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2007 Youth Advocates of the Year Awards
National Youth Advocate of the Year Kathy Staats is an "out of the box" thinker and leader who has been an extraordinarily effective tobacco control advocate with her peers, the media and elected officials alike. Kathy is a senior at Greendale High School where, in addition to her numerous tobacco control activities, she is active in theatre, color guard and community service groups. She plans to attend the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire. She is known for her confidence, initiative, creativity and willingness to take action. Kathy got involved in tobacco control through her local T.A.T.U. (Teens Against Tobacco Use) chapter. She current serves on the Youth Board of Director for FACT (Fighting Against Corporate Tobacco) and the Regional Leadership Board of Peers With Impact. She attended the E-Forum youth training at the 2005 National Conference on Tobacco and Health, where she helped plan and implement a demonstration in downtown Chicago. The event included displaying 1,200 pairs of shoes symbolizing the number of people who die each day in the United States because of a tobacco-related disease. Kathy also worked on Madison's smoke-free ordinance and has been actively supporting Governor Doyle's proposal to increase Wisconsin’s cigarette tax. In 2006, Kathy played a key role as planner and facilitator for the Wisconsin statewide summit known as "FACT Boot Camp," an event that left the 150 adult and youth participants inspired and ready to act. Kathy has been seen throughout Wisconsin and the nation through her appearance in advertisements that promotes FACT and exposes the lies of Big Tobacco. The ads ran on popular Wisconsin radio stations, as a movie trailer across the state and on major television networks during such programs as the Billboard Music Awards and the season premieres of popular TV series such as "24" and "Lost." The commercial has educated many young people about tobacco and has generated more than 1,100 new members for FACT. International Grant Winner Jolie Yang is a remarkable teen leader who is resourceful and articulate about tobacco control. In addition to being a member of AAYAT (Asian American Youth Against Tobacco) for four years, she founded the Centerville chapter of the national youth tobacco control organization Ignite, which has developed into the Dayton chapter. Jolie also became Ignite’s National Secretary. Jolie also was active in the successful effort to pass the Smoke-Free Ohio ballot initiative in 2006, working with the American Cancer Society to collect signatures. After seeing a fellow YAYA travel to China for tobacco prevention work, Jolie was inspired to become involved internationally herself. She has traveled to Taiwan twice on her own to educate elementary and high school students about the dangers of smoking. She encouraged the students she met to stop smoking and to push for change within their country. Jolie researched social attitudes toward smokers and the tobacco industry in Taiwan by collecting responses to a survey that she wrote. She also developed a PowerPoint presentation on tobacco facts and how Big Tobacco markets its products there. She stays in contact with students in Taiwan who are starting an anti-tobacco group at their school. Jolie’s plans include more trips to Taiwan to help the students she met organize their movement, as well as inspiring her fellow teens in the United States to push for legislation giving the FDA authority to regulate tobacco products. Group Winner Question Why is a youth organization that doesn’t take no for an answer. Through creative events, media outreach, online activism and working with other organizations, they have become one of the most vibrant and effective youth groups in the nation. They have continually found creative ways to better educate their community about the tobacco problem and solutions, such as reaching out to restaurant owners about going smoke-free. The youth of Question Why offer Tobacco 101, a basic course for educating youth about tobacco companies as well as the health effects and ingredients of tobacco products. They recently expanded to offer Tobacco 202, which explores the political, cultural, historical and economic impacts of tobacco. They have partnered with ALE (Alcohol Law Enforcement) to create a merchant education program to reduce youth access to tobacco products. Additionally, the group helped plan a statewide teen summit with nearly 300 attendees. Question Why has trained and mobilized youth all over North Carolina to become effective tobacco prevention advocates. For Kick Butts Day this year, Question Why worked with a local bowling alley to set up “TKO: Pinning Down Tobacco.” This event features youth putting on sumo suits and wrestling with “Big Tobacco.” During the event, youth learned about the dangers of smoking and how they can advocate for change and inspire others along the way. The group is also skilled at working with the media. Whether it is writing letters to the editor, issuing press releases or speaking on camera, these youth are confident in their abilities and eager to spread the tobacco control message. East Regional Youth Advocate of the Year Kyle Peavley is a driven and successful tobacco control advocate who recently founded an Ignite Chapter in Butler County, Ohio, one of the fastest growing chapters in the nation. Having held four annual Smoke Free Dining Days in his county, Kyle next led his Ignite group to actively promote the Smoke-Free Ohio initiative, distributing nearly 420,000 fliers. He is now hard at work passing out enforcement kits about the new law. Kyle has also been at the forefront of national tobacco issues. In 2006, Kyle met with members of the Ohio Congressional delegation in Washington, DC, about FDA regulation of tobacco and helped organize a demonstration in Colorado to raise awareness about the issue. Back in Ohio, Kyle garnered media coverage in four major newspapers by organizing a protest at the district office of Congressman John Boehner, an opponent the FDA legislation. Kyle’s future plans include exposing violators of smoke-free laws in Ohio, educating others about secondhand smoke and working to pass FDA regulation of tobacco. He would also like to work on international tobacco control. South Regional Youth Advocate of the Year
Anna Butler is a motivated, energetic young leader who has worked on tobacco control at many levels, from educating and organizing her peers to contacting local and state elected officials in support of smoke-free laws. Anna's has worked with fellow Mecklenburg County TRU (Tobacco Realty Unfiltered) Advisory Board members to create educational brochures, maintain a web site, develop scripts for televised public service announcements and speak out in local media for policy change. Her passion lies in working to educate and motivate her peers. She created a Teens Against Tobacco Use (TATU) Club in her high school to train advocates in faith-based youth groups. She was also an instrumental leader in the creation of GASP (Girls Advocating for Smoke-free Pregnancies), a TRU girls outreach group whose mission is to help educate pregnant teens about the dangers of smoking while pregnant and urge them to use the state’s Quitline. Anna has also been active at the local and state level. She spoke to Mecklenburg County commissioners and Charlotte City Council members about the need to pass a smoke-free ordinance and advocated for state legislation to give communities local control to pass smoke-free ordinances. The slow pace of politics has been no match for Anna as she has convinced a number of local restaurants to voluntarily go smoke-free. Central Regional Youth Advocate of the Year
Kristy Ordoñez has served as president of her local youth empowerment movement S.W.A.T. (Students Working Against Tobacco) for two years. She has participated on the planning committee of both regional and state events enabling her to serve the master of ceremonies at the state S.W.A.T. summit. Kristy was instrumental in making her school campus smoke-free, as well as lobbying for city ordinances to ban indoor smoking and youth access to tobacco. She wrote personal letters to each city commissioner and “blew them away” during a presentation to the Ardmore City Commission. Kristy is active in efforts to make outdoor activities, such as bull riding events and the skate park, tobacco free. Kristy has also proven adept in reaching out to the media, writing letters to editors of her local newspapers, giving television interviews and recording public service announcements for radio stations. Kristy was inspired to join the tobacco control movement after losing one grandfather to lung cancer and watching the other live with one lung due to tobacco use. While much of her work has been at the local and state level, Kristy is eager to work on the national stage. West Regional Youth Advocate of the Year
Whitney Rutt is a passionate advocate who has shown great leadership skills over the past two years serving as the vice-president and now president of the Phoenix Alliance, a group of hundreds of teens leading Utah's anti-tobacco movement. She is a strategic thinker, a good listener and always eager to learn new things. Whitney’s work produces impressive results and she often targets her outreach to reach individuals on a personal level. Whitney understands the importance of passing policies that will improve public health. Since getting involved in tobacco control, Whitney has worked on issues ranging from smoking in the movies to advocating for smoke-free bars and clubs to spreading the message about the dangers of secondhand smoke. Whitney met with her members of Congress last summer regarding FDA regulation of tobacco and has since made FDA regulation her primary initiative. Currently, Whitney and the Phoenix Alliance are leading the charge to get 5,000 signatures from Utah residents who support FDA regulation.
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he Youth Advocates of the Year Awards honor top youth advocates from around the country -- youth who have fought hard to promote tobacco prevention legislation in their home states, to reduce tobacco marketing to kids in their communities and to stop their peers from using tobacco. The Campaign for Tobacco-Free kids provides a $5,000 scholarship for the national youth winner, $2,500 scholarships for each regional winner, and $2,000 for the international grant winner. The winners received their scholarships and grants at a gala in Washington, D.C. and attended our second annual Youth Advocacy Symposium. Close to thirty past and present award winners and finalists worked together throughout the week at advocacy events and various trainings, including workshops on media strategy, public speaking, and youth empowerment.|
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