Advocating for a
Healthier California
The California Youth Advocacy Network (CYAN) advocates with and for youth and young adults to create equitable, sustainable change to advance overall community health.
The California Youth Advocacy Network (CYAN) advocates with and for youth and young adults to create equitable, sustainable change to advance overall community health.
Join passionate young leaders from across California for CYAN's Young Adult Tobacco Prevention Leadership (YATPL) Conference, a free two-day professional development experience designed for college students, interns, and student researchers ages 18–29. Connect with peers, learn from inspiring speakers, and build the skills to advance tobacco prevention policies in your campus and community. The conference takes place October 23–24, 2026, in Sacramento, with travel, lodging, breakfast, and lunch provided at no cost. The conference will have limited seating, and applicants will be accepted on a first-come, first-served basis. Applications are due Sunday, September 27, 2026.
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CYAN is pleased to announce the release of six new youth and young adult population-specific factsheets. Each factsheet features inclusive language and imagery, and provides information on the unique challenges, prevalence data, industry targeting, and best practices to offer support and cessation to young people within that community.
Two new materials for youth and young adult audiences were created on vaping devices and nicotine pouches. The materials provide corrective information in a myth/reality format and provide links to youth-specific cessation resources. The materials are available in factsheet, poster, and fact card formats.
Supporting youth and young adult engagement in public health advocacy initiatives. CYAN’s Youth and Young Adult Program supports the development of youth-adult partnerships and building the capacity of young people to to effectively advocate for positive social norm change in local communities.
Through training, education, and support, CYAN is partnering with student and public health advocates to eliminate tobacco and tobacco industry presence on California college and university campuses.
Youth and young adults are more likely to use new and emerging tobacco, nicotine, and cannabis products than any other age group population. In order to combat this reality, CYAN provides support and resources to organizations striving to prevent young people from substance use.
CYAN supports tobacco-free prevention and advocacy throughout the California. We provide resources such as program-specific educational materials, tools, and fact sheets as well as web-based trainings to increase knowledge and capacity of tobacco control advocates.
CYAN’s educational materials are designed for youth and young adults. The goal of these materials is to increase awareness of the realities of new and emerging tobacco products, prevent tobacco use, and encourage quit attempt among young people.
A variety of fact sheets, tools, and materials are available for youth, young adult, and tobacco control advocates working to limit tobacco in local communities. The resources range from informational fact sheets to tools to support community engagement and advocacy activities.
CYAN utilizes web-based technology to provide a range of training opportunities for individuals advocating for smoke/tobacco-free policies as well as those promoting quit attempts. Trainings are available for youth advocates, college students and staff, and military health professionals.