Supporting Building Capacity to Reduce Tobacco Inequities in the South and Midwest to better promote health equity in tobacco control, 2021-2022

The Foundation's initiative, Tobacco Control in a Culture of Health: Building on a legacy of Impact, was designed to: (1) increase urgency and action among a broader coalition of stakeholders to engage and support populations disproportionately harmed by tobacco; (2) increase the ability of organizations working with those populations to advocate stronger, community-driven, tobacco-control policies and practices; (3) support a national infrastructure of tobacco-control organizations to advocate at the federal level and provide technical assistance and other resources for state and local coalitions; and (4) support research and evaluation activities to understand how policies can reduce tobacco-related inequities and how best to regulate e-cigarettes.Under the fiscal sponsorship of the Dubois Institute for Entrepreneurship, Inc., (Dubois), Tandeka LLC (Tandeka) will continue to provide guidance, coordination, and technical assistance (TA) to six grantees that RWJF has funded to reduce tobacco-related inequities in the South and Midwest. Deliverables will include: (1) monthly meetings with grantees and their partners to ensure implementation of project objectives; (2) coordination and engagement with advisory council members, who will work throughout the project to help guide the implementation of the work; (3) quarterly meetings with all grantees, their partners, national partners, and advisory council members; (4) quarterly meetings with Decision Information Resources, which is evaluating the six grants; (5) TA to grantees on strategies to build their capacity to address tobacco inequities; and (6) organization of a national summit to share key lessons from grantees' first two years of work.