Visitor Writer: Raven Twilling, Tobacco Prevention Coordinator at Bay Space Group Assets
The Youth Advocacy Committee (YAC) features as an internship program for highschool college students in Marin County, designed to amplify youth voices in tobacco and nicotine prevention and coverage advocacy. Every year, we have interaction a brand new cohort of 9 college students via a structured recruitment and engagement course of that helps them develop advocacy expertise, construct group, and take possession of native public well being initiatives.
Recruitment Methods
At first of every college 12 months, we launch a sturdy recruitment marketing campaign to draw a various pool of candidates from throughout Marin County. Our outreach methods embody:
• Designing and distributing flyers at native excessive faculties and sharing them straight with college counselors, wellness employees, and profession coaches. Some faculties require college students to finish a minimal variety of volunteer hours per 12 months, and our program qualifies as volunteer work.
• Creating social media content material to advertise the internship alternative, together with posts on Instagram and Nextdoor (which helps attain dad and mom concerned about youth involvement).
• Collaborating with native non-profits that work with youth to share the chance inside their networks.
• Posting flyers in youth-frequented group areas corresponding to libraries, group facilities, athletic fields, tutoring facilities, and skate parks.
These approaches purpose to make sure that we attain college students with completely different pursuits, backgrounds, and ranges of expertise, lots of whom are participating with coverage and advocacy for the primary time.
Internship Construction
YAC meets biweekly on Zoom all through the college 12 months, offering a constant area for studying, collaboration, and reflection. Every assembly follows a predictable construction that balances relationship-building with ability growth and venture work:
1. Roll Name and Icebreaker: We start every session by taking attendance and fascinating in a enjoyable icebreaker to assist college students join and construct consolation within the digital area.
2. Bulletins and Alternatives: We open the ground for college students to share any updates or alternatives they’ve heard about—whether or not college occasions, volunteer roles, or related advocacy campaigns.
3. Coaching and Talent Growth: Every assembly features a quick coaching on a policy-related or advocacy ability subject, corresponding to understanding the native legislative course of, the best way to give efficient public remark, or crafting persuasive social media messages.
4. Small Group Work: College students then break into smaller working teams of three to deal with extra customized coverage tasks like drafting public testimony, creating social media posts, or creating academic supplies for coverage makers. Workers and mentors rotate between teams to supply assist, reply questions, and make sure that college students really feel guided however empowered to take the lead.
Protecting Youth Engaged
Sustaining youth engagement all through the internship is essential to this system’s success. We deal with making participation significant, rewarding, and community-driven. A few of the practices which have labored finest embody:
• Offering incentives: We provide meals throughout conferences and stipends for participation to acknowledge the effort and time college students contribute.
• Encouraging peer-to-peer connection: We construct in staff bonding actions and depend on peer accountability to keep up motivation and group cohesion.
• Balancing duties: We deal with administrative or logistical “heavy lifting” so college students can deal with the extra enjoyable and impactful elements of advocacy, like talking to councilmembers or creating public well being training supplies.
• Displaying up as their greatest cheerleader: We often join college students with different alternatives, whether or not paid, academic, or community-based, and rejoice their successes alongside the way in which.
• Bringing optimistic vitality: Highschool college students juggle many commitments, so sustaining enthusiasm and vitality is crucial to protecting them engaged.
• Making the work private: We assist every pupil establish their “why”—whether or not their connection to tobacco prevention is rooted in well being, environmental justice, or social fairness—and create area for them to discover these motivations.
• Assembly them the place they’re: We use communication instruments they’re comfy with (like group chats, Canva, and Google Drive) to remain related and arranged. We additionally align our conferences with the tutorial calendar, such that the internship does not meet throughout college breaks or holidays.
• Constructing relationships: Constant communication, empathy, and mentorship assist set up belief and make college students really feel valued as a part of the staff.
• Celebrating wins: We rejoice milestones large and small—at all times with meals! On the finish of every college 12 months, we host a gathering to honor our graduating seniors and replicate on the group’s accomplishments.
Creating Totally different Ranges of Engagement
Whereas the internship supplies a structured and high-engagement expertise, we additionally supply alternative routes for college students to get entangled. The Marin County Tobacco Prevention Audio system Bureau, for instance, meets month-to-month and supplies a lower-commitment alternative for college students to study coverage advocacy, observe public talking, and take part in group occasions.
This tiered method helps us preserve a robust core of devoted youth advocates whereas welcoming new college students who could also be simply starting their journey in public well being and civic engagement.
Latest Youth Successes in Tiburon and Ross, CA
Lately, YAC interns have performed a pivotal function in advancing Tobacco Endgame efforts in Marin County, significantly within the cities of Tiburon and Ross. These jurisdictions have lengthy been leaders in tobacco management, and youth advocates helped construct on that basis by conducting public opinion analysis, creating academic supplies, and assembly straight with native policymakers to debate the long-term advantages of phasing out industrial tobacco and nicotine gross sales. The tutorial supplies created by college students helped make clear what a complete Tobacco Endgame coverage would imply for small communities and the way it aligns with broader public well being and environmental objectives. Youth testimony at Metropolis Council conferences introduced a crucial perspective to the dialog, emphasizing the significance of defending future generations and appearing towards a predatory business.
YAC’s outreach efforts helped construct momentum and enhance native readiness for adopting Endgame insurance policies. In November 2025, Tiburon adopted an entire ban on the sale of all industrial tobacco and nicotine merchandise. In December 2025, Ross adopted go well with, adopting an similar coverage. The successes in Tiburon and Ross display the ability of youth management in shaping forward-thinking public well being initiatives and function a mannequin for what is feasible when decision-makers associate meaningfully with younger advocates.
Study Extra
• Youth Advocacy Committee web site
• Smoke-Free Marin Coalition web site
• Marin County Tobacco Prevention Program web site
