The Ethnic Minorities Section has a diverse membership, and each year during our annual section meeting we ask that section members share their accomplishments for the past year. As a section, we feel that it is of extreme importance that we give our up-and-coming scholars a platform to share their accomplishments, not only in our section but also with the entire organization. With that said, we would like to highlight two of our section members from Montclair State University in New Jersey.

David T. Lardier Jr. is a fourth-year doctoral student in the Ph.D. in Family Studies program at Montclair State University. Recently, David defended his dissertation, titled “Substance Use among Urban Adolescents of Color: Exploring the Effects of Ethnic Identity, Psychological Empowerment, and Race.” This study examined the influence of community participation and neighborhood sense of community on Black and Hispanic urban youth’s ethnic identity, and in turn their perceived psychological empowerment and substance-using behaviors. He received the Students and New Professional Ethnic Minorities Section Best Paper Award in 2015 for his work on this project. David will begin his academic career in fall 2017 as an assistant professor at the University of New Mexico in the Family and Child Studies program of the Department of Individual, Family, and Community Education.

Ijeoma Opara is a first-year doctoral student in the Ph.D. in Family Studies program at Montclair State University. Ijeoma’s research projects include investigating sexual health disparities in African American girls and evaluating the impact of an HIV/AIDS and substance abuse curriculum on urban youth of color. Ijeoma was named 2017 Population Health Scholar by Academy Health, for her dedication to improving health outcomes for communities of color. As part of this effort, she also organized and invited panelists to participate in a Black Lives Matter panel event at Montclair State University, which involved active dialogue among police officers, community activists, and criminal justice scholars to improve police–community relations.

We congratulate these members of the Ethnic Minorities Section on their accomplishments and look forward to seeing their continued success in our field.