YOUTH ADVOCATES OF THE YEAR AWARDS 2025
May 8, 2025 | 6:00pm
National Portrait Gallery & Smithsonian American Art Museum, Washington, D.C.
Join us for an evening of community as we honor the accomplishments of outstanding young leaders and public health champions from the United States and around the world.
2025 Awards
Champion Award
The Champion Award recognizes leaders who have made a significant contribution to reducing tobacco use and to improving health and saving lives in the United States and around the world.
The Navajo Nation Air is Life Health Coalition
Represented by Dr. Patricia Nez Henderson
Dr. Patricia Nez Henderson
We are thrilled to present this year’s Champion Award to the Navajo Nation Air is Life Health Coalition for its outstanding leadership in advocating for two landmark policies to reduce use of commercial tobacco products and protect the health of the Navajo people. The coalition will be represented by Dr. Patricia Nez Henderson, a coalition co-founder and enrolled member of the Navajo Nation, Vice President of the Black Hills Center for American Indian Health, and a nationally recognized scientific expert on the impact of commercial tobacco products on American Indian Tribes and communities.
After 13 years of education and advocacy efforts by the Air is Life Coalition, Navajo Nation leaders in 2021 enacted the Niłch'í Éí Bee Ííńá – Air is Life Act, which prohibits the use of all commercial tobacco products in workplaces and public places in the Navajo Nation. Then, in November 2024, Navajo Nation leaders enacted a comprehensive tobacco tax policy developed by the Air is Life Coalition, which increased the cigarette tax by $1.50 per pack and imposed a tax on e-cigarettes and other commercial nicotine products. The new revenue helps fund the Office of Traditional Cultural and Spiritual Healing within the Navajo Department of Health and provides grants to Navajo traditional healer organizations that are instrumental in teaching Navajo youth about the differences between ceremonial and commercial tobacco.
These historic actions are a testament to the leadership and perseverance of the Air is Life Coalition. They will protect the health of the Navajo people for generations to come, while helping to reclaim ceremonial tobacco from the exploitative practices of the commercial tobacco industry. The Navajo Nation is the largest Indigenous territory and federally recognized Tribe in the U.S., encompassing over 17 million acres and over 400,000 enrolled tribal members.
Dr. Nez Henderson was the first Indigenous woman to graduate from the Yale School of Medicine. She has been a member of multiple federal tobacco-related committees, including the inaugural FDA Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee, which recommended the elimination of menthol cigarettes. She also served as the first Indigenous president of the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco.
Global Health Advocacy Changemaker
Our Global Health Advocacy Incubator supports civil society organizations and advocates working to address critical public health challenges across the globe. The Global Health Advocacy Changemaker Award honors a public health leader from a low- or middle-income country who is advancing public health policies that save lives, reduce disease and prevent injuries.
Ademuyiwa Bamidele Damilola
Nigeria
Ademuyiwa Bamidele Damilola is the Director of Programs at the Legislative Initiative for Sustainable Development (LISDEL), a leading civil society organization in Nigeria that works to cultivate political commitments and actions toward achieving development goals. Damilola has spent his career focused on strengthening Nigeria’s health systems and enhancing the country’s ability to prepare for and respond effectively to health crises. He has led advocacy efforts for life-saving policies and increased funding and worked to fill critical gaps in Nigeria’s public health landscape at all levels.
Damilola played pivotal roles in advocating for the Public Health Emergency Bill, landmark legislation that has significantly impacted Nigeria’s health security architecture. With support from GHAI, Damilola helped secure increased funding for Nigeria’s Centre for Disease Control (NCDC) and other key government bodies. These investments have strengthened the NCDC’s capacity to prevent and respond to disease outbreaks, ultimately protecting lives and building resilience within Nigeria’s health system.
One of Damilola’s most notable achievements is his work on the Health Security Financing Accountability Framework, a tool developed to ensure efficiency, transparency and accountability in Nigeria’s health security spending. He redesigned the framework and developed an interactive dashboard for tracking not only budget allocations but also actual expenditures. This tool is being taken over and adopted by the Nigerian government as the official instrument for monitoring the National Action Plan for Health Security (NAPHS) financing, aligning with International Health Regulations (IHR) requirements.
Damilola’s dedication to public health stems from witnessing firsthand the struggles communities face during health crises, which continues to fuel his relentless drive for policies that can achieve lasting change. His work is transforming Nigeria's health security landscape and helping ensure that Nigerians have access to quality healthcare. Through his efforts, the country is better equipped to handle future public health challenges.
Barrie Fiske National Youth Advocate of the Year
The Barrie Fiske National Youth Advocate of the Year Award is presented to one exceptional youth advocate in the U.S. who has worked to reduce tobacco use in their state and community. The award pays tribute to the extraordinary life and work of the late Barrie Fiske, a tireless tobacco control champion and longtime member of our Board who used her strong voice to fight for change.
Group Youth Advocates of the Year
The Group Youth Advocates of the Year Award recognizes a leading U.S.-based youth coalition working to protect their peers and community from tobacco. This group demonstrates the collective power of youth working together to drive meaningful change.
Global Young Ambassador of the Year
The Global Young Ambassador of the Year Award honors a young adult from our Global Young Ambassador Network who has demonstrated excellence in tobacco prevention in areas such as policy change, peer mobilization and media advocacy.
Judy Wilkenfeld Award for International Tobacco Control Excellence
The Judy Wilkenfeld Award for International Tobacco Control Excellence recognizes an advocate from a low- or middle-income country who has worked to significantly reduce tobacco use through policy advocacy. It is given in honor of the late Judy Wilkenfeld, an inspiring advocate and early leader of our international work whose expertise and devotion forever changed the world of tobacco control.
About Us
Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids
The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids is the leading advocacy organization working to reduce tobacco use and its deadly consequences in the United States and around the world. Through strategic communications and policy advocacy campaigns, we promote the adoption of proven solutions that are most effective at reducing tobacco use and save the most lives. Through our youth initiatives, we foster young leaders who are striving to make the next generation tobacco-free. Our vision is a future free from the death and disease caused by tobacco.
Global Health Advocacy Incubator
The Global Health Advocacy Incubator (GHAI), an initiative of the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, supports civil society organizations and advocacy movements to pass public health policies that save lives, reduce death and disease, prevent injuries, increase investments in public health and create a healthier and more equitable future for all. GHAI brings a proven advocacy approach and provides strategic support to advocates working across diverse geographies and political systems to enact and implement policies on a wide range of public health issues, including food and nutrition, health systems strengthening and injury prevention.
Photography and filming will be taking place during the event. Your entry into the event constitutes agreement to being photographed and/or filmed for use on our website and social media channels. Press may be in attendance as well.