them quickly address barriers to health equity. We also award grants supporting health equity initiatives, measure the results and share the outcomes with the world.
Funding is critical in efforts to build economic stability in diverse and historically excluded communities, many of which haven’t had access to capital or have experienced disinvestment.
EmPOWERED Scholars
Creating stronger communities by improving health equity and social justice
Congratulations to the American Heart Association’s 2022 EmPOWERED Scholars! Nine college students were each awarded $5,000 in financial aid, providing an opportunity for them to serve as change agents to improve health outcomes and reduce disparities in under-resourced communities.
EmPOWERED to Serve Business Acceleratorâ„¢
The EmPOWERED to Serve Business Acceleratorâ„¢ is a free service that supports community entrepreneurs and organizations that are breaking down the social and economic barriers to health equity.
Learn more about the Business AcceleratorCongratulations to our 2022 National Business Accelerator grant recipients!
1st Place ($50,000 grant) and Fan Favorite ($5,000 grant):
Kanisha Ffriend
HeirBloom Co.
2nd Place ($25,000 grant):
Jinga Oglesby-Brihm
Empower Healthcare
Business Accelerator Alumni

Community Innovation Exchange
The EmPOWERED Community Innovation Exchange is a searchable, interactive digital hub that accelerates exploring and adopting new grassroots business models, municipal strategies, and community-led models for improving social determinants of health.
About Us
EmPOWERED to Serve accelerates innovative solutions to eliminate disparities in under-resourced communities caused by social determinants of health, also called structural determinants.
