Community Advisory Board

Community Advisory Boards

We have three Community Advisory Boards to help guide us in what we do.  All of our boards are very important to us and provide invaluable input.

Our Community Advisory Board (CAB) began in 2006 and was our original group of community members chosen to help us create a research team focused on reducing health disparities in the Native community.  This board assures that research conducted in the Native American community is guided by input from Native American people.  The CAB is a group of approximately forty Native Americans who represent their community and assist AIHREA in designing screening programs and initiatives that have direct relevance and benefit to Native Americans.  The CAB includes men and women of many different ages from locations throughout Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri, and meets quarterly.

Our Executive Community Advisory Board (ECAB) was formed in July 2010 through a nomination process.  AIHREA staff nominated community members who they thought could give us excellent advice on all of our activities more regularly than the CAB.  Nominees applied for positions through an 11-member committee of AIHREA team members.  ECAB members were chosen based on their ability to provide guidance to AIHREA and ensure representation from different parts of the Native community in Kansas and Kansas City, Missouri. The ECAB meets monthly and includes representatives from Lawrence, Wichita, Haskell Indian Nations University, and the Four Tribes of Kansas.

Our Student Leader Advisory Board (SLAB) also began in July 2010.  This group of students meets with our 40-member CAB quarterly and includes approximately 12 Native American junior high school, high school, and college students.  The SLAB identifies and addressed issues concerning Native American youth and students and helps us to make sure that adults do not determine all of our youth-focused activities.