mission statement

The RAC Fund for Social Justice will work to support Rebecca’s dreams of improving health and health care for everyone through bold policy change and health system reform.  Rebecca believed that health is a basic human right, not a privilege for some. And she therefore also believed that major public policy and system reforms were needed to ensure that everyone has equal access to all of the main social determinants of health – quality education, safe physical environments, food security, affordable housing, and affordable and quality health care--regardless of race, income, or where people live.  Rebecca also believed that the U.S. health care system, including hospitals and insurance plans with their major resources and influence, needed to be reformed to have a stronger focus on prevention, community health, and the social factors that drive health inequality.  

The overall mission of the RAC Fund for Social Justice is to keep Rebecca’s dream for health equity alive.  To reach this goal, the fund will provide scholarships to like-minded University of Michigan graduate students who are committed to the same vision and goals as Rebecca, and who are also investing in dual graduate degrees that combine deep training in both public policy/advocacy/system reform and health, including public health and medical care.