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Three Highlights from the 2023 Champions for Youth Summit

This spring, youth advocates from across the country joined VFHY in Northern Virginia for the inaugural Champions for Youth Summit. The 2023 Summit was VFHY’s first in-person event since the pandemic and the first to combine each pillar of our mission: youth tobacco use prevention, substance use prevention, and childhood obesity prevention.

Here are the top three highlights of the 2023 Summit we’re still talking about:

1. Engaging and enlightening roundtable discussions. The 2023 Summit’s new approach led to a more diverse slate of topics than ever before. Attendees had abundant opportunities to go deep into learning more about topics in their own field, or to learn something completely new.

In addition to a packed schedule of talks and workshops, attendees could further engage with their learning through the roundtable discussions on day two. The roundtables Summit gave attendees a chance to connect and exchange ideas with other professionals – both peers in their industry and from other fields.

2. Tony Hillery’s energizing keynote speech. The 2023 Summit drew nearly 500 attendees and speakers, hailing from every corner of the country and representing dozens of different areas of expertise. They worked in education and healthcare, research and community services; they were passionate about food access and tobacco use prevention, harm reduction and youth empowerment.

One standout speech was Harlem Grown founder Tony Hillery’s keynote address on the final day of the Summit. The energy in the room was palpable as Tony Hillery told the story of how he built Harlem Grown from the ground up during a period of personal adversity and transformed it into a robust organization with profound impact. As the Summit’s penultimate session, it was a perfect way to wrap up the experience.

3. Inspiring testimonials from young leaders. Numerous youth leaders were given a platform to share their stories at the 2023 Summit – and they stole the show!

The Summit kicked off with the “Champions in Action” keynote address, featuring three internationally-recognized young changemakers: Agamroop Kaur, a youth health and tobacco control advocate; Jaylen Arnold, who created the anti-bullying organization Jaylen’s Challenge; and “Little Miss Flint” Amariyanna Copeny, an activist raising awareness of the Flint, Michigan water crisis.

Young leaders continued to share their expertise throughout the Summit, such as during the “Youth Leadership and Engagement Models” session. This session offered suggestions and strategies for mobilizing youth as active advocates for programs and policies benefiting the health of their community. Many of the approaches discussed were tested and perfected by Y Street, VFHY’s award-winning volunteer initiative for high school students.