Community Advisory

To ensure SWEHSC executes its mission to research EH concerns of Southwestern communities, we have established a Community Advisory Board that serves as the SWEHSC Stakeholder Advisory Board. In the Southwest, the term “stakeholder” conjures recollections of colonialism and manifest destiny and is hence not culturally appropriate for the communities we serve. Thus, we have elected to use a CAB to underscore the importance of community concerns and needs in driving SWEHSC research.

The CAB strengthens and facilitates multi-directional communication between the SWEHSC IAB and our community partners. CAB members represent local, regional, and federal agencies. The CAB meets biannually to review updates from SWEHSC researchers, identify new and emerging community EH concerns, and strategize about how to ensure that findings are translated into both knowledge and action. The CEC meets more frequently with individual CAB members as needed to ensure that SWEHSC is responsive to current needs in the community. The CAB comprises members representing our Indigenous, Latinx, and rural populations with extensive experience serving these populations in the Southwest.