CADCA’s 31st Annual National Leadership Forum, the premier and largest training event for community-based substance use and misuse prevention leaders, will be virtually held from February 1-4, 2021. Forum serves all prevention leaders interested in making a positive impact in their community. The event offers trainings from top experts in the field, tools and strategies to advance prevention work and the opportunity to network with thousands of passionate prevention advocates.

CADCA’s Geographic Health Equity Alliance, a CDC-funded National Network, has worked closely with experts in the field to curate a number of sessions and that are relevant for tobacco-prevention and control professionals. All Forum sessions will be recorded and attendees will have access to on-demand content 24/7 during the event.

If you are interested in participating in this professional development opportunity, you still have time to register for CADCA’s Forum. Check out the rest of the event schedule and sessions on our training grid.

GHEA Forum Sessions:

Tackling Tobacco at the Point of Sale
Tuesday, February 2, 2:30-3:45 PM
Presenters: Ron Davis and Brittany Chatman, Florida Department of Health, Tobacco Free Florida
Description: This session will provide options for coalitions that are interested in affecting tobacco promotion and marketing at the point of sale (POS). One option, monitoring of Assurances of Voluntary Compliance (AVCs), is a great first step for coalitions new to POS work. Local tobacco retail licensing is a more advanced topic for coalitions that are interested in making a great impact on the local tobacco retail environment in their community.

Discovering Tobacco-Free Park Policy Options in Your State
Tuesday, February 2, 4-5:15 PM
Presenter: John-Michael Gonzales, Florida Department of Health, Tobacco Free Florida
Description: Tobacco-free park policies can be a terrific introductory policy initiative to engage local decision makers, familiarize them with your coalition and establish a pattern of collaboration. However, the options available to you for this initiative (and many other health policy initiatives) depend greatly on how empowered your city or county is to enact ordinances. We’ll discuss how Home Rule, Dillon’s Rule and preemption in your state influence your tobacco-free park policy options. 

Banning Menthol and Other Flavored Tobacco: Now is the Time!
Wednesday, February 3, 10-11:15 AM
Presenter: Michael Scott, The Center for Black Health & Equity
Description: This session will give a brief overview of how Big Tobacco continues to target menthol/flavored tobacco to African American and other minority populations. Points of discussion will include current efforts supporting menthol bans and how to counter arguments against menthol/flavor bans. Participants will be given an introduction to how they can initiate/support menthol flavor bans in their communities. 

Equitable Policymaking in Commercial Tobacco Control
Wednesday, February 3, 4-5:15 PM
Presenters: Derek Carr and Jessica Breslin, ChangeLab Solutions
Description: No person–regardless of their race, ethnicity, who they are or where they live–should be exposed to experiences that are known to be harmful. Yet factors such as targeted marketing and variations in policy protections increase many underserved communities’ exposure to tobacco. Inequitable policies and social, structural and environmental factors such as income inequality and poverty, structural discrimination and racism, intergenerational trauma, toxic stress, housing instability and lack of access to quality education further increase susceptibility to tobacco use. To address these inequities, stakeholders must prioritize the integration and advancement of health equity in all aspects of commercial tobacco control policymaking. Considering equity at each step in the process can help ensure that any policy change is grounded in a deep understanding of the health priorities, goals and experiences of communities.

Tackling Tobacco Trash: How do we Address Tobacco Product Pollution?
Thursday, February 4, 2:30-3:45 PM
Presenter: Kyra Hill, Public Health Law Center
Description: This session will provide an overview of the commercial tobacco product pollution problem and discuss potential policy tools to address it. It will cover some of the upstream aspects of tobacco production and address the toxic and hazardous nature of both combustible and e-cigarette tobacco product waste. The presenter will provide an overview of policy solutions potentially available to address the negative impacts of tobacco product waste. Finally, the presentation will address the role that tobacco control policies can have in reducing tobacco product waste, with a particular focus on K-12 policies.

Other Sessions we Recommend:

Sustaining Coalition Membership in Rural America
Tuesday, February 2, 10-11:15 AM
Presenters: Sarah Paige Tuttle and Christina Perkins, Hope’s Hands Inc. (Owen County Drug Prevention Coalition)
Description: Do you ever feel like you have the same few coalition members doing the majority of the work? You’re not alone. Many coalitions struggle with engaging and sustaining their members. We have found that sustaining our coalition’s membership relies solely on consistent communication and authentic engagement. In this session, we will discuss how communication enhances community buy-in of a coalition’s mission while engagement allows members to feel valued. 

Black Leaders Matter: Racism, Black Grief and Politics Around Coalition Leaders
Tuesday, February 2, 11:30 AM-12:45 PM
Presenter: Terrance Taylor, New Movement Church
Description: Any coalition that strives to build a drug-free community is fueled by a passion to make their community better. However, there are barriers that can be created unconsciously by having limited understanding, preconceived ideas and well-meaning but inaccurate perceptions about an urban community. Having the wrong people in your coalition can create an unnecessary barrier when it comes to accomplishing your mission. The COVID-19 pandemic has uncovered unresolved issues that have make it difficult for BIPOC coalition leaders to lead their coalitions, due to lack of cultural understanding and weak inclusion policies.

Don’t Be Koi: How to Communicate Data Effectively
Tuesday, February 2, 11:30 AM-12:45 PM
Presenters: Karolina Deuth and Katrina McCarthy, CADCA
Description: Did you know that the average attention span for human adults is now shorter than the average attention span for goldfish? This session will help participants improve their ability to design data communication products that catch and keep their (human) audience’s attention. Participants will learn how to select data based on audience, medium and call to action, how to use design principles in displaying data and how to evaluate the effectiveness of their data communications.

CDC: Trends in Youth Substance Use and Useful Tools and Resources for School and Community Settings
Wednesday, February 3, 11:30 AM-12:45 PM
Presenters: Christopher M. Jones and Karen Voetsch, National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
Description: Adolescence is an important period of risk for substance use initiation and substance use-related adverse outcomes. Currently, substance use among high school students remains common despite some recent declines. Dr. Christopher M. Jones, Deputy Director of the National Center for Injury Prevention and Control, is joined with Karen Voetsch, Branch Chief for the Drug-Free Communities Branch, to discuss trends in youth substance use and provide CDC’s tools and resources for youth substance use in school and community settings.

Data Collection During a Pandemic
Wednesday, February 3, 4-5:15 PM
Presenters: Stephanie Strutner and Rick Collins
Description: Engage with professionals across the country in a facilitated idea-sharing session which will explore data collection needs, including those identified during a pandemic. Identify strategies to engage coalition members in virtual and individual data collection, discuss methods to collect data during a pandemic and explore reporting avenues effective in reaching a virtual audience.

Purposeful Engagement: Developing and Sustaining Partnerships With Communities of Faith
Wednesday, February 3, 4-5:15 PM
Presenters: Angela Da Re, CADCA and Mona Abdallah-Hijazi, ASAP Community Coalition
Description: Purposeful, thoughtful engagement with communities of faith can multiply prevention goals and assist in long-term, community-wide sustainability for prevention efforts and healthy, strong communities. Where robust partnerships exist with these influential allies, coalitions enjoy the support of interconnected community networks working together to advance prevention initiatives, increase sustainability and decrease stigma. Having shared goals, a common language and mutual respect and understanding are vital to creating strong partnerships. In this fun, lighthearted and interactive session, we will investigate ways of bridging prevention strategies with the often-elusive communities of faith, tapping into the natural interplay they share. Additionally, we’ll explore ways to institutionalize prevention strategies that can multiply our efforts and bring us closer to sustainability.

Success Stories—Youth and Tobacco Control
Thursday, February 4, 11:30 AM-12:45 PM
Presenters: Nigel Wrangham, Nigelstrategies and CADCA
Description: For many years, coalitions have searched for the most effective ways to engage young people in prevention. No effort has seen greater and more lasting success in creating authentic and meaningful roles for youth than tobacco control. Guided by established best practices from the Centers for Disease Control, anti-tobacco groups have engaged and utilized young people at every level of prevention campaigns, from research, to message development to delivering testimony to public officials. Come and learn how your coalition can adopt some of the best and most impactful strategies for involving youth in population-level change!

Successful Coalition Collaboration Before and During COVID-19
Thursday, February 4, 11:30 AM-12:45 PM
Presenters: Linda Heyward, Yonkers Community Action Program, Inc. (YCAP), Lisa Tomeny, Irvington Alliance For Safe Kids-Community Advisory Board (iASK-CAB), and Raymond Sanchez, Ossining Union Free School District
Description: Ten years of regional coalition collaboration resulted in idea sharing and some program sharing. The sudden challenges of youth vaping, COVID-19 and potential non-medical marijuana legalization provided new opportunities for collaboration between coalitions and new sectors and partners. This presentation will focus on how 20 coalitions from demographically diverse communities were able to increase youth involvement, parent involvement and collaboration with community groups such as the Lung Association, the Heart Association, local health departments and government, schools, mental and physical health care providers and other youth serving agencies. The results were decreases in 8th, 10th, and 12th grade rates of 30-day alcohol use, marijuana use and vaping. 

STRONG! Building Community Strength by Taking Care of Yourself
Thursday, February 4, 2:30-3:45 PM
Presenters: Angela Da Re, CADCA
Description: Health and wellness have long been the pillars of prevention within communities, families and individuals. More than ever, prevention practitioners are being called upon to help establish health and wellness patterns that can bolster and support long-term individual and community level strength. The challenges our communities faced this past year and continue to face have highlighted our need to work purposefully to be well through building resilience in ourselves, our coalitions and our communities. Building on SAMHSA’s Eight Dimensions of Wellness tools, we will explore ways to meaningfully engage in this sustaining work for ourselves, so we can better support our communities.

 

All Times Listed are Eastern Standard Time