Empowering Our Leaders, Protecting Our Youth
Community Guardians is an initiative funded through a National Council on Problem Gambling (NCPG) Agility Grant that focuses on reducing gambling-related harm by strengthening the role of community leaders. The project is grounded in the belief that community-driven solutions are among the most effective ways to create lasting change.
By building skills, knowledge, and capacity within local organizations, Community Guardians empowers leaders to recognize risks, support prevention efforts, and help protect youth from emerging gambling harms.
As the current phase of the project wraps up at the end of March, we are proud of the progress made in strengthening community-based prevention efforts and supporting leaders who are working to create healthier, more informed communities.
When communities have the tools and knowledge they need, they become powerful drivers of positive change.
Project Goals
Community Guardians was designed to strengthen local prevention efforts by:
- Increasing awareness of emerging gambling risks among youth
- Equipping community leaders with practical prevention tools
- Supporting conversations about financial literacy and responsible decision-making
- Expanding the network of organizations engaged in youth-focused prevention
- Building sustainable community capacity to address gambling-related harm
What We Did
Through this project, OCPG worked with community partners to develop and deliver programming that supports youth and the adults who guide them.
Activities included:
- Community presentations and workshops
- Educational sessions focused on financial literacy and decision-making
- Outreach through youth leadership and community programs
- Development of prevention-focused educational materials
- Building partnerships with local organizations that work directly with young people
Community Impact
The Community Guardians project strengthened the role of trusted community leaders in prevention efforts. By providing tools, training, and resources, the project helped organizations integrate conversations about gambling risk and financial decision-making into existing youth programming.
These efforts help create environments where young people can develop healthy attitudes about money, risk, and decision-making before harmful patterns emerge.
Featured Event
iLead Youth Leadership Summit – March 7
OCPG Executive Director Glenn Yamagata will present “Building Your Financial Future: Investing Basics for Teens.”
This session helps young people develop foundational financial knowledge while exploring how risk, reward, and decision-making shape financial choices.
Bring Community Guardians to Your Community
Community leaders play an important role in helping young people develop healthy relationships with money, risk, and decision-making. Through the Community Guardians initiative, OCPG developed resources to support these conversations, including financial literacy presentation slides, youth discussion guides, prevention resources for community leaders, and educational materials on gambling-related harm.
If your organization would like to host a presentation, access these materials, or explore collaboration opportunities, please reach out to us. Together, we can help communities support informed decision-making and protect youth from emerging gambling harms.