Census Bureau establishes National Advisory Committee on Racial, Ethnic & 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 31 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 Falcon, president and founder, National Institute for Latino Policy

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.

For more information at http://www.census.gov>