Steven J. Gallegos, Principal Consultant

Utilizes extensive background in community leadership and government relations to provide expertise in the identification, management, and advocacy of public health policy initiatives at the federal, state, and local government level.

Coordinates strategic planning, communications, organization and implementation of effective project development and management for progressive policies and programs that deliver national, state, and regional impact.

Steven J. Gallegos is Community Advocate for Glendale Adventist Medical Center working to stop tobacco product access to kids in the City of Glendale. He has been working in the contentious world of tobacco control for over 10 years and has many achievements and awards for groundbreaking progress in this field of public health. His work with government bodies including elected and government officials at the federal, state, and local levels while working in a leadership capacity with local, regional, state and national coalitions led to historic advances and benchmarks in progressive public health policy.

His leadership, first as the Director of Public Advocacy for the American Heart Association and later as the Principal Consultant for Public Health Policy Advocates, led to public health successes that include the establishment and enforcement of smoke-free workplaces including bars and restaurants in Los Angeles, the appropriation of Master Settlement money for tobacco control and cessation programs in the City of Los Angeles and counties of Los Angeles and Ventura, smoke-free parks and beaches, the removal of all retail tobacco products from floor displays in stores, and the removal of tobacco product advertising on billboards throughout Los Angeles.

Steven has presented at regional and state tobacco control conferences and strategic planning meetings across the United States including sessions at national health and tobacco control conferences on how to successfully organize communities and coalitions to advocate for progressive public health and tobacco control policy. He was invited to present those strategies at the CDC’s Leadership Forum as well as to members of the Swedish Ministry of Health, the Health Minister of Ireland, and representatives of the Chinese Department of Health, Welfare, and Food from Hong Kong.

For many years he was a Stakeholder on the CDC’s National Network for Tobacco Prevention and Poverty, as well as being an Executive Committee member of the California Hispanic / Latino Tobacco Education Network. He was a Strategic Partner on the CDC’s Entertainment Initiative to Reduce Smoking in Movies Project and chaired various Los Angeles area tobacco control advocacy coalitions and public health task forces for over 6 years.

Steven is a Leadership Fellow of the Advocacy Institute in Washington, D.C. and a graduate of the University of New Mexico in Business and Government Relations. His career work has centered on advocating for progressive public health policies and programs as well as intimate knowledge of the various dynamic working relationships that exist between the private and the public sectors.

He is a member of the Northeast San Fernando Valley Chamber of Commerce Board of Directors and chairs the Government Relations Committee and the Farmer’s Market Committee. He was recently asked to be a member of the newly-formed Strategic Task Force that was successful in splitting up the Los Angeles County Department of Health Services to form a separate Department of Public Health.

Steven is a fine wine connoisseur and collector, he enjoys haute cuisine, is a classically trained tenor and currently performs with the world-renowned St. Charles Borromeo Choir in North Hollywood.