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Maximizing Community-Driven Engagement and Cultural Wealth in Local Prevention Strategies
March 26 @ 10:00 am – 11:30 am
Overview
Community voice isn’t just a component of prevention, it’s the foundation. This session dives into how prevention professionals can center community-driven engagement and cultural wealth in environmental strategies to reduce substance use risk and increase protective factors. Drawing from the SAMHSA Center for Substance Abuse Prevention (CSAP) Strategies, we’ll explore ways to harness local assets, traditions, and lived experience to shape policies, practices, and environments that support the wellbeing of our communities and uplift our prevention efforts. Participants will collaborate on strategies to ensure all community voices are heard in prevention planning and to design efforts that reflect the strengths, wisdom, and realities of the communities they serve. Expect practical takeaways that strengthen local ownership, trust, and impact in prevention systems.
About the Presenters
Charlie Seltzer (he/him) was the Substance Use Disorder (SUD) prevention coordinator for the Mendocino County Public Health Department for 10 years. When he retired from full time work, he became a consultant for CARS. Now, he gets to consult with people all across the state, assisting them to design and implement strategic plans and build capacity for their local prevention work. He enjoys offering SUD prevention trainings to the field and has led numerous Prevention-101 trainings, trainings on environmental prevention, the Strategic Prevention Framework, social determinants of health, conducting focus groups, designing logic models, and Diversity/Equity/Inclusion/Belonging issues for LGBTQ+ individuals, the disabled and rural populations. When he’s not working in the SUD prevention field, Charlie enjoys playing the piano, gardening, reading, cooking, hiking the beautiful hills of Mendocino County, and being home with his husband and their cat.
Jason Strickler M.A. (he/him/el) is a Social Entrepreneur and Substance Use Prevention Coordinator from Sylmar, CA, in the San Fernando Valley. Dedicated to social change and youth empowerment, Strickler is the Chair of Rethinking Access to Marijuana (RAM) and a leader in the substance use prevention movement in Los Angeles County. He specializes in coalition coordination, fostering strategic relationships, and designing impactful programs for at-risk populations.
With over a decade of experience across diverse industries, he brings valuable insights into cultivating and sustaining healthy organizational cultures. Strickler earned a Master’s in Social Entrepreneurship and Change from Pepperdine Graduate School of Education and Psychology, where he distinguished himself as a top 3 finalist in the social enterprise fast pitch competition. He also holds a BA in Communication Studies with a minor in Journalism from California State University, Northridge.
In his personal time, Jason enjoys reading, exploring music, tending to plants, and caring for his two beloved cats, Sniffles and Gravy.
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