Youth Initiatives

Youth Advocates of the Year

Our Youth Advocates of the Year Awards honor top young advocates from across the country — individuals who have fought hard to promote tobacco prevention legislation in their home states, reduce tobacco marketing to kids in their communities and stop their peers from using tobacco.

The 2012 Youth Advocates of the Year Awards will be presented on May 17, 2012 in Washington, DC, at our Youth Advocates of the Year Awards Gala.

We are currently accepting nominations for:

  • 4 Regional (East, West, Central and South) Award Winners (grades 9-12)

  • 1 Group Winner (middle school and/or high school aged)

  • 1 Military Youth Winner (grades 9-12)

  • 1 National Award Winner (grades 9-12)

Each winner receives a scholarship and/or grant. Learn more about the judging criteria and application process.

Applications must be postmarked by Friday, January 27, 2012.

 

Meet the 2011 Winners

2011 National Youth Advocate of the Year

Abigail (Abby) Michaelsen, 18
Newport Beach, CA

Abby lost her father to a heart attack when she was only nine years old and she's honored his legacy with determined advocacy for policies proven to reduce tobacco use.

She’s lobbied California lawmakers to increase tobacco taxes and require insurers to provide coverage to help smokers quit. She also pressed successfully for the Newport Beach Environmental Quality Affairs Committee to pass a city ordinance requiring smoke-free public parks and restaurant patios and is now working to secure passage by the full city council.

Abby is also gearing up to help get out the vote for the California Cancer Research Act, which would raise the cigarette tax to fund cancer research and tobacco prevention and cessation.

Additionally, Abby started a successful Heart and Health Club at her school that is now being replicated at numerous other high schools in her county. Abby attended the American Heart Association’s National Lobby Day in Washington in April and plans a return to Sacramento to lobby on the smoking-cessation coverage issue.
 

2011 Group Winner

Y Street
Virginia

Y Street develops creative, educational campaigns to fight the onslaught of tobacco industry marketing in Virginia.

Y-sters including Judy, Lydia, Unique and Patrick helped created Meltdown to educate Virginians about new products, such as Camel orbs, sticks and strips, and conducted surveys that showed youth often confused these products with candy because of packaging and flavors.

Last April, the group created its own BecauseOfYouKelly.com, to prod American Idol Kelly Clarkson to drop tobacco company sponsorship of her concert in Indonesia. The site received more than 1,200 visits and generated more than 300 messages to Clarkson, who dropped the sponsorship. The youth also conducted surveys on the effectiveness of new, graphic warning labels proposed by FDA and sent more than 2,000 responses to the agency.
 

2011 Regional Youth Advocates of the Year

Eastern Regional Winner: Paige Niler, 16
Dover, NH

Paige helped draft and guide to passage a New Hampshire law prohibiting minors from using or possessing e-cigarettes. She testified before the New Hampshire Legislature about how e-cigarettes were being deceptively marketed. The measure passed and took effect last July. Paige also has testified in support of higher cigarette taxes and stricter regulation of tobacco vending machines.

Paige's work with Dover Youth to Youth has taken her to other states including Arkansas, Maine, Vermont, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Connecticut and New York, where she trains students about the tobacco industry’s deceptive practices and helps youth step up their involvement.
 

Southern Regional Winner: Jordan Bontrager, 18
Winter Haven, FL

In his drive to ban the sale of flavored tobacco products in his county, Jordan has conducted more than 40 retail outlet surveys, attended meetings with county officials and made countless presentations.

In December 2010, the county commissioners passed a resolution discouraging the sale of flavored tobacco products. Jordan is now working to pass an ordinance to actually ban their sale.

Jordan also served as president of a student organization at Polk State College that is dedicated to changing social norms including advocating for tobacco-free policies.
 

Western Regional Winner: Kiley Atkins, 17
Taylorsville, UT

Last year, Kiley was one of three Utah youth chosen to present to the state Legislature’s Health and Human Services Committee about the harms of new smokeless tobacco products. As a result, Representative Paul Ray introduced a bill that would ban the sale of all flavored tobacco products. Kiley continues to advocate for this bill today.

When funding for tobacco prevention was jeopardized, Kiley lobbied her legislators for days by phone and email, then went to Capitol Hill in a successful push to save the programs. Additionally, Kiley also advocated passing a bill banning the sale of e-cigarettes to minors.
 

Central Regional Winner:Joshua Dodson, 15
Lawton, OK

Joshua joined Students Working Against Tobacco (SWAT) to gain the knowledge to educate his family of tobacco users about its serious harms. He’s advocating to repeal an Oklahoma law that forbids local communities from having more stringent tobacco-control ordinances than state laws require.

Joshua has worked to enact a smoke-free ordinance and currently hosts legislative breakfasts to educate city council members on the need for tobacco-free parks.

Joshua’s motivation comes from his experiences playing and refereeing soccer. He is determined to protect his two younger siblings from secondhand smoke on the field. Joshua has also hosted art exhibitions featuring tobacco messages to educate the Lawton community on its dangers.

 


Meet the 2010 Winners

2010 National Youth Advocate of the Year

Kyle Picha, 18
Prairie du Chien, Wis.

Kyle has a zest for learning, a knack for asking the right questions and a remarkable grasp on policy. He has demonstrated his effectiveness as a tobacco-control advocate in forums ranging from local and state legislative hearings to meetings with his representatives in Congress.

Kyle has served on the statewide youth board of directors of Fighting Against Corporate Tobacco (FACT) for three terms, and has been a member of the organization for five years. He advocated extensively in the successful battle to enact smoke-free legislation in Wisconsin and testified before the legislature's Joint Finance Committee.

He is currently helping to design a media plan for promoting the implementation of Wisconsin's smoke-free air law. Kyle has also worked for four years with Wisconsin Wins, which advocates strict enforcement of age requirements for purchasing tobacco. He is a leader in the movement to prevent youth from using smokeless tobacco, and helped organize the National Summit on Spit and Smokeless Tobacco. Kyle also is a member of his school's conservation club, political science club and forensics team.
 

2010 Group Winner

Ramsey Tobacco Coalition
St. Paul, Minn.

When they discovered that stores in their neighborhood were selling candy cigarettes, bubble gum called "Big League Chew" and novelty lighters, Calitta, Brian, Jeremiah and Shanicee were outraged — and they turned their anger into action. They met with a city council member who agreed to introduce an ordinance banning the products if the young people met certain goals: They had to conduct a community assessment of the problem, present their findings to the council, educate each council member and pack the council chamber with supporters. They accomplished all of this and as a result, the St. Paul City Council voted unanimously to ban the sale of candy "tobacco" products. It is the first city in the country to do so.

Since the ordinance went into effect, the Ramsey Tobacco Coalition has helped the city monitor stores for compliance and assisted in media and educational campaigns. The group currently is working to increase the tax rate for small cigars and to stop tobacco industry funding of nonprofit organizations that work with youth.
 

2010 International Grant Award Winner

Livia Clandorf, 15
East Chatham, N.Y.

No cultural barrier or distance — or even loss of funding for her own community's tobacco control organization — impedes Livia's determined, global campaign against tobacco. This high school sophomore has traveled to India twice in the past year for the World Conference on Tobacco or Health and the Global Youth Meet.

She's also spearheaded a letter-writing campaign to India's health minister to protest smoking in movies and has collaborated with the Salaam Bombay Foundation in Mumbai to initiate a youth advocacy program for graduates of their high school program. She helped organize and participated in a demonstration at the Philip Morris International shareholder meeting in New York.

When her community's tobacco control group lost funding recently, Livia was able to secure a local grant to further her work and continues to network with her national and international contacts. Livia is also an actor, writer, student producer and a junior board member at the Valatie Community Theater.
 

2010 Eastern Regional Youth Advocate of the Year

Dianna Baker, 17
Berlin, Pa.

Dianna became involved in tobacco control advocacy when she joined Students Against Destructive Decisions. She has organized her school's annual "Snuff Out Tobacco" fair and spoke to an audience of more than 300 students on the important role they could play by participating in tobacco sale compliance checks.

For the past four years, Baker has been a member of Teens Against Tobacco Use and has lobbied state lawmakers for passage of the Clean Indoor Air Act, as well as for funding of state tobacco prevention and cessation programs. Dianna's passion has led her to speak in front of large rallies, dress up as a mascot and become a one-on-one mentor for other youth who want to become involved in tobacco control.

She recognizes that peers influence other young people more than adults, and she brings that perspective to her work. Dianna plans to enter Liberty University as a junior next fall. Her favorite author is Jane Austen.
 

2010 Western Regional Youth Advocate of the Year

Courtney Viernes-Silva, 17
Ewa Beach, Hawai'i

When Courtney lost her grandfather to the ravages of tobacco, she found her calling. She intensified her work on behalf of REAL, Hawaii's youth-led tobacco control organization, by lobbying to pass and defend a statewide smoke-free workplace law and advocating for a tobacco tax increase that passed on the first try.

She has also demonstrated at the Philip Morris International Shareholders' Meeting in New York, and led a roundtable discussion on youth involvement in tobacco control at the Oceania Tobacco Control Conference in Australia.

Courtney met with Hawaii's congressional delegation to lobby for passage of the landmark law to give the Food and Drug Administration authority to regulate tobacco. She is currently working to gain public support for a statewide policy to reduce storefront marketing and promotion in Hawaii.
 

2010 Southern Regional Youth Advocate of the Year

Zachary Morris, 18
Charlton Heights, W.Va.,

Zachary began fighting against Big Tobacco when he was in the eighth grade, joining Raze, West Virginia's youth tobacco control movement.  Though the group is barred from direct lobbying, Zachary was elected president of its Teen Advisory Council, and he has used this position to meet with key lawmakers on tobacco issues.

He met with his state tax commissioner about the industry's introduction of new products which entice kids, and he traveled to Washington to meet with members of Congress about the Food and Drug Administration's regulatory authority over tobacco. For his efforts, U.S. Rep. Shelley Moore Capito awarded Zachary a certificate of Special Congressional Recognition.

Zachary is currently leading a letter-writing campaign to state legislators about the importance of restoring funds for prevention programs in West Virginia, where smoking rates are among the highest in the nation.
 

2010 Central Regional Youth Advocate of the Year

Caitlin Baker, 16
Norman, Okla.

While competing as a swimmer in the Native American Games, Caitlin became deeply concerned about the serious problem of tobacco use among Native Americans, especially those living on reservations. She immediately took action. Caitlin founded Competitive American Indians Turning Lifestyles into New Beginnings (CAITLINB), an outreach program that promotes tobacco-free lifestyles, sports participation and youth advocacy in Native American communities.

She travels throughout the nation to speak to Native American youth about healthy lifestyles. Additionally, Caitlin has worked as a tobacco-control advocate in her hometown. Beginning in eighth grade, she pressed for smoke-free public parks.

On Kick Butts Day, Caitlin and the Cleveland County SWAT group gathered cigarette butts they'd found in the parks, put them on display and used the demonstration to help them collect four pages of signatures in support of a smoke-free parks municipal ordinance. Last year, the City Council — which has not yet required smoke-free workplaces — voted unanimously to ban smoking in all public parks.
 

 

Make a Difference!

  • Kick Butts Day
    Get active in your community. Stand out, speak up, and seize control against Big Tobacco.