Chicago – October 21, 2026 -- Delta Dental Plans Association has committed three years of funding to five organizations building early-exposure pipelines into oral health careers, under its 2026 Future Workforce Fund.
President and CEO James W. Hutchison said a strong workforce requires "sustained investment, collaboration, and a commitment to learning what works." The funding is meant to help the grantees deepen their impact, strengthen evaluation and share approaches that other communities can replicate. The source does not disclose the total award amount or per-grantee allocations.
Five organizations receive 2026 Future Workforce Fund awards
The awardees and their programs are:
- American Dental Education Association: Bridging Pathways to Oral Health Careers, offering hands-on learning and career exploration for students from a wide range of communities.
- American Dental Hygienists' Association: Hygienist Inspired, a multi-year initiative using chairside recruitment and community outreach to expand pathways into dental hygiene.
- Hispanic Dental Association: Building Our Leaders in Dentistry (BOLD), a pre-dental mentorship program for students from underrepresented communities.
- Mentorships in Dentistry, Inc.: Mentorships in Dentistry (MIND), which pairs students with dental professionals from career exploration through to practice.
- Planet Smilez, Inc.: Discovering Dentistry Symposium Community Pathways Initiative, which gives high school students in underserved communities clinical simulation, mentorship and family engagement.
White paper names multi-year funding and evaluation as scalability factors
The three-year structure follows Delta Dental's white paper, The Pathway Effect: A Guide to Strengthening the Oral Health Workforce Through Early Exposure Programs. Drawing on lessons from the Future Workforce Fund, the report identifies four elements as essential to scalable, sustainable workforce programs: multi-year funding, strong partnerships, robust evaluation and early career exposure.
Hutchison said the commitment aims to expand access to care by investing in the next generation of oral health professionals.