CareMessage Receives Third Place in Prestigious CTIA Wireless Foundation’s Catalyst 2025
$25,000 Grant Recognizes Technology Non-Profit’s Impact on Health Equity Through Mobile-First Patient Engagement
San Francisco, CA – September 19, 2025 – CareMessage, a patient engagement platform using AI-enhanced SMS text messaging to increase positive health outcomes for low-income populations, today announced it has been awarded third place in CTIA Wireless Foundation’s Catalyst 2025 competition. The recognition comes with a $25,000 unrestricted grant to further expand the organization’s mobile-first health equity initiatives.
The Catalyst, administered by the CTIA Wireless Foundation, is a competitive grants program that supports social entrepreneurs using innovative wireless technology to address pressing challenges in American communities. The program provides more than $200,000 in unrestricted grants annually, with the top three awards including $100,000 for first place, $50,000 for second place, and $25,000 for third place.
“We are thrilled to name CareMessage a Catalyst 2025 Winner. The Catalyst 2025 Winners are brining innovative mobile-first solutions to millions of Americans to address issues across healthcare, education and financial readiness,” said Dori Kreiger, Executive Director of CTIA Wireless Foundation.
Transforming Healthcare Communication for Underserved Communities
Through text messages, CareMessage increases access to the healthcare system, improves clinical outcomes, and addresses social drivers of health. Since 2013, the organization has reached 20 million patients, making it the only patient engagement solution proven to improve health equity at scale.
The platform enables healthcare organizations to facilitate communication and outreach through Short Message Service (SMS) and voice technology, helping providers improve patient outreach, reduce no-shows, fill gaps in care, and meet clinical quality metrics. CareMessage works with Federally Qualified Health Centers (FQHCs), free and charitable clinics and Tribal Health Organizations nationwide, helping them improve clinical outcomes and operational efficiency.
Personal Mission Drives Innovation
The founding of CareMessage stems from a deeply personal mission. Co-Founder Cecilia Corral grew up in Texas with a family reliant on Medicaid and food stamps. After her father passed away from prostate cancer, Cecilia dedicated herself to improving health outcomes for low-income patients. She met Co-Founder Vineet Singal while studying at Stanford, and together they saw how powerful text messaging can be as a tool to communicate with patients, creating CareMessage.
“We are honored to receive this recognition from the CTIA Wireless Foundation,” said Cecilia Corral, Co-Founder of CareMessage. “This award validates our mission to leverage technology for health equity and will help us continue expanding our reach to the communities that need it most.”
Addressing Critical Healthcare Access Challenges
CareMessage’s Health Equity Engine is crafted to work alongside healthcare staff, scale within organizations, and improve population health. The platform's patented technology enables flexible patient targeting, segmentation, and engagement, delivering personalized conversations to the right patient at the right time.
Recognition of Innovation in Wireless Health Technology
Evaluation criteria for CTIA Wireless Foundation’s Catalyst focus on innovation, scalability, and societal impact of proposed solutions, with projects demonstrating a clear ability to leverage the speed, efficiency, and connectivity of 5G to address significant challenges.
CareMessage’s third place selection reflects the organization's success in using mobile technology to address healthcare disparities. The platform's focus on SMS and voice communication ensures accessibility for underserved populations, including those without smartphones or reliable internet access.
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About CareMessage
CareMessage is a non-profit technology organization building the largest patient engagement platform for low-income populations in the United States. CareMessage delivers personalized health education and care coordination support via text messaging. Founded in 2012, the CareMessage platform has reached more than 20 million people across 45 U.S. states and territories, with a focus on addressing health disparities, improving health outcomes and increasing access to care for low-income communities. The CareMessage team, many with lived experiences in these communities, leverages a nonprofit model to reinvest revenue into impact. For more information, visit www.caremessage.org.
Media Contact:
Kristen Hinton, Communications
CareMessage
khinton@caremessage.org