Monday, March 24, 2025
Welcome to the 2025 Faith in Health Collaborative Luncheon!
On behalf of The SOL Project, we are honored to welcome you to this year’s Faith in Health Collaborative Luncheon—a gathering of residents, faith leaders, community advocates, public health professionals, property managers, and public officials, all united in a shared mission: to address critical health challenges and build healthier, smoke-free communities.
This annual event is a space for learning, collaboration, and action. Today, we will engage in meaningful discussions on reducing tobacco use, understanding emerging products, and advancing smoke-free policies in homes, outdoor spaces, and public areas. We will also explore the health and environmental impacts of tobacco and marijuana smoke, as well as the growing concern of tobacco product waste.
As Pastor Deborah Simmons of South Sacramento Christian Center powerfully stated: “They’re targeting our youth with flavored vapes and misleading marketing, just like they hooked generations on cigarettes. We have to protect our children and families from these predatory tactics.”
Throughout the day, you’ll hear from dynamic speakers and inspiring community champions, including Dr. Mignon Guy (University of Virginia), Dr. Phil Gardiner (African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council), and other faith-based leaders who are making a difference. We will also showcase the youthcreated Get LIFTED video, honoring faith leaders who have been instrumental in leading tobacco-free initiatives.
From advocating for smoke-free housing to discussing the balance between public health and economic opportunities in marijuana policy, today’s conversations are designed to empower you with the knowledge and tools to drive meaningful change.
Thank you for being part of this important movement. Your voice, leadership, and dedication are essential in shaping a healthier future for our families, our communities, and generations to come.
This special event is presented by The SOL Project in partnership with Heluna Health, Tobacco Policy Research Center, and SMUD. Together, let’s take action, inspire change, and build a smoke-free future!
KEYNOTE SPEAKER
Dr. Mignonne C. Guy is an associate professor with tenure in the Department of Family Medicine and Population Health and former associate professor and chair in the Department of African American Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. In her teaching, Dr. Guy pioneered curriculum development, most notably by establishing a university-wide racial literacy curriculum at VCU, making it the first U.S. institution to require such education for all undergraduates. Her efforts earned her the 2022 VCU Presidential Faculty Award for Community Multicultural Enrichment. Dr. Guy is a member of the Massey Cancer Center Cancer Prevention and Control Group and the Center for the Study of Tobacco Products at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). She holds several national advisory positions including as a member of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Food and Drug Administration Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Interagency Committee on Smoking and Health. She is founding co-chair and a current member of the Racial and Equity Task Force in the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, and an advisory board member for the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation Building Capacity to Reduce Tobacco Inequities in the South and Midwest Initiative.
SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKERS
Dr. Jeremiah Mock is a health anthropologist who conducts research on the tobacco-nicotine endgame, environmental protection, health promotion, and cannabis use. He is a professor at the University of California San Francisco in the Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, and his research is based at the UCSF Institute for Health and Aging. He is a member of the UCSF Center for Tobacco Control Research and Education.
Dr. Phil Gardner is a Public Health activist, administrator, evaluator and researcher.
Dr. Mock’s current research focused on advancing California’s tobacco and nicotine endgame. One area of his research explores the denormalization of using tobacco, nicotine and cannabis products in the great outdoors. He leads studies using integrated methods, including garbology, to document the environmental impacts of tobacco, nicotine vaping devices, heated tobacco products, oral nicotine products, and cannabis products at parks, beaches and schools throughout California, Japan and Thailand. His work also examines tobacco industry marketing strategies and advertising imagery designed to associate smoking and vaping with enjoying the great outdoors. He specializes in using community-based participatory research methodology and integrated research method
For the past 25 years, he has worked on studies ranging from Hypertension, Multiculturalism and AIDS, to Breast Cancer, Prostate Cancer, Diabetes and Smoking. For the past 20 years, Dr. Gardiner has lectured around the country on African American health disparities generally and menthol smoking in the Black Community, particularly. Dr. Gardiner recently retired as the Senior Program Officer for the Tobacco Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP), University of California Office of the President, a position he had been in since 1997. Dr. Gardiner is a Founding Member and is currently the Co-Chair of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC), a group of Black professionals dedicated to fighting the scourge of tobacco impacting African American communities both in California and Nationally.
Working Together to Make It Easier to Quit
The TCPRC is a community-academic partnership whose mission is to advance health care access, delivery, engagement, and equity for tobacco cessation Housed at the UC Davis
Comprehensive Cancer Center, key TCPRC community partners include American Cancer Society Cancer Action Network and the Greater Sacramento Smoke & Tobacco Free Coalition.
Policy Studies - Research in Action
The TCPRC community and academic partners work on rapid response policy studies and briefs for local and statewide issues. Community stakeholder meetings and a Fall Summit promote bidirectional communication and learning. Current topics include:
Access with community pharmacies
Delivery in health care settings
Engagement on flavored tobacco products
Equity with health plans
Training the Next Generation
The TCPRC offers training opportunities for students, health care trainees, and early career researchers. Current efforts include developing more community-based outreach.
Since 1969, Heluna Health has been empowering population health researchers, government agencies, nonprofits, and public-private consortia to improve the health and well-being of communities across the U.S. and beyond. We’re proud of the work we do with our employees, clients, and partners, and the collective impact we make on health outcomes every day.
Our skill and innovation in direct service programming and partner support services:
Empower approximately 500 public health projects each year.
Impact more than 30 regions domestically and internationally.
Are supported by more than 1,800 Heluna Health employees.
Touch communities where 60 million people live, work, and play.
