NAQC Staffing Announcement – New Team Member and Consultant Transitions

Dear Members,

We would like to share important staffing updates with our members.

We are delighted to welcome Erin Boles Welsh (EBolesWelsh@naquitline.org) to the NAQC team as a consultant on our CDC-funded project. Erin is an experienced public health leader specializing in tobacco control and co-founder of the Healthy Communities Roadmap Collective. She previously served as Tobacco Control Program Manager at the Rhode Island Department of Health and also served as Chair of the Tobacco Control Network.

Over the past few months, Erin conducted NAQC’s environmental scan and co-hosted the quitline sustainability workshop series. Her dedication to advancing technology-driven cessation strategies continues to guide her work, and we look forward to the expertise and leadership she will bring as she guides the Knowledge Series, Community of Practice, and technical assistance initiatives at NAQC.

At the same time, we honor the service and lasting impact of two Senior Consultants, Joyce Swetlick and Etta Short, as they transition out of their NAQC roles. Joyce brought extensive knowledge and expertise to developing quitline administrator competencies, and launching a community of practice focused on quitline sustainability. Her wisdom, partnership, and vision have left a lasting mark on NAQC’s work. Etta’s deep knowledge and experience in behavior change and health promotion programs were instrumental to both the Knowledge Series and to Project ENGAGE, where she developed training modules for a highly successful online course about lung cancer screening. We will miss her thoughtful leadership and wide-ranging expertise.

Please join us in giving a warm welcome to Erin and in celebrating the outstanding contributions of Joyce and Etta, whose legacies continue to shape and strengthen NAQC’s work.

Regards,

Thomas Ylioja, PhD, MSW

President & CEO