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Engaging Youth Leaders in Policy Change: Using Community Partners and Measures of Progress to Create Change
Evolvement is a national youth engagement movement that focuses on empowering high school teens to be agents of change in their communities. Since 2010, more than 2,600 youth have united as activists to promote tobacco-free lifestyles. Evolvement’s mission is not to make tobacco use illegal or to fight against tobacco users. Its mission is to promote a world that rejects tobacco use by its own free will.
Methods
By partnering with high school and community-based organizations (including providing funding for them), Evolvement is able to recruit and train interested youth to work on campaigns and initiatives to promote tobacco control policies. Activists collect information and opinions from people in their communities while informing them about the issues by using surveys, message cards, and other tools called Measures of Progress. Current campaigns include CounterBalance, focusing on point of purchase tobacco marketing in Clark County, NV; 24/7, focusing on tobacco-free school policies in New Mexico; (dis)tasteful, focusing on creating awareness about the dangers of flavored tobacco products in New Mexico; and Licensed to Sell Tobacco, focusing on obtaining a tobacco retail license in Denver.
Results
When enough information is collected, the data is analyzed and presented to community members and key decision makers. In the past, activists have had the opportunity to share information about their work with local, state, and even national leaders in meetings, summits, and conferences.
Conclusions
Through these efforts, Evolvement members strengthen polices, and gain skills like public speaking, community service, and leadership—all while promoting a tobacco-free world.
Learning Areas:
Advocacy for health and health educationAssessment of individual and community needs for health education
Public health or related public policy
Systems thinking models (conceptual and theoretical models), applications related to public health
Learning Objectives:
Identify the critical role youth advocates serve in influencing decision-makers.
Explain Evolvement’s model of youth engagement and policy change.
Describe the appropriate blend of youth empowerment and adult coordination for successful youth involvement in policy change.
Keyword(s): Youth, Advocacy
Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have managed the youth engagement efforts at Rescue Social Change Group since 2008, including recruitment, training, and outcome-oriented programming for high school teens across the country. With a Master’s Degree in Youth Development Leadership and years of directly engaging youth, I bring expertise to the Evolvement model of empowering youth to create policy change.
Any relevant financial relationships? Yes
| Name of Organization | Clinical/Research Area | Type of relationship |
|---|---|---|
| Rescue Social Change Group | Youth Engagement | Employment (includes retainer) |
I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.