Rachel Equity Task Force
In 2019, the Racial Equity Task Force was created by then-SRNT President, Megan Piper, with full support of the Board of Directors. Dr. Piper co-chaired the Task Force with Drs. Kelvin Choi and Mignonne Guy. Members of the Task Force were Yessenia Castro, Raglan Maddox, Tres Hinds, and Hersel W. Clark. Dr. Patricia Nez Henderson was deeply involved in the Task Force, particularly during her year as President of SRNT as the Task Force transitioned into the newly created Racial Equity Committee.
The Task Force was created in light of events such as the murder of George Floyd that brought into sharp focus the issues of racism and systemic racism in the US and many parts of the world. The Task Force was introduced during the SRNT 2021 Annual Meeting; click HERE to view the video of the Task Force’s introduction to the SRNT membership.
The purpose of the Task Force was to identify and recommend changes within SRNT to ensure that our Society is anti-racist and promotes racial equity, within SRNT, itself, as well as the field of nicotine/tobacco research.
The Racial Equity Task Force met over the course of 18 months, from mid-2019 through late 2020. The Racial Equity Task Force Final Report, which included more than 60 recommendations, was given to the Board of Directors in early 2022. The newly created Racial Equity Committee was seated shortly thereafter to help with operationalization and implementation of Task Force recommendations.
To view the Racial Equity Task Force Final Report, click HERE.
To view the list of recommendations implemented to date, click HERE.
Task Force Members
Kelvin Choi
Co-Chair
Mignonne Guy
Co-Chair
Megan Piper
Co-Chair
Yessenia Castro
Raglan Maddox
