Events

Gustavo Alonso Torrez Jr. (Moderator) 
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
Director of Youth Advocacy

Gustavo Alonso Torrez Jr. is the Director of Youth Advocacy at the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, leading national efforts to engage youth in tobacco prevention. With over 25 years of experience, he has developed award-winning programs like Taking Down Tobacco and co-authored key resources on LGBTQ+ tobacco control. A longtime advocate for health equity and youth empowerment, Gustavo also supports national and global youth networks and serves on multiple advisory groups advancing public health policy.

Thomas Ylioja, PhD 
North American Quitline Consortium (NAQC)
President and CEO

Dr. Ylioja is a clinician, researcher, innovator and thought leader with more than 20 years of experience in the treatment of commercial tobacco use and dependence. His background includes extensive work as a licensed social worker delivering nicotine dependence counseling, managing treatment programs for priority populations, overseeing quitline programs, and engaging in quitline research, program development, management, and evaluation. Dr. Ylioja’s academic focus on quitlines for priority populations as a systems-level public health intervention and his personal experience with nicotine addiction provide him with a unique and deeply informed perspective on cessation interventions.

Rod Lew 
Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL) 
Founder and Executive Director

Rod Lew is the Founder and Executive Director of Asian Pacific Partners for Empowerment, Advocacy and Leadership (APPEAL), a national organization advancing health justice for Asian Americans, Native Hawaiians, and Pacific Islanders. With over 35 years of experience, Rod has led national efforts in health equity, tobacco control, and cross-cultural leadership. He has trained over 1,500 advocates, contributed to the Surgeon General’s Report on tobacco use, and testified before Congress and national policymakers. A longtime public health leader, Rod has received multiple national awards recognizing his lifetime commitment to advancing equity and community-driven change.

Lorraine Lathen 
Jump at the Sun Consultants
Founder

Lorraine Lathen is the Founder of Jump at the Sun Consultants, a Black woman-owned firm advancing health equity for communities affected by poverty. With a background in international health and over 15 years of experience in tobacco control, she leads the Wisconsin African American Tobacco Prevention Network and co-chairs UW’s My Path to Quit Tobacco advisory board. Her work includes pioneering smoke-free housing initiatives, leading No Menthol Sunday campaigns, and mentoring youth advocates. A recipient of the C. Everett Koop Award, Ms. Lathen is widely recognized for her culturally-grounded, community-driven public health leadership.

Sally Herndon, MPH 
Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch, Division of Public Health, North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services
Former Head

Sally Herndon, MPH, retired in July 2025 as Head of the Tobacco Prevention and Control Branch at the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services. From 2020 to 2025, she led North Carolina’s efforts under the CDC’s National Tobacco Control Program, focusing on youth prevention, secondhand smoke reduction, cessation support, and advancing health equity. Sally began her full-time tobacco control work in 1991 with NC Project ASSIST, a National Cancer Institute initiative. She was instrumental in passing North Carolina’s 2010 smoke-free law and co-founded the Duke-UNC Certified Tobacco Treatment Specialist Training Program. Most recently, she led efforts using JUUL settlement funds to combat the youth e-cigarette epidemic. She holds an MPH from UNC and began her public health career with the Maine Department of Health.

Sarah Wylie 
Oregon Tobacco Retail License Program
Manager

Sarah Wylie serves as Manager for the Oregon Tobacco Retail License Program with the Oregon Health Authority – Public Health Division. Sarah has more than a decade of experience in tobacco policy, communications, evaluation, and community mobilization, in positions across multiple states and both the public and private sectors. In her current role, Sarah leads development and implementation of a new regulatory program and provides oversight for Oregon’s National Tobacco Control Program grant activities. Sarah has also worked as tobacco communications and policy lead at the Oregon Health Authority, in program evaluation at RTI International, and as the community and policy programs specialist at the Vermont Department of Health. Sarah is a graduate of the University of Washington Community-Oriented Public Health Practice Program and Carleton College. Off work, she enjoys gardening, knitting, and cheering on the Portland Thorns.