Youth leaders in upstream tobacco policy advocacy: Case studies in youth access and outlet density

Young people in California communities are leading efforts locally to advocate for innovative tobacco control policies with success. Too often young people are left out of health policy and advocacy efforts that directly impact them. This presentation will focus on environmental strategies for tobacco policy advocacy led by young people, campaign benchmarks and stages and the youth development framework needed for implementation. Youth Leadership Institute (YLI) has provided training locally and nationally to groups of young people and their adult allies to successfully plan and implement innovative tobacco advocacy and policy campaigns.

This session will highlight several case examples from YLI's urban and suburban communities in San Francisco and San Mateo Counties examining: 1) YLI's model for youth engagement in tobacco policy advocacy; 2) campaign benchmarks in local tobacco licensing and tobacco land-use policies; 3) key adult stakeholder partnerships and training needs and; 4) the youth development framework required for successful implementation. It will also address the unique benefits and challenges of working with young people--particularly non-traditional youth leaders--in these efforts. Key successes and challenges will be shared to provide lessons learned for others who are interested in strengthening their youth involvement and engagement in all stages of tobacco policy advocacy and other related environmental prevention efforts.