2025 Minnesota Commercial Tobacco Prevention and Control Conference

April 7-8, 2025, at the Saint Paul RiverCentre

The Minnesota Commercial Tobacco Prevention and Control Conference is the state’s premier event for local commercial tobacco control and public health practitioners and partners to learn about the latest prevention and control strategies and hear from community leaders working to create a commercial tobacco-free future for Minnesota.

The following public health partners are encouraged to attend:

• Commercial tobacco prevention and control practitioners  
• State, local, and Tribal public health staff
• Partner organizations and grantees
• People who work on substance use prevention 

Conference objectives

By the end of the conference, participants will:

• Understand how past commercial tobacco efforts shape our future goals, while exploring new ideas.
• Feel inspired and connect with others working towards smoke-free communities.
• Discover successful strategies and promising practices, especially by communities most affected by commercial tobacco use.
• Recognize the unequal effects of commercial tobacco use on different groups and learn inclusive strategies to address these issues.

Featured speakers

This year’s conference will bring together a dynamic lineup of national, state, and community leaders in commercial tobacco prevention and control. Speakers include:

• Commissioner of Health Dr. Brooke Cunningham
• Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison
• Carol McGruder, founding member and co-chair of the African American Tobacco Control Leadership Council (AATCLC)
• Gillian Schauer, PhD, MPH, Executive Director, Cannabis Regulators Association
• Panel featuring Joelle Lester, JD, Executive Director, Public Health Law Center; Ruth Malone, RN, PhD, Mary Harms Endowed Chair, Department of Social and Behavioral Sciences, School of Nursing, University of California San Francisco; and Carol McGruder, AATCLC
• Panel "Keeping it Sacred: The Journey of Traditional Tobacco Reclamation in Minnesota Tribal Nations" featuring Tribal Tobacco partners Gary Charwood (Leech Lake Band of Ojibwe), Mat Pendelton (Lower Sioux Indian Community), and Gina Boudreau (White Earth Nation) 

Breakout sessions 

Attendees will have the opportunity to engage in thought-provoking breakout sessions on key issues, including:

• Tobacco Retail Licensing
• Smoke-Free Housing
• Engaging Youth in Local Policy, Systems and Environmental Change
• School Policy Change
• Helping People Who Use Commercial Tobacco Quit

Materials

• Agenda (PDF)
• Session Descriptions (PDF)