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Springboard HealthLab: Innovation & Impact

Springboard HealthLab is a nonprofit public health incubator advancing health equity by fostering bold solutions that improve access to critical resources and reduce health disparities.

We serve communities that have historically faced barriers to healthcare, including LGBTQ+ communities, people at increased risk of HIV and other infectious diseases, underserved populations, and community leaders with lived and frontline experience who are developing solutions for their own communities.

Our flagship programs are Building Healthy Online Communities (BHOC) and TakeMeHome. Building on this model, Springboard identifies and incubates emerging public health innovations through our national Pitch Day and local MicroGrants programs.

Flagship Projects

Building Healthy Online Communities

Building Healthy Online Communities (BHOC) brings together dating platforms, their users, and public health leaders to improve access to health information and resources, reaching people where they are.

  • More than 2.4 million dating app users now use sexual health features that we and our partners have created
  • One in three dating app users tells us they check an app’s sexual health features before committing to using it.
  • 16 dating app and site partners

Together TakeMeHome

National HIV self-testing program. Our program mails free, discreet, at-home tests. No cost, no clinic, no judgment. Support available as needed.

  • Over 1 million HIV self-tests distributed
  • 26% of users are testing for the first time ever
  • National project scaled up from BHOC’s TakeMeHome self-testing platform
  • Operates in all 50 states, DC, and Puerto Rico

Pitch Day Incubatees 2025

Trans Health HQ

A community-led access & information hub and navigation platform supporting trans and non-binary people to access and navigate the healthcare system.

  • Largest resources hub on trans health and wellness in the world
  • Served more than 21,000 community members and clinicians
  • Trans Health HQ’s peer education series has reached more than 500,000 people
  • The project has been recognized by the Halcyon Health Equity Fellowship and the Boston Foundation

“Springboard invests in people who have lived the problem, who carry the expertise of experience…Pitch Day gives community-rooted ideas the runway, credibility, and connections they need to move from concept to implementation… In a landscape where federal funding can disappear overnight, and communities with the greatest needs are the least-resourced to build their own solutions, programs like Pitch Day are essential infrastructure to leave a better future for the next generation.”

KynCare

Early-stage project idea with a plan to transform the caregiving experience for underserved family caregivers in the US.

  • National environmental scan mapped 89 resources across the US
  • Developed the KYNCARE Resource Hub
  • Completed discovery interviews with caregivers and healthcare professionals, engaged directly with more than 70 caregivers
  • Following these conversations, KYNCARE pivoted to a more actionable, hands-on model of caregiver support; a virtual concierge care coordination service that pairs family caregivers with a trained community health worker who handles the coordination work on their behalf.

“Springboard gave me the catalyst to see myself as a founder and to reimagine what public health expertise and lived experience can build together.”

Micrograntee Pilot Projects 2025

Cinco Lunas Healing Circles:
A Sanctuary for Immigrant Mothers

Culturally-rooted health education and wellbeing series for Spanish-speaking pregnant immigrant women and new mothers who face isolation, trauma, and systemic barriers to equitable perinatal care.

  • 38 mothers registered for the program
  • Participants immediately connected to the host nonprofit for ongoing support services
  • Participants shared that the circles helped reduce perinatal anxiety and isolation, improved mental health and created a sense of belonging and community
  • The success of the initial healing circles has led to additional funding for continuing to support the growth of the program

“The MicroGrant really made my dream come true. It allowed me to materialize my vision and dream bigger. The MicroGrant was the seed I needed to grow something bigger than myself.”
— Dannhae Maya Herrera, MicroGrantee, Doulas Sin Fronteras

Walking Club:
Movement as Mental Health Care

An exercise-based group for residents of a shelter center serving unhoused women and transgender residents to support well-being and emotional regulation.

  • 46 residents participated (over 50% of all shelter guests)
  • 83% of participants reported improved mood
  • 100% reported feeling calmer after the walks
  • 80% reported reduced stress
  • Secured additional funding through an America Walks Community Grant, sustaining the program beyond the pilot period.

“Opportunities like the MicroGrant matter as it empowers people on the frontlines and doing the work with the people in need of support the most—the ability to implement things they think are a good idea instead of being dismissed.”

Neighborhood Flamekeepers

A peer support model training a community of neighbors to provide support to their neighbors during life’s challenges and transitions.

  • Founding cohort of neighborhood flamekeepers
  • 7 community events
  • 160 attendees
  • 9 out of 10 participants said they felt emotionally supported and found an authentic space to honor loss and grief

“The microgrant helped us move from a promising idea into a real pilot: launching our founding cohort, hosting neighborhood offerings, and testing whether this model could meet a real community need.

[It] gave us both financial support and external validation at an important early stage. Small grants can make a real difference at exactly the stage when an idea is promising but not yet institutionally legible. That kind of early support is invaluable”

Voices of the 415:
Bridging Research and the Street

Bridging the gap between frontline workers, researchers, and decision-makers.

  • Four frontline workers with outreach experience in the Tenderloin & Soma
  • Identifying what is missing in homelessness research from the frontline persective
  • One informational accessible booklet created, for community members, frontline workers, and decision-makers alike
  • 355 copies distributed across San Francisco
  • Preliminary findings written into a research paper and seeking publication

Please reach out to us if you would like to be connected with any of our Pitch Day incubatees, micrograntees, or flagship programs.

Workforce development initiatives

Community Health Leadership Initiative

Providing training & mentoring for those who want to enter or are new to the public health field and supporting the sustainability of the current workforce

  • Trained & mentored 80 participants with lived experience to expand their knowledge, skills, confidence, and self-belief to support their entry into the HIV/HCV/STI workforce
  • With the support of over 50 experienced workers who acted as mentors and trainers
  • 70% of the recent cohort went on to enter the HIV/HCV/STI workforce in some capacity
  • 150+ people from over 40 agencies attended our cross-agency Networking Events
  • Frontline workers from 25 agencies+ attended our cross-agency burnout prevention groups

“This experience led me into a full-time job…this dream would never have been possible without taking the CHLI program…I will be forever thankful for that…Thank you for believing in me…”
(CHLI Participant)