Youth Advisory Board at Youth Quest
About Youth Quest
What is Youth Quest? - Hosted by the California Youth Advocacy Network (CYAN), Youth Quest is a yearly event to “celebrate and promote youth advocacy in tobacco prevention” (CYAN).[1]
Who can participate? - Teens from different environmental and advocacy organizations all around California come to Sacramento for Youth Quest, accompanied by mentors. They represent various backgrounds and cultures with a common goal of preventing the harms of tobacco product use!
What occurs at the event? - There’s a conference about the theme for each year (2026’s theme was ‘No Friends in the Industry’), a march to the Capitol, a press conference on the Capitol steps, and finally, legislative visits.
What are the legislative visits? - We visit legislators and their staff at the Capitol building to inform them about how tobacco has affected teenagers. We’re careful not to lobby; instead, we only inform them about issues relating to tobacco and why they are important to us.
How does this relate to Breathe California Sacramento Region (SacBreathe)? - The Youth Advisory Board attends Youth Quest as a part of SacBreathe! We’ve had amazing times as you can see from the pictures.
YAB Member Experiences
(Nandika, Junior): Youth Quest 2026 truly reflected the resilience of youth voices, and the ability that combined strength possesses to question those in power. Participating in this summit for the second time, I was inspired to see that the event continued to host hundreds of youth! The opportunity to talk personally with legislators and legislative aids gave the youth, myself included, a sense of power that we could also contribute to improving legislation and protecting our communities.
(Olivia, Junior): Youth Quest was an amazing event! It was wonderful to see everyone come together from all across California for one purpose. Seeing everyone’s posters and creativity in expressing their opinion was inspiring. The legislative visits were very informative as well, and it felt important to be expressing our voices as youth about a topic we cared about.
(Alex, Senior): Youth Quest was such an empowering and inspirational event! It was so cool to see not only the perspective of youth from urban areas, but also rural communities within California. I feel as though I learned even more about how Big Tobacco has changed the way policy is made in California and how young people can stand up to the industry. Overall it was an amazing event!
Final Takeaways
Through interactive presentations and demonstrations, as well as organized materials, Youth Quest both educated and enabled the youth to take a stand against an industry built against them. The protest march to the Capitol was moving, captivating those in the city and delivering a clear message that the people weren’t just going to sit back and watch as tobacco use harmed their friends and families. Youth Quest was and continues to be an engaging opportunity for both youth activists and people who are curious about teenage tobacco use. It is important to come together in standing up against the exploits of Big Tobacco companies on vulnerable communities. Getting involved in this summit opens doors to future advocacy in a collaborative, enjoyable way!
Author: YAB Students: Alex M, Nandika T, Olivia T
