Ronald McDonald House New York will work with Amazon’s cloud computing arm to leverage data to improve health outcomes for underserved communities
New York, NY, November 27, 2023 — Ronald McDonald House New York (RMH-NY) today announced it has been selected as a winner of the 2023 Amazon Web Services (AWS) IMAGINE Grant, a public grant opportunity open to registered 501(c) nonprofit organizations in the United States and the United Kingdom who are using technology to solve the world’s most pressing challenges. The grant will support RMH-NY’s efforts to optimize its data in order to improve health outcomes for high-risk, high-needs, low-income families battling cancer and other serious illnesses.
Now in its sixth year, the AWS IMAGINE Grant program provides vital resources to nonprofit organizations looking to deploy cloud technology as a central tool to achieve mission goals. As part of the program, AWS seeks proposals for big ideas on how to leverage technology in new and innovative ways to accelerate impact in local and global communities.
AWS integrations will enable RMH-NY to scale its Health Equity Programming to benefit 15,000+ youth and families each year, with a 30 percent increase annually thereafter. By leveraging cloud-based solutions and data engineering services provided by AWS, RMH-NY will implement a digitization project that uses a data warehouse to centralize a wide range of sensitive data in a scalable, cost-effective, and secure manner, allowing the organization to perform advanced analytics that will improve health outcomes for underserved communities. The project will also enhance RMH-NY’s ability to pinpoint target populations, allocate resources effectively, predict utilization trends and identify disparities across the care continuum through data consolidation.
“We are honored to be named a winner of the 2023 AWS IMAGINE Grant.” said Dr. Ruth C. Browne, President and CEO of Ronald McDonald House New York. “This grant will equip our organization with vital tools to build and strengthen our data systems, enabling us to reach more families, improve health outcomes, and ultimately continue to advance health equity throughout New York City.”
RMH-NY was named a winner in the Momentum to Modernize category, which recognizes foundational technology projects. RMH-NY will receive $30,000 in unrestricted funding, $5,000 in AWS Promotional Credits, and project implementation support. Proposals were judged on several factors including the innovative and unique nature of the project, impact on mission-critical goals, and clearly defined outcomes and milestones.
Since the launch of the IMAGINE Grant program in 2018, AWS has awarded over $7M in unrestricted funds, AWS Promotional Credits, and AWS training support to 90 nonprofit organizations in support of their technology-driven goals. Previous winners are currently using AWS services to tackle critical challenges such as preventing service member and veteran suicide, identifying promising and affordable treatments for cancer, helping underrepresented individuals prepare for high-growth careers in technology, and more.
“I'm inspired by the ways in which our IMAGINE Grant winners are innovating with technology to improve lives worldwide," said Allyson Fryhoff, Managing Director of Nonprofit and Global Health at Amazon Web Services. "We look forward to collaborating with these organizations as they leverage cloud to scale their impact and help solve some of society’s biggest challenges.”
Over 85,000 nonprofit organizations worldwide use AWS to increase their impact and advance mission goals. Through multiple programs tailored specifically to the nonprofit community, AWS can enable nonprofits of all sizes to overcome barriers to technology adoption, while enhancing the scale, performance, and capabilities of mission operations.
For more information on the AWS IMAGINE Grant, visit aws.amazon.com/imagine-grant