Accomplishments

Established a Steering Committee and held three face-to-face Steering Committee meetings. Created a Five-Year Strategic Plan that is being followed and monitored. Held regular conference calls between all committee members to guide the work of NLTCN.
Maintained and strengthened NLTCN by participating in national, state and local conferences aimed at raising awareness about the impact of tobacco-related issues in Latino communities, thereby increasing NLTCN membership to over 5,000 and assuring diversity and inclusion of Latino/a researchers, community leaders, state health officials and advocates in a variety of tobacco control initiatives.
Facilitated learning and information sharing among NLTCN members by producing newsletters and action alerts and disseminating them through our listserv; utilizing social media to help raise awareness about tobacco control and health equity issues of particular interest to Latinos; and creating and maintaining a National Directory containing over 500 names of advocates and a consultant database of 21 public health experts and advocates who work on tobacco control in Latino communities.
Conducted a survey of technical assistance and training needs of NLTCN members in 2009 and used the results of the survey as a basis for developing subsequent NLTCN work plans.
Since 2011, NLTCN has published the following five (5) “Emerging Promising Practices“:

Tobacco Control as a Catalyst for Policy Change: Data Collection Among LGBTT Communities in Puerto Rico PDF – English version
Mobilizing Faith Communities in Support of Tobacco Control Policies: Creation of the Hoosier Faith and Health Coalition PDF – English Version | Spanish Version
Smoke-Free Latino Soccer Leagues: Reaching Far Beyond the Target Audience & Creating Policy Change PDF – English Version | Spanish Version
Smoke-Free Latino Businesses in Indiana: From Outreach to Engagement in Policy Change PDF – English Version | Spanish Version
Achieving a Smoke-Free San Antonio: Engaging Latino Communities in Tobacco Control PDF – English Version | Spanish Version

Published fact sheets and reports in English and in Spanish in order to document the tobacco epidemic in Latino communities—including among women, youth and LGBT Latinos—and its impact on chronic diseases.
Produced and disseminated a bilingual (English-Spanish) “Train the Trainer Smoking Cessation Toolkit” tailored for health care providers and health educators who work with Latino populations.
Translated a manual on cessation in correctional populations into Spanish, the original English version of which was published by the Breakfree Alliance.
Established a close relationship with Puerto Rico’s Tobacco Free Coalition and published a “Success Story” highlighting “comprehensive” approaches to tobacco control in Puerto Rico, including measures such as raising the prices of tobacco products, passing effective clean indoor air laws, and working to counter tobacco industry marketing on the island.
Sponsored a survey among LGBT Latinos in Puerto Rico in order to fill gaps in data about this community and advocated for their inclusion in the Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System (BRFSS) and other data gathering surveys.
Provided technical assistance in support of the first Pro Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Transsexual (LGBTT) Health Summit of Puerto Rico in 2011. This summit led to the creation of a grassroots coalition that, among other achievements, has helped convince a major insurance company in Puerto Rico to change its policies to include coverage of LGBT partners. NLTCN also provided support for the Second Pro LGBTT Health Summit of Puerto Rico in 2012.
Promoted tobacco control issues by producing and disseminating press releases, holding press conferences and participating in interviews with TV, radio and print media when reports and/or achievements were attained.
Created a Resource Center at the Indiana Latino Institute, Inc. which contains over 500 documents on tobacco control and health disparities issues, including curricula, reports and brochures in English and in Spanish.
Supported the work of La Fe Policy Research and Education Center in Texas to help raise awareness about evidence-based approaches to reduce tobacco use, including measures such as clean indoor air ordinances and tobacco taxes. La Fe’s achievements have included organizing trainings in partnership with community-based organizations in San Antonio, Houston and Austin, as well as in the U.S.-Mexico border region, and mobilizing Latinos and other minorities to educate public officials about the dangers of secondhand smoke.
NLTCN has also worked to educate community members about comprehensive, evidence-based approaches to reduce tobacco use in: Indiana, Washington, Colorado, Minnesota, Arkansas, Oklahoma, Iowa, Illinois, Ohio, New York, California, Pennsylvania, Virginia, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.
Convened nationally recognized experts to provide information via webinars and other mediums about menthol cigarettes and their impact on populations experiencing tobacco-related disparities.
Collaborated with researchers to assess the impact of tobacco on the Latino population—including low and intermittent smokers and menthol users—and gaps in data and interventions, and to evaluate promising and best practices in tobacco control in Latino communities.
Supported the creation of the National Tobacco Prevention Network’s website, which houses the six National Networks for Tobacco Control and Prevention (“National Networks”) funded by the Centers for Disease Control’s (CDC) Office on Smoking and Health to serve priority populations.
In partnership with the other CDC National Networks, co-sponsored training programs and published and disseminated fact sheets and materials in order to educate multicultural and priority populations about the importance of evidence-based tobacco control interventions.
Collaborated with national partners, including the North American Quitline Consortium, to support the institutionalization of cessation in community health settings and to promote culturally and linguistically appropriate quitline services.
Received the 2012 National Award of Excellence in Sehttp://web.archive.org/web/20131228183314/http://www.naquitline.org/rvice by a Community Organization from the National Hispanic Science Network on Drug Abuse (NHSN). Founded in 2001 as an initiative of the National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA), NHSN is dedicated to improving the health equity of Hispanics by increasing the amount, quality, and dissemination of interdisciplinary translational research; and fostering the development and advancement of Hispanic scientists to promote future leaders. NLTCN was selected for this honor on the basis of its “significant efforts in promoting culturally relevant and evidence-based clinical services on Hispanic drug abuse.” Among other achievements, NHSN cited NLTCN’s track record of publishing and disseminating promising and best practices in tobacco control, organizing community trainings, and developing web-based tools and information services to help public health advocates do their work.