Connor Lam
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
2024 Barrie Fiske National Youth Advocate of the Year
Pleasanton, CA
Connor was selected as the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids' 2024 Barrie Fiske National Youth Advocate of the Year. Since he was 11 years old, Connor has used his voice and memories of his beloved grandfather to fuel his drive to take on Big Tobacco, educate peers, and advocate for policies to reduce tobacco use. Angered by how the tobacco industry still targets kids, in 2020 Connor rallied fellow students to testify before the Pleasanton City Council, resulting in a new local law that prohibited sales of flavored tobacco, banned tobacco retailers near schools, and established tobacco retailer licenses. Statewide, Connor worked to pass the 2020 California law ending flavored tobacco sales and the subsequent ballot referendum to uphold it. At the federal level, he met with California members of Congress to urge their support for the FDA’s rules to prohibit menthol cigarettes and flavored cigars and for efforts to clear the market of flavored e-cigarettes.
Connor is currently the chair of the Alameda County Office of Education Youth Advisory Board to promote the power of prevention by educating kids on anti-tobacco initiatives county-wide. Outside tobacco control, Connor was also elected as student representative for his school district's executive Budget Advisory and Local Control Action Plan committees. Connor's role in these committees is to help collaborate with district executive cabinet officials to review, analyze and discuss options for reallocations and revenue generation.