Genetics is important to us now and is going to be even more important in the future.

Bettye McDonald has been involved with the Communities of Color and Genetics Policy Project as the Community Advisory Board member for Ann Arbor Bethel AME Church in Ann Arbor, MI. Her duties have included recruiting participants for the dialogue sessions and being involved with the planning and evaluation meetings with the project staff members.

Mrs. McDonald is a 30-year resident of Ann Arbor and has served on the Board of Directors for several agencies such as the African American Cultural and Historical Museum and the Ann Arbor Community Center. She has a BA in teaching and speech pathology from Hampton University as well as an MA in education from the University of Michigan.

Why did you decide to join this project as a Community Advisory Board member?
I was volunteered—I was asked by the minister of my church and Blondeen Munson who had been involved in the earlier phase of the project.

Why do you think genetics is an important issue for communities of color to consider?
I think that policies, practices, and procedures are going to impact our lives in a variety of ways and we need to be involved in influencing these from this early vantage point. In the recent past, we had a situation in Ann Arbor when practices regarding the use of blood samples of African American males for DNA testing for use in a criminal case was questioned and caused some changes in procedures. Helping to educate our communities will benefit us and society.

What kind of feedback do you hear from people who have participated in the focus groups and/or dialogue sessions?
I think that people have been quite positive about the dialogue sessions. They were pleased to be included and said that they had learned a lot from each other.

What do you like best about the Communities of Color and Genetics Policy Project?
I have enjoyed the opportunity to learn about genetics without having to account for my new knowledge in any way. Meeting new people, sharing ideas and experiences and networking have been great. The trip and meeting in Tuskegee will be a memorable highlight of this project for me.

What would you like to tell the public about this project?
The project should have some resulting educational components and hopefully some long-range impact on policy. However, at this point, I need to wait to see what we will end up with or doing. There was great interest in genetics issues, especially the known and the potential of the unknown, and this information needs to be shared. Genetics is important to us now and is going to be even more important in the future.

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