The Advocacy Institute is helping teens educate their peers about the tobacco industry

“Around the Corner” is a PhillyCAM show that offers local social impact leaders the opportunity to share what impact their work is having on the Philadelphia area. 

When you run a program centered on teens speaking for themselves, you better have a teen on hand to help explain it.

The Advocacy Institute is a program within health and wellness nonprofit Health Promotion Council that encourages young people to “make sustainable changes in their communities” through media and policy advocacy, said Program Coordinator Amanda Irizarry during her “Around the Corner” interview.

Accordingly, Irizarry brought along Jada Rasulallah, her mentee as well as an ambassador for The Advocacy Institute and a teaching assistant for the Real Talk Tobacco class series, where she educates 13- to 18-year-olds about the dangers of the tobacco industry.

“I see how the tobacco industry tries to target us,” Jada said. “They actually call us ‘replacement smokers‘ — that’s what they refer to the youth as — and I just want to help as many people as I can and to educate our communities about what the tobacco industry actually does.”

Jada is also on the steering committee for The Advocacy Institute’s second annual Rise Youth Summit, which will focus on sharing best practices for youth advocacy on Saturday, April 29, at WHYY Learn more below.

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PhillyCAM is Comcast channel 66/966 HD/967 and Verizon FIOS channel 29/30 in Philadelphia.