In August 2025, five CADCA staff members attended the National Conference on Tobacco or Health (NCTOH) in Chicago, Illinois. As one of the largest national gatherings for tobacco prevention professionals, the conference brought together leaders, practitioners, and advocates to share strategies and strengthen connections across the field.
Throughout the sessions, a common theme emerged: coalitions are the way forward. With ongoing threats to state and national tobacco program funding, speakers repeatedly emphasized the critical role of coalitions in sustaining prevention efforts. Building community capacity and strengthening coalitions were identified as key to doing the work to advance tobacco prevention and continuing to implement environmental strategies.
CADCA presented two posters at NCTOH. The first, presented by Andrew Romero, Director of Domestic Programs, was titled “Localize, Localize, Localize… the best tool we have for communicating with rural communities.” The poster shared ten principles for communicating about health in rural areas. These principles were developed by CADCA in partnership with the University of Florida’s Center for Public Interest Communications and shaped by research and refined through focus groups with rural coalitions. State-level attendees expressed enthusiasm about using them in their own work with communities they serve.
The second poster, presented by Kellen Schalter, Senior Manager of Domestic Programs, came from a final project through CDC’s Leadership and Sustainability School (LSS), which builds leadership in the tobacco prevention field. CADCA staff collaborated with other LSS participants to examine how states, national partners, and communities approach the endgame initiative. Their findings highlighted several themes: the importance of including community voices at every step, the need for flexibility in planning and funding, the role of local environmental strategies as a starting point for change, and the challenges posed by competing priorities, and industry influence.
CADCA also sponsored a booth at NCTOH, which quickly became a space for meaningful conversations and new connections with CADCA team members, Alex Simaitis, membership associate, and Doug Rice, Senior Manager, Customized Trainings and Business Development. Because the conference primarily draws public health professionals working at the state and national level, many attendees were learning about CADCA for the first time. With coalitions at the center of many conference sessions and conversations, they were excited to discover that coalition training and development are the heart of our work. Interest grew as CADCA staff shared details about our training opportunities, technical assistance, and signature events — the Fórum Nacional de Liderança e Instituto de treinamento de meio de ano. Many attendees have already followed up about membership, showing how these booth conversations are building lasting partnerships.
Attending NCTOH reinforced CADCA’s commitment to coalition-building and authentic community engagement. Our team left encouraged by the conversations, energized by new connections, and inspired to keep supporting coalitions as they lead the way in tobacco prevention.
