Marlboro college student joins
foundation’s speakers bureau
Rachi Govil, 19, recently was appointed to the speakers bureau of the American Legacy Foundation. As a speakers bureau member, she travels throughout the United States, motivating and preparing teenagers to take local action to prevent tobacco use.
The New Jersey Department of Health and Senior Services announced that Rachi Govil, 19, of Marlboro, a member of REBEL (Reaching Everyone By Exposing Lies), New Jersey’s youth anti-tobacco movement, recently joined the speakers bureau of the American Legacy Foundation (Legacy).
Legacy, a national independent public health foundation dedicated to reducing tobacco use, chose Govil as one of 14 college students from across the nation to travel throughout the United States motivating and preparing teens to take local action to prevent tobacco use, according to a press release.
Members of the speakers bureau undergo a training program that includes developing presentations for both teen and adult audiences about tobacco prevention and how to create effective partnerships. Govil will meet with participants of national, state and local tobacco control programs and local youth organizations.
"We appointed Rachi to our speakers bureau because we were impressed with her public speaking skills and her experience in tobacco control and prevention," said Shari Sitron, youth activism manager at the American Legacy Foundation. "Rachi is a great fit for Legacy’s speakers bureau because of her previous leadership experience with New Jersey’s REBEL program and her engaging personality."
"The speakers bureau offers me an amazing opportunity to address people across the United States about the harmful effects of tobacco," Govil said. "I got this opportunity because of my work with REBEL and REBEL’s Official College Staff (ROCS), here in New Jersey."
Govil is a sophomore at Rutgers Uni-versity. She is a REBEL graduate who was selected to join ROCS as a mentor and trainer for high school members of REBEL.
"High school students are bombarded with tobacco marketing and REBEL is a great way to help them make the choice not to smoke," Govil said.
The American Legacy Foundation, which is one of the many organizations to collaborate with the New Jersey Depart-ment of Health and Senior Services, is a national, independent public health foundation established by the 1998 tobacco settlement, according to the press release. It is dedicated to reducing tobacco use in the United States with major initiatives reaching youth, women and priority populations through grant awards, research initiatives, marketing campaigns, training programs and collaboration with national and local partners.
REBEL, the anti-tobacco movement by teens and for teens, is sponsored by the state Department of Health and Senior Services and funded from the increase in the New Jersey cigarette tax. According to the press release, the Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids recently hailed New Jersey as one of "the nation’s new leaders in tobacco prevention."
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has ranked New Jersey among the top 10 states committing substantial funding to tobacco control programs.