Cross Cultural Collaboration

Within tobacco control, diversity is the representation of diverse community members in tobacco control meetings, activities or programs. Better still, is inclusivity, or the inclusion of diverse community members in a substantive way, in the planning and decision-making process of any organization's goals, mission and objectives. Both diversity and inclusivity are essential in working toward parity, which can be defined as being equal in the process, as well as the outcomes attained in tobacco control. Achieving parity means increasing participation and inclusion of diverse communities in critical decision-making within tobacco control organizations and equity in resources (i.e. capacity building, funding opportunities, and services) to address the disproportional use of tobacco and exposure to secondhand smoke.

In 2002, members of APPEAL, NAATPN, NLTCN and other individuals participated in the independent Task Force on Advancing Parity and Leadership in Tobacco Control for Priority Populations to produce "Moving Toward Health: Achieving Parity through Tobacco Control for All Communities".  The kit addresses the tobacco and health inequities faced by communities of color and other priority populations.

NAATPN  Executive Director (William Robinson) and National State Director (La Tanisha Wright)  have both provided training workshops in a variety of  States which include Hawaii and the Virgin Islands.  Mr. Robinson co-Chaired the Diversity and Multi-cultural Committee of the 2009 NCOTH with a Co-Chair of  the Latino National Network and presented at the NCOTH with a member of the Native American National Network.  NAATPN is currently in discussion with the State of Alaska to be a part of their statewide coalition-building efforts and have recently updated the LGBT National Network on new on-the-ground partners in the State of Louisiana.  Mr. Robinson presented on the last TTAC Health Disparities call,  and was elected to serve on the Scientific Advisory Committee of Louisiana, where the first statewide tobacco control conference for all communities was held recently and he was the kick-off keynote speaker. For more information on NAATPN's cross-collaboration work, please contact NAATPN at 919-680-4000