Legacy® Names Diane Canova as Vice President of Government Affairs

WASHINGTON, Oct. 24, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Diane Canova has been chosen to lead the Government Affairs team at Legacy®, the nation's largest public health organization dedicated to preventing teens from smoking and providing resources to smokers who want to quit.  

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Canova joins Legacy from Partnership for Prevention, where she led a comprehensive array of prevention-focused initiatives, including tobacco control and cessation, workplace health, and obesity prevention. She previously served as the Vice President of Advocacy for the American Heart Association (AHA), for seven years, where she directed the organization's public policy office and implemented many successful legislative and regulatory campaigns including the "You're the Cure" volunteer network, which under her direction increased participation from 12,000 to 50,000 members.

"The knowledge and experience in government and non-profit work that Diane brings to Legacy will be a tremendous asset," said Cheryl G. Healton, DrPH, President and CEO of Legacy. "We are excited to welcome her to our team.  Diane will play a key role in continuing Legacy's commitment to reaching youth and adults with effective campaigns and programs to reduce the deadly toll of tobacco. She shares our goal of helping all Americans live longer, healthier lives."

As Vice President of Government Affairs, Canova will build on the organization's prior work to educate key public policy makers on Legacy's successful efforts to reduce tobacco use and save lives. While Legacy does not lobby, the organization otherwise actively advocates for and educates about the critical need for youth smoking prevention and adult cessation. Canova will participate in the development of strategic partnerships with organizations who share the foundation's mission and work to secure support for and advance Legacy's goals.

"I am excited to join Legacy, an organization for which I have respect," said Diane. "It is an honor to become part of a dedicated team that works to ensure that teens don't ever have to start smoking and that people who want to quit have the support they need."

Canova received her Juris Doctor from the Brandeis School of Law at the University of Louisville and Bachelor of Science in Education from Kent State University.

Legacy® is dedicated to building a world where young people reject tobacco and anyone can quit. Located in Washington, D.C., the national public health organization helps Americans live longer, healthier lives. Legacy develops programs that address the health effects of tobacco use, especially among vulnerable populations disproportionately affected by the toll of tobacco, through grants, technical assistance and training, partnerships, youth activism, and counter-marketing and grassroots marketing campaigns. The foundation's programs include truth^®, a national youth smoking prevention campaign that has been cited as having contributed to significant declines in youth smoking; EX^®, an innovative public health program designed to speak to smokers in their own language and change the way they approach quitting; and research initiatives exploring the causes, consequences and approaches to reducing tobacco use. Legacy was created as a result of the November 1998 Master Settlement Agreement (MSA) reached between attorneys general from 46 states, five U.S. territories and the tobacco industry. Visit http://www.legacyforhealth.org/.

SOURCE Legacy