Scaling New Heights

Capstoning nine fast-paced months of immersive leadership development, 65 participants from 15 low- and middle-income countries successfully completed the 2024 edition of Ascend: Leadership Development for the Future of Tobacco Control, in December.

Cohort members attended regular online meetings featuring guest speakers or discussions focused on key leadership principles, completed offline assignments including IGTC’s online course covering tobacco control fundamentals, and participated in six mentoring sessions to deepen their professional ties within the global tobacco control network.

In addition, 63 participants attended a week-long workshop held in Manila, Philippines, providing opportunities for personal engagement with national and international colleagues, fostering leadership skills, and deepening their understanding of how to effectively advance tobacco control measures and objectives. 22 served in paid internship positions, providing additional professional tobacco control experience in real-world settings.

Overall program feedback was overwhelmingly positive, with the majority of participants indicating they found the program to be exceedingly relevant, highly participatory, and instilled leadership strategies that will enable them to better advocate for and promote effective tobacco control in their community.

During the coming year, quarterly check-ins will occur with the Ascend 2024 cohort to monitor their trajectory and maintain engagement. Meanwhile, the Ascend 2025 call for applications netted 224 submissions for review.