Native Health and Wellness at ETR: Empowering Youth through Advocacy, Leadership, and Community Impact
By ETR's Native Health and Wellness Team | April 22, 2025
At the heart of our work on the Native Health and Wellness Team at ETR is a commitment to empowering young people. We are invested in practicing youth-engagement models to develop advocacy skills and leadership opportunities to create lasting change in their schools and communities.
Our Native Health and Wellness team is helping youth develop the tools they need to lead with confidence and make a difference through engaging trainings, mentorship, and hands-on learning and work experiences.
Building Advocacy Through Action
In March, our team hosted Tribal Youth Quest, in Sacramento, California. The event was transformative! We welcomed more than 40 Native youth and their adult coordinators to learn about the power of policy making, and the importance of health advocacy, all while focusing on the unique experiences and traditions within Native communities related to tobacco use.
Tribal Youth Quest introduced participants to the legislative process and equipped them with the skills and experience to confidently engage with decision-makers. With inspiring presentations from California Native Vote Project staff, student advocates, and state assembly staff, youth saw firsthand that meaningful participation is not only possible but essential. The day’s activities reinforced that their voices matter and their representation can shape policies affecting their communities.
The next day, our team joined nearly 1,000 young advocates at Youth Quest, hosted by the California Youth Advocacy Network. Our Native youth kicked off the event with a powerful welcome, sharing personal reflections on strengthening their families and communities by rejecting commercial tobacco and other addictive substances. They then marched in solidarity from the conference center to the Capitol, where they met with elected officials, further honing their speaking and advocacy skills, and deepening their understanding of civic engagement.
Elevating Native Voices Through Media
Beyond policy advocacy, we are amplifying Native youth voices through media. We recently visited San Diego to film a media campaign featuring inspiring and successful California Native college students. These students have been actively involved in shaping the project—developing storylines, selecting locations, and guiding production.
Once completed, these films will be shared on social media, project websites, and in tribal health clinics across the state, providing positive representation and reinforcing the power of making healthy decisions. In the months to come, these videos will be added to ETR’s Tribal Community Coordinating Center website. You can follow along with all of TCCC’s work by signing up to receive their monthly newsletter here.
Creating Pathways for Future Leaders
Looking ahead, our team will expand opportunities for young people to gain hands-on experience, leadership roles, and political engagement. Our approach builds on the strengths that youth already possess, equipping them with work experience and exposure that will support their academic, personal, and professional success. By making space for youth within our projects and throughout the organization, we benefit from their expertise while building sustainable change that can have far greater reach.
We are excited to continue this journey of bringing in more youth leaders and elevating their voices to shape the future of our work.
The next generation is ready to lead, and we are here to support them every step of the way.
