African American Health State Advisory Council
Advisory council members
Pictured, left to right: Dr. Carolyn Livingston, Abdou Manjang, Paul May-Kramer, Christopher Smith, Dr. Brittany Lewis, Andrea Lawson, Pleasant Radford, Jr., Rae Blaylark, Patrick Ingram, Charles Dixon.
Not pictured: Ronda Chakolis and Cindy Devonish.
The African American Health State Advisory Council was established during the 2023 Legislative session to aid the health commissioner in advancing equity for African American communities, specifically multigenerational African Americans, or American descendants of slaves.
The council reports directly to the commissioner of health (or a delegate) to identify health disparities found in African American communities and contributing factors; recommend to the commissioner for review any statutes, rules, or administrative policies or practices that would address African American health disparities; recommend policies and strategies to the commissioner of health to address disparities specifically affecting African American health; form work groups of council members who are persons who provide and receive services and representatives of advocacy groups; provide the work groups with clear guidelines, standardized parameters, and tasks for the work groups to accomplish; and annually submit to the commissioner a report that summarizes the activities of the council, identifies disparities specially affecting the health of African American Minnesotans, and makes recommendations to address identified disparities.
Members
Rae Blaylark
Ronda Chakolis
Cindy Devonish
Charles Dixon
Patrick Ingram (council co-chair)
Andrea Lawson (council co-chair)
Dr. Brittany Lewis
Dr. Carolyn Livingston
Abdou Manjang
Paul May-Kramer
Pleasant Radford, Jr.
Christopher Smith