ATCA Work Groups

ANNUAL ATCA WORK GROUPS

Tobacco Summit Work Group  The 3rd Annual Tobacco Summit will be in Fairbanks in April, 2009. Melanie Brenner (melanie.brenner@tananachiefs.org) will chair the planning of the Summit

There are three subcommittees who will be recruiting help. If you are interested in:

Others helping with the summit include Bill Bouwens, Wilbur Brown, Emily Nenon, Marti Pausback, Anna Sappah, and Marilyn Thorson.

Medicaid/Third Party Reimbursement Work Group  Andrea Thomas andrea.thomas@searhc.org is the point of contact for this work group that is looking into Alaska Medicaid coverage and third party payer coverage for tobacco cessation. Their efforts involves research and working with employers and medical providers as well as Medicaid and insurance companies. Other members of the work group include Bill Bouwens, Christine Brubaker, David Campana, Carrie Enoch, Renee Gayhart, Chris Grangaard, Kate Herring, Vanessa Hiratsuka, Stacy Kelley, Cheryl Lunceford, Erin Peterson, and Marilyn Thornson.

Youth Work Group  Kate Herring will chair this group that will look at how ATCA can strengthen and expand the role of youth in ATCA and the larger tobacco prevention and control community. Other members of the workgroup are being recruited. Please contact Kate at kherring@aklung.org if you are interested in participating in this exciting new group.

Election Work Group  Contact Celeste Barrett at cbarrett@aklung.org  if you would like to help facilitate the annual election process for the regional seats on the steering committee. Most of this work is done in the fall and early winter so the new members begin their terms in January. Other work group members include Bill Bouwens, Laura Muller, and Pat Luby.

Scholarship Work Group  This committee reviews proposals for people to attend training as well as proposals to bring a trainer to a group of people. Contact Pat Reynaga, Chair at preynaga@provak.org to get involved, or any of the other committee members: Bill Bouwens, Wilbur Brown, Michelle Crawford, Carrie Enoch, Alex Hicks, Laura Muller, and Anna Sappah,  (The scholarship application form is in your packet and available on the ATCA website)

Alaska Smokefree Housing Work Group  This work group is tackling the development of a statewide network to support citizens in living in smokefree environments. Some of their strategies include working with landlords, real estate disclosure laws, and providing education and outreach. Contact anyone in this work group to see how you can get involved. Jennifer Adzima, Celeste Barrett, Wilbur Brown, Joanie Fogal, Charlotte Gisvold, Nick Gonzales, Wendy Hamilton, Emily Nenon, Doris Robbins, Anna Sappah, and JoAnne Zito-Brause.

Evaluation Work Group  will monitor the progress of the new strategic plan. As a result of the recently published tobacco control strategic plan entitled: Alaskan Partnerships: Statewide Plan to Reduce Tobacco Addiction and Exposure. this work group will keep ATCA Steering Committee apprised of its observations and make recommendations as needed. Members of the work group include Chris Grangaard, Alex Hicks, Marie Lavigne, Lakota Murray, Eric Myers, Erin Peterson, and Suzanne Sands.

Communications Work Group chaired by Laura Muller (lmuller@aklung.org) has revised the annual membership mailing and plans to update the ATCA website to shift more information from the members only section to the public section as ATCA moves forward on the strategic plan. The toll free number will be promoted, along with more outreach tools that ATCA members are encouraged to use when promoting ATCA locally. Future discussions will include how to strengthen two way communication with the field. Other members of this work group include Bill Bouwens, Wilbur Brown, Carrie Enoch, Chris Grangaard, Alex Hicks, Marti Pausback and Laura Revels.

Membership Work Group reviews and approves membership applications. Members include Laura Revels, chair (laurar@apai.com), Melanie Brenner, Dana Diehl, Chris Grangaard, and George Olanna.

ONGOING WORK GROUPS
 

Alaskans for Tobacco Free Youth  is an ongoing work group that includes agency representatives from American Cancer Society, American Heart Association/Stroke Association, American Lung Association and AARP who advocate on tobacco-related issues.

Alaska Native Tobacco Advisory Group (ANTAG) includes four Native representatives appointed by the Alaska Native Health Board (ANHB) to the steering committee plus Wilbur Brown (appointed to ANTAG by ANHB) who meet to explore ways to address disparities. All Alaska Natives who want to participate in these meetings are welcome. Contact Laura Muller at lmuller@aklung.org to learn how you can participate.