Census Bureau Establishes National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic and Other Populations

The U.S. Census Bureau announced today the establishment of the National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic and Other Populations. The Census Bureau has also named the committee’s members and leadership.

The National Advisory Committee will advise the Census Bureau on a wide range of variables that affect the cost, accuracy and implementation of the Census Bureau’s programs and surveys, including the once-a-decade census. The committee, which is comprised of 32 members from multiple disciplines, will advise the Census Bureau on topics such as housing, children, youth, poverty, privacy, race and ethnicity, as well as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and other populations.

“We expect that the expertise of this committee will help us meet emerging challenges the Census Bureau faces in producing statistics about our diverse nation,” said Thomas Mesenbourg, the Census Bureau’s acting director. “By helping us better understand a variety of issues that affect statistical measurement, this committee will help ensure that the Census Bureau continues to provide relevant and timely statistics used by federal, state and local governments as well as business and industry in an increasingly technologically oriented society.”

The members are:

• John Bouman, president and advocacy director, Sargent Shriver National Center on Poverty Law
• Jerlean Daniel, executive director, National Association for the Education of Young Children
• Sheldon H. Danziger, Henry J. Meyer Distinguished University Professor of Public Policy, University of Michigan
• Neil Donovan, executive director, National Coalition for the Homeless
• Angelo Falcón, president and founder, National Institute for Latino Policy
• Saeed Fahia, executive director, Confederation of Somali Community in Minnesota
• Irwin Garfinkel, Mitchell I. Ginsberg Professor of Contemporary Urban Problems, Columbia University School of Social Work
• Eric Hamako, doctoral candidate in social justice education, University of Massachusetts
• Kathleen Mullan Harris, James E. Haar Distinguished Professor of Sociology, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
• Hassan Jaber, executive director, ACCESS
• Jacinto P. Juarez, dean emeritus, Laredo Community College
• Shawn Malia Kana’iaupuni, director, Public Education Support Division, Kamehameha Schools
• Ditas Katague, chief of staff, California Public Utilities Commission
• Akram Khater, director, Middle East Studies Program, North Carolina State University
• Wei Li, professor, Asian Pacific American Studies and geography, Arizona State University
• Don Loudner, first commander, National American Indian Veterans Inc.
• Linda Marc, education and curriculum development director, Harvard School of Public Health
• Kirsten Martin, assistant professor, School of Business, George Washington University
• Leigh McGee, co-owner, OSIYO Consulting and Council House Institute
• Mary A. McGehee, survey unit section chief, Arkansas Department of Health
• Bernie Miller, pastor, New Covenant Fellowship Church, Chattanooga, Tenn.
• Sandra Newman, professor of policy studies, Johns Hopkins University
• Gloria O’Neill, president and CEO, Cook InLet Tribal Council Inc.
• Sela Panapasa, assistant research scientist, University of Michigan
• Victor Kaiwi Pang, past president, Native Hawaiian Pacific Islander Alliance
• Charlotte Patterson, professor, Department of Psychology, University of Virginia
• Karen Pittman, co-founder, president and CEO, The Forum for Youth Investment
• Altagracia Ramos, founder, Ohio Hispanic Chambers of Commerce
• Neel Saxena, grant manager/program coordinator, Government of the District of Columbia
• Shane Snowdon, director, LGBT Health and Aging Program, Human Rights Campaign Foundation
• Barry Steinhardt, chair, Friends of Privacy USA
• Paul Watanabe, director, Institute for Asian American Studies, University of Massachusetts, Boston

The Census Bureau has named Watanabe as the committee’s chair and Pittman as the vice chair. The National Advisory Committee members, who serve at the discretion of the Census Bureau director, are chosen to serve based on expertise and knowledge of the cultural patterns, issues and/or statistical needs of hard-to-count populations.