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TECHNICAL ASSISTANCE

Minnesota Technical Assistance

ANSR provides technical assistance (TA) to grantees in Minnesota working on projects through the Minnesota Department of Health's Commercial Tobacco-Free Communities, Statewide Health Improvement Partnership and Youth E-Cigarette Prevention and Cessation Initiative grants.

Benton County

ANSR provides TA and training to grantees for commercial tobacco-specific policy areas and general skills development through various methods, including:

  • individual consultation via in-person, phone, email or video conversations;

  • group trainings via conference calls, webinars, lunch-and-learns, presentations or workshops; and

  • providing materials and other resources for commercial tobacco-specific areas, general policy development or skills development.

Grantees Served

  • Statewide Health Improvement Partnership (SHIP)

  • Commercial Tobacco-Free Communities (CTFC)

  • Youth E-Cigarette Prevention and Cessation Initiative (YEPCI)

Strategy Expertise

  • Commercial tobacco- and smoke-free policies

  • Tobacco control

  • Smoke-free housing

  • Tobacco-free campuses

  • Point-of-sale/retail environment

  • Smoke-free foster care and/or child care

  • Tobacco-free or smoke-free outdoor spaces (parks and recreation, transit stops, healthcare sites, etc.)

Population-Specific Expertise

  • Urban, suburban and rural populations

  • Black, African American, Hispanic/Latino, Asian and Native American populations

  • 2SLGBTQ+ populations

  • Youth and young adults

  • Adults over 60

  • Persons with mental illness and/or experiencing substance misuse

Foundational Skill Expertise

Community Engagement

  • Advocacy/community mobilization

  • Coalition building and sustaining

  • Partnership/leadership development

  • Identifying and developing key relationships

  • Asset and power mapping

  • Leading and facilitating effective meetings

  • Building teams

Assessment, Planning & Evaluation

  • Assessment or survey development

  • Strategic planning

  • Evaluation planning

  • Evaluation tool development

  • Continuous program improvement (quality improvement)

Understanding of Policy, Systems & Environmental Change (PSE)

  • General PSE knowledge and skills

  • Policy development and analysis

  • Policy implementation guidance

Communications

  • Communications tools and planning

  • Earned and paid media campaigns

  • Factsheet/material development

  • Branding

  • Effective messaging

  • Identifying and using success stories

Meet the TA Team

Jeanne Weigum

President

Contact Jeanne for:

  • Questions about state-level tobacco control work

  • General policy strategy assistance

  • Inquiries about the history of tobacco control

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Emily Anderson

Director of Policy

Contact Emily for:

  • Assistance with outdoor air policy work (parks, grounds, campuses, etc.)

  • Information about menthol tobacco

  • Point-of-sale policy development and implementation

  • Community outreach and coalition building tips

  • Preparation for meetings and public hearings with decision makers

  • Community assessment

  • Youth engagement tools

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Kara Skahen

Program Director, Minnesota Prevention Resource Center

Contact Kara for:

  • Technical assistance to property owners, property managers, and public health professionals

  • Smoke-free housing community assessments and data tracking

  • Policy implementation in affordable, market rate, and common interest communities

  • Housing industry outreach and engagement

  • Resident outreach and engagement

  • Creation and utilization of educational materials

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Molly Schmidtke

Policy and Technical Assistance Manager

Contact Molly for:

  • Point-of-sale policy advocacy assistance

  • Community outreach and coalition building help

  • Youth engagement and advocacy best practices

  • Resource development

  • Information about the environmental impacts of
    commercial tobacco

  • Planning for meetings with decision makers

  • Community assessments

  • Public hearing organization

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Katie Engman

Program Director, Policy & Compliance

Contact Katie for:

  • Commercial tobacco-free policy adoption and implementation at schools

  • Help reaching out to decision makers and organizing public hearings

  • Point-of-sale policy advocacy

  • Community outreach, youth engagement and coalition building best practices

  • Development of new resources

  • Planning for meetings with decision makers

  • Community assessments

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Alex Eberhart

Community Outreach Coordinator

Contact Alex for:

  • Smoke-free property signage

  • Resident outreach and engagement

  • Smoke-free housing resources

  • for property, managers, renters, and common interest communities

  • Social media content and best practices

Technical Assistance Resources Available

These are examples of available resources for grantees. Click to view and download.

Factsheets

Sign Order Forms

National Technical Assistance

ANSR’s boots-on-the-ground experience and commitment to best practices prepares us to assist tobacco programs at all levels of need and expertise. ANSR will help you accomplish your goals whether you’re taking your first steps toward educating your community about the harms of commercial tobacco, working on smoke-free multi-unit housing or developing cutting-edge point-of-sale policies. We tailor our approach to meet your needs and can customize a contract for you from our wide menu of services.

Contact us at ansrmn@ansrmn.org to learn more about our fee-for service model.

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Example of Past National TA Project:
Clean Air for All

ANSR was awarded a grant from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation in March 2018 to support public housing agencies (PHAs) nationwide with implementation of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Smoke-Free Public Housing Rule. With this grant, ANSR created Clean Air for All: The Smoke-Free Public Housing Project, a partnership between our Live Smoke Free program and the National Association of Housing and Redevelopment Officials (NAHRO). Clean Air for All provided resources, technical assistance and a variety of training opportunities to public health agencies and PHAs in all 50 states, with a focus on 13 Tobacco Nation states where smoking rates are high and there are fewer resources to support tobacco prevention. Clean Air for All created a Smoke-Free Public Housing Compliance and Enforcement Toolkit (pictured right) that was distributed to 436 stakeholders in 34 states. 

ANSR's Live Smoke Free team can work with you to build a smoke-free housing compliance and enforcement toolkit for your state or region. Visit the Live Smoke Free website to learn more.

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