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LANSING, – Lieutenant Governor Garlin Gilchrist II today received the National Lieutenant Governors Association (NLGA) Improving Lives and Communities Award. Lt. Governor Gilchrist is the 2022 recipient of the annual award presented in partnership by the NLGA and Anthem.

"I appreciate this recognition, as well as the opportunity to spread the word about Michigan's unique efforts to improve the quality of life for all residents, especially those most at-risk and in-need," said Lt. Governor Garlin Gilchrist II. "I hope my peers in other states can learn from our experiences and achieve similar, positive results in their communities."

The Improving Lives and Communities Award is presented to an NLGA Member working to enhance the lives of constituents through impacting aspects of community life and addressing social drivers of health.

Lt. Gov Gilchrist holding the the National Lieutenant Governors Association Improving Lives and Communities Award

Presenting the award, Patrick Gillespie, Anthem Regional Vice President of State Affairs, said, "Lt. Governor Gilchrist's passion for addressing health disparities and improving health outcomes is a great example for state government leaders across the country. While the COVID-19 pandemic exposed many disparities in access to healthcare for low-income and at-risk communities, Lt. Gov. Gilchrist's statewide leadership to tackle these challenges on a systemic level should be commended, and we are honored to present him with this recognition."

Elected in 2018, Lt. Governor Gilchrist has dedicated his career to solving problems using innovation, reform, and modernization. Under his leadership, the Michigan Coronavirus Racial Disparities Taskforce took steps to address the disproportionate impact of COVID-19 on communities of color, creating programs to help more residents get health insurance, increasing testing sites in high-need areas, and embedding sites in neighborhoods to provide cultural and language assistance and education on vaccines. As a result, Michigan has seen significant progress in limiting COVID-19 disparities in communities of color. A study by the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and the National Governors Association Center for Best Practices found that the task force has made significant and sustainable progress towards its goal of reducing health-based racial disparities associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.

Lt. Governor Gilchrist also embarked on two Thriving Cities tours for face-to-face conversations with residents of Michigan's cities. These conversations focused on five key areas that can impact the health and quality of life for residents: affordable and available housing, generational economic opportunity, environmental quality and justice, kids in cities, and mobility, transit, and transportation.

Lt. Governor Gilchrist has worked hard alongside Governor Gretchen Whitmer to uplift communities across Michigan. He co-chaired the Michigan Task Force on Jail and Pretrial Incarceration, which issued recommendations to improve the effectiveness of the front end of Michigan's justice system. Alongside the governor, he established the Clean Slate expungement process, growing our economy by giving hundreds of thousands of Michiganders who were unjustly denied a shot at jobs, housing, and education a fresh start. Lt. Governor Gilchrist worked hard to boost accessibility and ease of use for Michiganders using this new process and created an automatic expungement process. As a former computer engineer and software developer, Lt. Governor Gilchrist has led the administration's efforts to connect Michigan communities and grow our economy through access to affordable high-speed internet.

"NLGA partners in this recognition process to assist in bi-partisan identification of leaders committed to effectively tackling the current and future challenges of our nation," said NLGA Director Julia Brossart. "By recognizing Lt. Governor Gilchrist, attention is brought to his accomplishments in Michigan in a way that can bring ideas to other states and territories."

The award was presented to Lt. Gov. Gilchrist during the 2022 NLGA Federal State-Relations Meeting. To learn more about the NLGA Improving Lives and Communities Award, visit: https://nlga.us/programs/awards/improving-lives-and-communities-award/.