OKLAHOMA CITY (Jan. 12, 2023) – The Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) Board of Directors announced its chair and vice chair for the 2024 term.
Marshall Snipes, of Oklahoma City, will return as board chair. Michelle Stephens, of Weatherford, will serve as vice chair. The officer terms began Jan. 1.
Snipes is the CEO of AmeriClaim, a nationwide independent insurance services firm, and is the managing director of Snipes Management Company, a private equity firm specializing in healthcare and insurance. Snipes was appointed to the board by the Attorney General in 2019.
“I am truly honored to serve a second year as chair for the TSET Board of Directors,” Snipes said. “I have seen the lasting impact TSET is having on the health of Oklahomans. I look forward to working with TSET in improving wellness and reducing the major causes of death in our state.”
Fifty-seven percent of deaths in Oklahoma are caused by lung and heart diseases, diabetes and cancer. TSET’s mission is to prevent and reduce tobacco use and obesity, the leading risk factors for cancer and cardiovascular disease.
Snipes is a certified public accountant who brings a wealth of financial experience in healthcare. He is the former chair of the Board of Integris Health.
He also has served on numerous boards and commissions including the Oklahoma Teachers’ Retirement System Board of Trustees, the Committee to Privatize the State Insurance Fund, the Governor’s Council on Physical Fitness and Sports, the Working Group to Reform the Workers’ Compensation Law of the State of Oklahoma and the Electronic Data Interchange Commission.
Stephens, an attorney, is the executive director of advancement at OU Law for the OU Foundation. She has previously served on the Oklahoma Commission for Human Services, state Board of Education and state Career Tech Board. She served as an assistant attorney general under Susan Loving and Drew Edmondson. Stephens has been a member of the Board of Trustees for Oklahoma Christian University for 20 years. She is the past president of the Weatherford Board of Education and served as a board member for 11 years. She is also a member of the Oklahoma State 4-H Foundation Advisory Council.
Stephens has served on the TSET Board of Directors since her appointment by the governor in December 2015. She was the board chair in 2021 and 2022 after serving as board vice chair.
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The Tobacco Settlement Endowment Trust (TSET) serves as a partner and bridge builder for organizations shaping a healthier future for all Oklahomans. TSET provides leadership at the intersections of health by working with local coalitions and initiatives across the state, cultivating innovative and life-changing research and working across public and private sectors to develop, support, implement and evaluate creative strategies to take advantage of emerging opportunities to improve the public’s health. To learn more, visit Oklahoma.gov/TSET.