Dr. Karen J Beard is the national spokesperson for the Amplify African American Statewide Coordinating Center and a community assistant professor in the Department of Internal Medicine at Charles Drew University. A Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialist trained at Florida State University, Dr. Beard manages the Breaking Free from Nicotine cessation capacity building learning collaborative and founded the Free and Proud Tobacco Liberation Method™️. Since beginning a career in tobacco cessation work in 2014, Dr. Beard has focused on culturally relevant interventions and advocating for reimbursement and pay equity for tobacco cessation specialists. Dr. Beard holds an EdD in Counseling Psychology from Argosy University, an MA in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of South Florida, and a BS in Mental Health Counseling from Gannon University. Her community based research projects include listening circle sessions with African Americans who smoke and African Americans who smoke attitudes toward flavor bans.