ERG Wins Contract Supporting Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program

ERG recently won a contract to recruit, train, support, and manage a community advisory board for the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program. This statewide public health program seeks to reduce the health and economic burden of tobacco use by preventing youth tobacco use and helping current users to quit, while identifying and eliminating tobacco-related disparities. The advisory board will help guide these efforts. 

To create and support the advisory board, ERG will use community engagement approaches that empower youth, young adults, and adults to provide insights on effective program design and evaluation.  

“As a former teen tobacco user, former Boston Public Schools teacher, and someone who knows and loves tobacco users, I understand the impacts of tobacco use and appreciate how challenging it can be to quit,” said ERG’s Isabella Espinoza, who will serve as Community Advisory Board Coordinator. “I am excited to work with youth and adults from communities across Massachusetts whose diverse perspectives will be pivotal to advancing the goals of the Massachusetts Tobacco Cessation and Prevention Program.”  

ERG will collaborate with three exceptional partners to bring a broad range of perspectives and expertise to this work: Women of Color Health Equity Collective, Data+Soul, and the Public Health Institute of Western Massachusetts.