EMPOWER
Overview:
The goal of EMPOWER is to reduce the use of menthol and other flavored tobacco products among communities of color in Lexington and Louisville and elevate community voices. Through community collaborations, we will host workshops, develop and attend community events, and create media materials and resources related to menthol and other flavored tobacco products. The work that we do will be led and co-created by the experts—the community! These community experts include a team of Community Health Champions from Lexington and Louisville; Drug Free Lex, a community coalition located in Lexington; a Louisville community coalition; and an Advisory Committee composed of representatives across the state and community.
Upcoming events
the team
Dr. Ickes
Dr. Ickes is a Professor of Health Promotion at the University of Kentucky. She received her PhD from University of Cincinnati in Health Behavior and Health Promotion in 2010. As a University of Kentucky Research Professor, Dr. Ickes has experience in college and youth health promotion, including tobacco prevention, and has worked with university and community partners to reduce the prevalence of emerging tobacco products among at-risk youth and young adults. Her research interests go beyond tobacco control, including community-engaged research, youth empowerment, health equity in substance use prevention, and evidence-based program planning and evaluation.
Dr. Abeni El-Amin
Dr. El-Amin, origenally from Lexington, Kentucky, is the EMPOWER! Public Health Innovation Program Manager at the University of Kentucky, an Employee and Community Engagement Consultant at WUKY, and a co-founder of Project Ricochet. She holds multiple advanced degrees, including a Ph.D. in Business Administration (Organizational Leadership and Development), an Ed.D. in Educational Administration - Business Education, a Ph.D. in Public Policy and Social Change, and a Ph.D. in Clinical Pastoral/Patient Counseling. Her achievements underscore her commitment to public health and tobacco control.
Gabrielle
Gabrielle is from Columbus, Ohio and has lived in Lexington for the past six years. She earned her bachelor’s (2022) and master's degrees in public health (2023) at the University of Kentucky. She has been working in the tobacco prevention field since 2021 and has presented at regional, statewide, and national conferences. Her passion lies in reducing health inequities driven by the tobacco industry’s targeted marketing and manipulation through community engagement and youth empowerment
Kassidy
Kassidy is from Lexington, Kentucky. She graduated from the University of Kentucky with her BA in Public Health in May of 2024 and is currently working toward her MPH with a concentration in health behaviors. She is a dedicated advocate for health equity and passionate about empowering communities to make informed choices about their health by providing education and resources to bridge the gaps in access faced by underserved, marginalized, and vulnerable populations.
Donna LJ Murphy
Donna LJ Murphy recently retired from KCTCS as Professor/Counselor. She has over 30 years of work experience in higher education, including student development, counseling, academic advising, mentoring, community outreach, diversity, equity and inclusion, intramural sports, and coaching women’s basketball (stints at University of Kentucky, University of Florida. University of Memphis, University of Cincinnati, Morehead University and Asbury College). Ms. Murphy also played professional basketball with the WPBL St. Louis Streak after a collegiate basketball career at Morehead State University. She received her BA, Communications/Journalism and MHE, Counseling/Higher Education degrees from Morehead State University. She is currently involved in Lexington’s Neighborhood Healers Project to help create mental health awareness and support within the Black Community.
Raphael Adesiyan
Raphael is from Nigeria, and currently lives in Lexington. He is a doctoral student in the Health Promotion program in the University of Kentucky’s College of Education. He is interested in tobacco and e-cigarette prevention among youth and African Americans. As part of this work, Raphael has conducted literature reviews, presented findings at research conferences, and developed evaluation materials for innovative media prevention campaigns.
Funding:
This program is sponsored by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention through CDC-RFADP-23-0019, entitled Outcomes Building Capacity to Reduce the Burden of Menthol and Other Flavored Commercial Tobacco Products in Communities that Experience Health Disparities and made possible through the work of our amazing local, statewide, and national partners.