VOICE Indiana has announced its cohort of Statewide VOICE Youth Ambassadors for the 2022-2023 school year.
The statewide VOICE Youth Ambassador program consists of youth ages 13 to 18 who have demonstrated leadership in celebrating tobacco-free lifestyles and fighting for health equity in their communities as active VOICE Core Team Leaders. These Youth Ambassadors are chosen annually as representatives of their counties through a competitive application process. They receive training at the state level and participate in statewide activities throughout the year. They serve as brand ambassadors for the statewide program and inform and design statewide campaigns and initiatives within the VOICE Indiana brand.
Liu
Chintalacharuva
Congratulations go out to Hamilton County residents Suhita Chintalacharuva and Nicole Liu on being selected as two of the eight Youth Ambassadors.
These selected youth are equipped with the tools, confidence, and knowledge necessary to lead, innovate and implement a statewide movement for change. Through research, storytelling, and advocacy efforts, these eight VOICE Youth Ambassadors are executing virtual activities that engage youth online for National Days of Action that take place throughout the year. They design digital content for all the VOICE Indiana social media platforms and the official website voiceindiana.org and are instrumental in creating programs to build leadership skills.
The VOICE Youth Ambassador program’s values of Respect, Healthy Communication, Teamwork, Leadership, Diversity, Equity are explored, discussed and practiced through virtual webinars, trainings and professional development workshops. The VOICE Youth Ambassador Program was designed with the goal of cultivating a VOICE subculture that enables youth to lead and co-create safe spaces with Adult Allies where each are mutually learning, teaching, and empowering one another in the pursuit of health equity and social justice within the tobacco control movement.
Suhita Chintalacharuva is a senior at Hamilton Southeastern High School where she also plays tennis. She was new to the Hamilton County CORE team this year but made an impact by connecting with state legislators to arrange engagement opportunities for her peers. She spoke on Breathe Easy’s community conversation on e-cigarettes, “What’s All The Buzz About.” In her free time, she enjoys reading, playing the violin and watching movies. She plans to pursue law or business in college.
Nicole Liu is a senior at Noblesville High School. Her work has impacted her local community with tobacco pickups and a mural project that she presented to State Senator J.D. Ford to share community data on how tobacco has impacted Hamilton County, among others. She was influential at the state level developing programs to educate other community VOICE leaders. She loves reading, writing, and learning about world history and culture. She plans to focus her career on advocacy and helping others.
About VOICE
VOICE is Indiana’s statewide youth empowerment brand and program, whose initiative is to engage, educate, and empower teens to promote and celebrate tobacco-free lifestyles. With a mission to engage, educate, and empower young people as leaders and advocates in their communities through sustained youth-adult partnerships, positive youth development and public health advocacy training. VOICE Indiana has funded 24 counties and 2 Statewide Chapters (Indiana Black Expo & Indiana Latino Institute) and is represented by over 429 Core Team Leaders and Action Squad Members across the state.
About Breathe Easy Hamilton County
As an alliance working with local organizations and individuals within the Hamilton County community, Breathe Easy Hamilton County promotes tobacco-free living in order to reduce mortality and morbidity rates. Breathe Easy Hamilton County works to ensure that all workers in Hamilton County are protected from secondhand smoke exposure. The organization believes everyone deserves the right to breathe smoke-free air at work and in public places.