Key Points: 1. The Search Institute's Forty Developmental Assets for Healthy Youth Development recommends engaging youth in creating healthy communities. Empowering youth to become advocates for tobacco-free environments reinforces a tobacco-free norm, teaches youth to engage in civic discourse and public policy, and cultivates a new generation of tobacco control leaders.

2. Youth are excellent advocates for tobacco-free policies because they utilize public places like parks, beaches, and fairgrounds, and they patronize and work in establishments such as restaurants, bowling centers, zoos, and pool halls.

3. Minnesota youth have successfully advocated for tobacco-free parks, workplaces, bowling centers, zoos, and outdoor events in over 50 Minnesota communities. Youth have led many of these policy initiatives by meeting with individual policy makers, gathering community support, writing letters-to-the-editor, testifying at public meetings, and conducting policy implementation activities.

Learning Objectives: Using information from the session, handouts, and visual aids, the participants will be able to: understand what youth believe are the most effective methods for recruiting them to be involved in local tobacco policy avocacy; understand the benefits of involving youth in local tobacco policy advocacy campaigns; and identify four different policy advocacy activities youth in local communities can participate in.

Benefits: Understanding how to engage youth in tobacco policy advocacy strengthens current policy initiatives and builds youth capacity for future tobacco control initiatives. Attendees will receive a youth advocacy handbook, which is based on best practices and direct experience in Minnesota.