The State of New Hampshire’s prevention system relies heavily on YRBS data to understand the prevalence of risk factors, protective factors, and health behaviors among high school-aged youth. The October 2026 Prevention Community of Practice (CoP) will be the first in...
The Prevention CoP meets quarterly on the first Monday of the month from 1:30 PM to 3:00 PM. If a date isn’t listed, please check back soon for updates.
Featured Content
YRBS in Action Campaign
Discover the impact of the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) through a series of short videos featuring students, parents, educators, and community leaders from across New Hampshire. Designed to promote awareness and encourage meaningful use of YRBS data, this project highlights how the survey can reveal critical insights into the challenges youth face today. From firsthand student stories to stakeholder perspectives, these authentic voices bring the power of the YRBS to life.
This in-person, hands-on Prevention Community of Practice was designed to give preventionists across New Hampshire the opportunity to apply best practice social marketing concepts to develop unified local and statewide prevention campaigns.
This event included an optional Canva 101 session that NHTAC recorded for participants looking to enhance their in-house marketing capabilities.
SESSION OBJECTIVES
Understand the importance of developing a unified message for National Prevention Week
Contribute to the development of statewide prevention themes for prevention messaging
Draft a marketing product (social media posts, letter to the editor, flyer, etc.) to use during National Prevention Week
Receive feedback on the draft products created during the session
Amy Snyder Brand Consultant & Graphic Designer Purpose Studio
Amy is a designer with 25 years of experience creating impactful visual communications for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to government and nonprofit organizations. She has led the design of successful campaigns and initiatives that bring ideas to life and connect with audiences in meaningful ways.
Her work spans visual identity, campaign graphics, event design, and data visualization—turning complex information into clear, engaging visuals that people can quickly understand. She’s also highly skilled in tools like Canva, creating polished, on-brand materials while helping teams produce their own high-quality graphics with confidence.
As the lead designer on many of Growth Partners’ key initiatives, Amy is known for delivering thoughtful, effective design that is both visually compelling and results-driven.
Prerecorded CoP webinars, resources and additional tools
Webinars 2026
All Together: A Unified Prevention Messaging Campaign for National Prevention Week April 24, 2026
This in-person, hands-on Prevention Community of Practice was designed to give preventionists across New Hampshire the opportunity to apply best practice social marketing concepts to develop unified local and statewide prevention campaigns. During the training, the class developed themes to be used for statewide prevention messaging during National Prevention Week, May 10–16.
This event included an optional Canva 101 session for participants looking to enhance their in-house marketing capabilities.
Session Objectives:
Understand the importance of developing a unified message for National Prevention Week
Contribute to the development of statewide prevention themes for prevention messaging
Draft a marketing product, such as a social media post, letter to the editor, or flyer, to use during National Prevention Week
Receive feedback on the draft products created during the session
Amy Snyder Brand Consultant & Graphic Designer Purpose Studio
Amy is a designer with 25 years of experience creating impactful visual communications for clients ranging from Fortune 500 companies to government and nonprofit organizations. She has led the design of successful campaigns and initiatives that bring ideas to life and connect with audiences in meaningful ways.
Her work spans visual identity, campaign graphics, event design, and data visualization, turning complex information into clear, engaging visuals that people can quickly understand. She’s also highly skilled in tools like Canva, creating polished, on-brand materials while helping teams produce their own high-quality graphics with confidence.
As the lead designer on many of Growth Partners’ key initiatives, Amy is known for delivering thoughtful, effective design that is both visually compelling and results-driven.
Sharing Your Story for Change: Advocacy for Preventionists January 26, 2022
Stories move people — and policy. In this second session of the Prevention Messaging series, the Prevention Community of Practice explores how storytelling can be a powerful, ethical tool for advocacy while staying within clear legal boundaries. Led by Kate Frey, Vice President of Advocacy at New Futures, and Peter Ntourntourekas, this training walks prevention professionals through the difference between advocacy and lobbying and shows how personal, values-based stories can influence decision-makers and communities alike.
Session Objectives:
Understand the distinction between advocacy and lobbying
Select and refine a story you can effectively tell
Identify where and how to share your story to influence change
Kate Frey serves as Vice President of Advocacy at New Futures, where she leads public health and substance use prevention policy efforts, focusing on the regulation of addictive products and evidence-based prevention strategies.
Peter Ntourntourekas, Training Manager at New Futures, works to engage, mobilize, and train individuals and organizations committed to a healthier New Hampshire.
In Social Marketing Made Easy, Elizabeth Duffy, a Certified Health Education Specialist with the New Hampshire Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Services, shares practical strategies for designing prevention campaigns using clear messaging, community values, lived experience, and free tools like Canva and stock image libraries.
SESSION OBJECTIVES
How to create a message that lands for your target audience
The important considerations for creating a social marketing campaign
How to get your message across when you don’t know where to start
Elizabeth Duffy (she/they) is a Certified Health Education Specialist with a focus in Substance Misuse and Overdose Prevention. Elizabeth has done work through social norming campaigns, focus groups, statewide social media campaigns, blog posts, community event planning, and digital storytelling. They began their career in 2016 doing underage drinking and underage marijuana prevention in Central Massachusetts. Since then, she has worked as a Continuum of Care Facilitator for South Central Public Health Network and held multiple roles in the State of New Hampshire centered around contract management, social media, health marketing, and disease prevention.
In-Person Prevention CoP: Building Connections: A Resource Fair for Prevention Partners
On June 30th, Kandyce Mohan, BDAS Prevention Services Administrator, led a networking event for professionals working in SUD prevention, treatment, and recovery; mental health; juvenile justice; harm reduction; homelessness prevention; and more.
SESSION OBJECTIVES
Amplifying and understanding the potential benefits of collaboration
Kandyce Mohan has over a decade of experience in substance misuse prevention and has dedicated her career to strengthening the continuum of care in New Hampshire. As the Prevention Administrator for the Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Services, she works at the state level to enhance processes and support prevention professionals in their critical work.
Kandyce’s passion lies in connecting individuals and organizations across prevention, treatment, and recovery. She has worked extensively with communities, schools, and higher education institutions, fostering collaboration to build a more effective and integrated system. Her deep expertise in community-level prevention and her strategic approach at the state level have been instrumental in advancing initiatives aimed at reducing substance misuse and supporting those affected.
Through her leadership and commitment, Kandyce continues to drive meaningful progress, ensuring that prevention efforts in New Hampshire evolve to meet the needs of individuals, families, and communities.
Youth Voices in SUD, Mental Health, and Dating Violence
April 14, 2025
SESSION OBJECTIVES
Understand what youth are seeing that we would miss without their voices
Learn how to make youth aware of resources and connect them to resources
Elevate youth voices through the Youth Risk Behavior Survey (YRBS) to provide data-driven prevention programming
Emily Provencher is the Prevention Specialist at the New Hampshire Coalition Against Domestic and Sexual Violence. She has been with the Coalition since 2021 and leads statewide prevention initiatives, helping implement strategies at the member program level and strengthening evaluation infrastructure.
Previously, Emily served as an AmeriCorps VISTA member, developing a virtual tutoring and mentorship collaborative for K–12 students in Manchester during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Elizabeth Brochu, M.Ed., A.C.P.S., is the Getting to ‘Y’ NH Project Director and Substance Misuse Prevention Coordinator at Communities for Alcohol- and Drug-Free Youth (CADY), a nonprofit serving 18 rural towns in Central New Hampshire. CADY leads award-winning programs, court diversion, and media campaigns that build resilience.
Getting to ‘Y’ is a youth-led initiative empowering young people to lead positive change in their schools and communities. Through training, civic engagement, and education, GTY helps youth take action on the issues they care about and collaborate with caring adults to shape healthier futures.
Webinars 2024
Substance Misuse, Mental Health and Dating Violence September 16, 2024
Description:
Participants will:
Explore trends in 2023 YRBS data.
Examine how 2023 YRBS data showed a decline in substance misuse while highlighting a concerning rise in other issues, such as dating violence and mental health outcomes.
Gain an understanding of shared risk and protective factors.
Biographies:
Marissa Carlson, MS, CPS, is the Executive Director of the NH Teen Institute (TI), a leadership development nonprofit working with middle & high school students from around NH & New England in a variety of areas including substance misuse prevention, peer mentoring, and creating positive school & community climate.
As part of her role at TI, she oversees and facilitates training for youth participants, youth & adult volunteer program staff, and outside behavioral health and education professionals. She is a trainer for multiple workshops developed through SAMHSA systems and is a member of the advisory council of the New England Prevention Technology Transfer Center (PTTC).
In addition, she is the President of the Prevention Certification Board of NH, serves on the IC&RC board of directors, and serves as the chairperson of the IC&RC Credentialing Committee. Outside of her prevention work, Marissa is a founding member of Mill City Productions, a theatre company in Western Massachusetts. She graduated from Pomona College with a BA in Psychology, received an MS in Nonprofit Management from Bay Path University, and has been a Certified Prevention Specialist since 2011.
Laurie Barger Sutter has three decades of experience developing sustainable public and behavioral health systems that can solve complex social and public he alth issues and enhance the well-being of people. She’s conducted hundreds of webinars, workshops, and training events for state and federal agencies, including the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA), the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the U.S Department of Education, and the American Public Health Association.
Her strategic planning and health system assessment, planning, and evaluation tools and processes have been used to strengthen organizational and health outcomes in all 50 states and 10 federal jurisdictions.
As the CEO of Growth Partners, Laurie oversees TA to multiple states and communities in addition to administering the New Hampshire Technical Assistance Center for the Bureau of Drug and Alcohol Services. Prior to founding Growth Partners, Laurie directed the State TA Contract for SAMHSA’s Center for Substance Abuse Prevention, where she oversaw prevention system assessments and TA for all 50 states and 10 federal jurisdictions.
Laurie also has experience in state government, having served as a state Prevention Director and National Prevention Network (NPN) representative. She has extensive experience working with community, state, tribal, territorial, and federal agencies and organizations and was named an Advocate of the Year by the Community Anti-Drug Coalitions of America (CADCA) for her work in helping secure passage of the federal Sober Truth on Underage Drinking (STOP) Act.
September 9, 2024 Presented by Erica Gilbert, CRSW-S, Navigating Recovery of the Lakes Region and Heidi Cloutier, University of New Hampshire. **Meeting objectives:** 1. Increase understanding of National Recovery Month. 2. Demonstrate how prevention can best work in tandem with the recovery community. 3. Learn how to provide resources and tools related to prevention and recovery. 4. Gain tools for engagement and collaborate with your recovery community.
Webinar: Supportive Supervision Across the Continuum of Care September 11, 2023 The September Prevention CoP focused on the importance of supervision for prevention workers. Burnout, secondary trauma, and high turnover are all issues that affect the SUD prevention workforce.
– How can supportive supervision re-energize prevention professionals in their work? – How does supervision need to be adapted for different settings? – What challenges and successes have you seen in the supervisor role?
Presenters included: Marissa Carlson, M.S., Executive Director of the NH Teen Institute Corey Gately, MLADC,Director of Substance Use Services at Concord Hospital; Director of The Doorway and The Recovery Clinic Angela T. Jones, M.S.,LCMHC, MLADC, LCS, author of best-selling NOT Too Tired to Care Webinar Recording
Webinar: Celebrating Pride – Mental Health and Allyship June 12, 2023 To celebrate Pride Month, the June Prevention CoP explores ways to support the mental health of LGBTQ+ people, including being an ally. A presenter from New Futures discusses the legislative landscape in NH and how to advocate for the LGBTQ+ community. Maura McGowan, Program Director of NH Teen Institute, discusses respectful language and allyship. Jace Troie from NAMI-NH provides a young adult perspective and talks about NAMI mental health programming. A presenter from Bridges discusses intimate partner violence and resources for prevention professionals.
Webinar: Approaches to Addressing Unsheltered Populations in New Hampshire April 10, 2023 This CoP addressed four different but complementary approaches to addressing youth and adults who are homeless.
Presenters: Taysa Lynch, Youth Program Manager, Turning Point Recovery Center of Springfield, Vermont Sarah Jones, Program Manager- Runaway & Homeless Youth Services, Waypoint NH Tori Bird, Outreach Social Worker/Outreach Specialist-Street Outreach Program, Waypoint NH Matt Bouchie, Homeless Outreach Coordinator, The Mental Health Center of Greater Manchester Dr. Daisy Pierce, Founding member and Executive Director of Navigating Recovery of the Lakes Region.
Webinar: Part Two Data Driven Strategic Planning: Agile Tools for Enhancing Community Outcomes January 9, 2023 This CoP topic was selected by popular demand! Participants learned how to use agile tools and processes for developing strategic plans that are sure to improve community outcomes. Participants worked in teams and used a case study on youth vaping to construct an outcome-focused plan while avoiding the two most common pitfalls of planning: falling into the “Lack Trap” and “Jumping to Strategies.”
Webinar: Data Driven Strategic Planning: Agile Tools for Enhancing Community Outcomes October 17, 2022 This CoP topic was selected by popular demand! Participants learned how to use agile tools and processes for developing strategic plans that are sure to improve community outcomes. Participants worked in teams and used a case study on youth vaping to construct an outcome-focused plan while avoiding the two most common pitfalls of planning: falling into the “Lack Trap” and “Jumping to Strategies.”
Webinar: Where’s the Data: A Demonstration of the NH DHHS Data Portal June 14, 2022
Knowing how to access reliable data in a timely manner is critical for successful grant writing and community health improvement planning. In this CoP, participants learned how to navigate the DHHS Data Portal (formerly WISDOM) including accessing key data and generating reports.
Webinar: Looking to the Future – Creating a Vision for Substance Misuse Prevention in New Hampshire April 11, 2022 This CoP increased knowledge of best practices; built collegiality and professional mentoring; improved communication between systems of care; and promoted recovery -and resiliency-oriented principles and practices.
Webinar: Recovering Together Café – An Interactive Conversation to Promote Well-Being February 7, 2022 The last two years have taken a toll on everyone – causing all of us to be in recovery from something. This CoP meeting, facilitated by NH Greater Tilton Area Family Resource Center, engaged participants in self-reflection, peer-to-peer learning, and meaningful transformative conversation. Evidence suggests that self-reflection improves our ability to understand specific issues that can generate new insights and enhance workplace practice.
Recovering Together Cafes not only support someone who is in recovery but those who are family members, loved ones and allies of recovery. They focus on the domains of vitality which anyone can apply to themselves and their wellbeing. Participants also explored next steps in hosting their own café.
Webinar: Using the Science of Hope to Mobilize Communities October 25, 2021 Dr. Alison Roy, Psy.D., explored how social neuroscience and the science of hope can be used to sustain the resilience of a community. Building and sustaining resilience is critical to help manage and mitigate the effects of chronic stress and social determinants of health. Participants applied this science to their own role and organization to better understand how they can create a community of care that focuses on prevention and early identification of needs and services.
Webinar: Syndemics and Substance Misuse Prevention – Part 3 August 16, 2021
This interactive webinar engaged participants in “hands on” discussions using YRBS data and syndemic thinking to identify 1) who can impact the different factors that tie clustering conditions together; and 2) how to coordinate efforts across sectors to improve health outcomes.
Webinar: Syndemics and Substance Misuse Prevention – Part 2 June 21, 2021
This webinar focused on how syndemic science applies to substance misuse prevention, and the specific steps practitioners and communities can take to use this approach to solve complex local health problems. The CoP used a real life example of clustering problems recently discovered in one New Hampshire county to engage participants in hands-on exploration of possible causes and potential solutions.
Webinar: Syndemics and Population Health – Part 1 April 19, 2021
In the 1990s, medical anthropologist Merrill Singer recorded a phenomenon he called the SAVA (substance abuse, violence and AIDS) syndemic, writing the issues are “not concurrent in that they are not completely separable phenomena. Rather, they emerge in the lives of participants in our study as closely intertwined threads, in the often tattered fabric of their daily lives.: Since then, syndemics science and research has underscored the importance of addressing complex public health problems through the context of other diseases and the social and economic inequities that fuel them.
Dr. Emily Mendenhall, PhD, MPH has authored several books and dozens of articles exploring the boundaries of anthropology, psychology, medicine, and public health. In 2017, she led a series of articles on syndemics in The Lancet that focused on how concurrent epidemics cluster, interact, and result from politics, climate, and society. That same year, she was awarded the George Foster Award for Practicing Medical Anthropology by the Society for Medical Anthropology.
Presentation & Discussion: How Prevention Professionals Can Engage in Data-Driven, Public Health Approach to Motivate Action in Local Communities – March 11, 2020
Presentation & Discussion: Using a Data-Driven Approach to Empower Individuals and Communities: Strategies for Prevention Professionals– January 8, 2020
Presentation & Discussion: The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on Substance Use Disorder – Implications for Prevention, Part 2 – November 6, 2019
Overview of Key Points – (Julie Yerkes, NH Teen Institute)
ACEs, Impact of Addiction and Community-Based Supports for Youth (Monica Gallant, Boys & Girls Club of Souhegan Valley)
Adverse Childhood Experiences Response Team (Erin Pettengill, Lakes Region Community Services; Kerri Lowe, Family Resource Center of Central NH; Eric Adams, Laconia Police Department; Mckenzie Harrington-Bacote, Laconia School District)
Presentation & Discussion: The Impact of Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) on Substance Use Disorder: Implications for Prevention, Part 1 – September 11, 2019
