S’mores, Data, and Youth Advocacy
Looking forward to camp is such a vividly familiar and nostalgic feeling that I haven’t had since middle school. And it’s definitely not one I thought I would ever feel again…especially in any professional capacity or in the context of tobacco prevention. But as I was preparing my presentation for the California Youth Advocacy Network (CYAN) Statewide Youth Advocacy Conference (SYAC) this past July, there it was again: that unmistakable excitement and anticipation of getting ready to go to camp.
As I double-checked my packing list and finalized my slides on everyone’s favorite part of camp (Data Collection & Analysis), I started to daydream… s’mores, campfire games, friendship bracelets, being in nature, spending time with those special friends you only get to see during that weeklong escape, and, of course, the tahini dressing from the salad bar (if you know, you know).
But I should clarify: this “camp” is by no means an easy feat. Yes, there are all of the aforementioned camp joys, but there’s also a lot of really important work being done by the youth in attendance. The annual statewide conference brings together young people from across California who are working to make their communities smoke- and commercial tobacco-free. Each day blends opportunities to learn about advocacy, participate in skill-building activities, and, of course, enjoy some of the fun that comes with being at camp.
As the week progresses, participants put what they’ve learned into action through Live Action Roleplay (a.k.a. LARPing—but hold the garb & boffers), working through a simulated local tobacco policy campaign in the fictional Solaris County. Their ultimate goal? Convince the Board of Supervisors to adopt either a comprehensive smokefree outdoor air or tobacco retail licensing ordinance. Along the way, they build coalitions, collect community data, interview key informants, develop an advocacy strategy, and put it into action through activities like decision-maker visits, media advocacy, and petitions—all leading up to the grand finale: a mock Board of Supervisors meeting.
That’s where TCEC comes in! For the past two summers, we’ve joined the conference to lead the Data Collection & Analysis portion of the experience, helping youth explore how data can be used to better understand their communities and strengthen their advocacy efforts. After our introduction to the concept & process, they head out into the field to collect their own observational data using retail and outdoor secondhand smoke survey instruments. Once they’ve got their data, we work with them to make sense of what they found, explore how data viz can bring their findings to life, and think about how they could use their data to tell a compelling story that supports their specific policy goals.
And we didn’t just get to teach…we got in on the LARP action, too! Catherine and I took on roles in the simulated policy campaign, giving youth the opportunity to practice their newly developed skills through interactions that mirrored the kinds of conversations they might encounter in their real-world advocacy efforts.
In 2025, I got to channel my inner Leslie Knope, stepping into the role of Director of County Parks and Recreation. In our fictional landscape, I oversaw more than 15,000 acres of parks throughout the county, including open spaces, multi-use trails, sports facilities, golf courses, river access and picnic areas—making me a particularly useful stakeholder to be leveraged by campers advocating for a comprehensive smokefree outdoor air policy.
This summer, I got promoted to County Counsel of Solaris! In this new role, I served as the county’s chief legal advisor, helping the Board of Supervisors navigate the legal side of the youth’s proposed tobacco policies. My qualifications? Well coincidentally, I do have some legal experience working for a corporate law firm, but mostly… a willingness to commit to the bit. It was the perfect opportunity to dust off some of the legal jargon that otherwise sits unused somewhere in the back of my brain.
LARP promotion aside, returning to SYAC this year also gave me an unexpected opportunity to reflect on just how much I’ve grown in my own real-world tobacco prevention journey over the past year. When I attended SYAC last year, I was still very much a tobacco prevention and advocacy newbie, having only a little more than 2 months with TCEC under my belt. Although presenting on and discussing data collection & analysis came naturally to me, I still felt a heavy sense of “imposter syndrome” being there, as I was in the midst of traversing the very steep learning curve of tobacco prevention, evaluation, and policy advocacy.
In hindsight, though, still being a newbie gave me a rather unique experience: I got to learn alongside and from the youth as we navigated the CNC process and explored what it actually takes to advocate for policy change. Coming back a year later with a much deeper understanding of that process made me realize just how much I had absorbed since my first summer. This time around, I could see the pieces connecting in ways I simply couldn’t yet see the year before. And getting to return to the same environment where I had first encountered so many of those concepts made that growth especially tangible.
But if there’s one thing that hasn’t changed between my two SYAC experiences, it’s how impressed I am by the young people who show up.
It’s summer break. There are countless other ways a high school student could choose to spend a week away from school…and learning the ins and outs of local tobacco policy probably isn’t the most obvious one. But not these youth. They arrive enthusiastic (albeit a little shy at first), curious, and ready to learn. Over the course of the week, it’s incredible to watch them find their voices, challenge themselves, and become increasingly confident in advocating for the communities they care about. Both years, I have left camp in awe of their conscientiousness and passion, and feeling confident that their communities are in very good hands.
I also must give kudos to the spectacular CYAN team for the immense amount of work and care they put into making this experience possible each year. It is an absolute pleasure to spend time with them and an honor to learn from them as they equip young people with the knowledge, skills, confidence, and resources they need to create meaningful change in their communities.
The youth are the future of this work, and the value of CYAN investing in and championing them is immeasurable. I feel incredibly privileged to play even a small part in preparing them for their future real-world advocacy victories.
And I think it goes without saying: I can’t wait for camp next year.