Background 

Bridge for Health (B4H) was originally founded in 2013 by Paola Ardiles in Vancouver, on unceded Coast Salish territory, to act as a local network to promote citizen engagement in health. B4H grew and attracted local and global members keen on moving away from a medical model towards a community-based model focused on promoting wellbeing and equity.

Bridge for Health soon became an incubator for social innovation projects aiming to promote health and equity, and incorporated as a co-operative association. In 2017, we received the SFU Coast Capital Savings Venture Award for Social Impact for our efforts to advance social sustainability in the workplace. 

The network continues to evolve and has members across Canada, as well as academic collaborators and global advisors in Australia, Germany, Denmark, France, Israel, Mexico, Brazil, Columbia, and Chile. We have co-authored two technical reports and one peer-reviewed journal article. Bridge for Health continues to evolve today with a focus on innovations related to the bringing an equity lens to the creative arts, as well as organizational and leadership development.