Gustavo Torrez

Gustavo Torrez has been involved in the tobacco control movement for the past 19 years. Starting off as a youth advocate and continuing into his professional career. His innovative work with STAND (Sacramento Students Taking Action Against Nicotine Dependence) in Sacramento CA, has put him on the map for working with youth and adolescent issues in a variety of different arenas including: Hookah Tobacco, countering the tobacco industry’s targeting and marketing in bars and nightclubs, Youth and Young Adult Cessation programming on and off college campuses, Secondhand smoke Policy adoption, protecting people from the danger of secondhand smoke in multi-unit housing complexes, and for providing innovative events and activities.

In 2001, he worked with the CA Attorneys Generals office on an innovative project which created two TV public service announcements and a curriculum utilized in schools across CA focused on youth tobacco prevention. In 2004, he was selected to be a part of Legacy’s National Speakers Bureau, and then in 2006, he was part of Legacy’s inaugural Youth Activism Council. Committed to the cause and seeing high rates of tobacco use within his community, he moved from California to Boston in 2009 to manage the National LGBT Tobacco Control Network, one of CDC’s National Priority Population Networks. During his time with the Network he traveled the country working with national partners, state departments of health, and community based programs to advance LGBT health focuses initiatives. Gustavo is also one of the content contributors for the nationally-recognized publication “MPOWERED: Best and Promising Practices in LGBTQ Tobacco Prevention and Control.

Currently, Gustavo is the Director of Youth Advocacy for the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, where he oversees the development and implementation of innovative youth-focused programs including Taking Down Tobacco, a new online training program changing the way we engage and train youth to #BeTheFirst tobacco-free generation.