One U.S. Chamber Foundation award. Two states. Two pilot communities. Activated through our 6-Gear Connected System — Chamber of Health Systems™, PHIT Scores™, and the Pre-Apprentice Accelerator — in Tucson, Arizona and State College, Pennsylvania. Our answer to the Foundation's invitation to break the mold.
"Do you have an innovative idea you want to launch or scale? Break the mold. Push boundaries. But ensure that success is measured, captured, and reportable."
— Pathways With Purpose RFP, March 2026 · U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation
A standalone submittal from The Force for Health® Network activating two pilot communities in the home chambers where our team is an active member — Tucson Metro Chamber in Southern Arizona and Centre County Business and Innovation Chamber in central Pennsylvania. One grant produces two geographically-distinct proof points in a single evaluation cohort. Break-the-mold evidence of portability from day one.
Tucson Metro Chamber home community. Six sector leaders matched to the region's top sectors per PHIT Scores™, with a balanced mix of rural and urban learners. Education access anchored by Pima JTED. Healthcare track validated by provider and payer voices in our Southern Arizona member network.
Centre County Business and Innovation Chamber home community. Penn State workforce corridor. Six sector leaders matched to the region's top sectors per PHIT Scores™, with a balanced mix of rural and urban learners. Cross-state replication proof the Foundation needs — same system, different state, real results in Year 1.
The Force for Health® Network operates as a single meshed machine. Every gear clicks into the central Hub and into its neighbors, coupled through our Healthy ME → WE → US one-to-many amplification flow — the learner's readiness (ME) lifts into team, employer, and community outcomes (WE), and scales into regional, state, and national workforce and community outputs (US). One login. One platform. Zero silos.
Two clean funding paths for the Foundation to choose from. Both deliver the full two-region pilot. Both keep 100% of grant dollars focused on pilot learners and program activities during the grant period. The difference is what happens next.
Full $295K–$365K is deployed to the Tucson + State College two-region activation. Personnel, programmatic delivery, PHIT Score matching, Pre-Apprentice Accelerator deployment, travel, evaluation — all in the field, in the pilot year. No commercial activity. No rev-share. Pure pilot.
The full USCCF award still funds the two-region pilot — no commercial activity and no rev-share during the grant period. What stands by, in parallel and entirely independent of the grant, is a private sidecar fund managed by a single LP representing foundational investors. The sidecar's job: be ready to commercially scale the proven model to additional chambers after the grant closes. Nothing commingles. Nothing activates commercially during Year 1.
"One grant proves the pilot. A private sidecar, already organized and standing by, takes the proven model to national scale after the grant closes. The Foundation invests once in a pilot that has a sustainability plan baked in from day one."
Both options are fully RFP-compliant. 100% of grant funds are deployed to pilot learners and program activities during the 12-month grant period. No political activity, no lobbying, no legislative advocacy. Clean.
We are leading this submittal with innovation, experience, and momentum — not a paperwork stack. Signed MOUs follow grant award in the June–September planning phase, standard for a one-year pilot. What we bring to the Foundation on Monday is the work, the partners, and the chamber membership we already hold.
Actively funding the launch of the statewide Chamber of Health Systems™ system through their Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) fund. Our healthcare anchor is already operating — not a proposed partnership.
Active collaborator on statewide healthcare workforce strategy.
Lead developer of the 360SCDHub platform. Currently building the Blossom Where You Are Planted program and a sickle-cell nurse-training curriculum rolling system-wide across Banner Health.
Health & Education Taskforce Leader — at the center of Arizona's connectivity + education policy.
Currently serving on the Board — tied into Arizona's data, information, and workforce policy dialogue.
Plus our standing as active chamber members in both pilot communities — Tucson Metro Chamber and Centre County Business & Innovation Chamber.
Co-founded by Dr. Robert Gillio, MD and Coach Lucy Howell. Live programming with university partners at scale — right now, today, already measured.
Healthcare and clinician-adjacent internship opportunities are notoriously hard for traditional intern pathways to reach. Our virtual model unlocks that access. The Pre-Apprentice Accelerator pairs health, business, and data science students with real community projects — producing mixed-media, gamified content that their communities actually use. That is where ME → WE → US turns from a framework into a measurable community output.
Every other applicant will propose a single regional pilot. We propose two — Tucson + State College — under one coordinated cohort. The Foundation gets geography-independent evidence in Year 1.
We are not outside vendors pitching a chamber play. The Force for Health® Network team are active members of both the Tucson Metro Chamber and Centre County Business and Innovation Chamber. We live inside the chambers we are proposing to activate.
Six sector leaders per region — selected by PHIT Score — ensures our pathways align to the jobs that actually exist in each community. Not assumed demand. Data-driven demand.
The Pre-Apprentice Accelerator plugs into GrowthZone, ChamberMaster, MemberClicks, and ChamberNation in under 15 minutes with bi-lateral data flow. Production-ready, not a pitch deck.
~250 learners per region, deliberately balanced across rural and urban communities. Hybrid and virtual-forward delivery removes geographic friction from day one.
A 2-for-1 innovation standing on our 6-Gear Connected System — Chamber of Health Systems™, PHIT Scores™, and the Pre-Apprentice Accelerator. Anchored in the chambers we call home. Ready to prove portability from day one.
The Force for Health® Network
Proud members of our Tucson Metro Chamber and Centre County Business & Innovation Chamber
Coach Lucy Howell, CEO & Founder
Prepared for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation · Pathways With Purpose RFP · April 17, 2026