About Us

The Public Health Advocacy Institute (PHAI), was started with the mission of protecting nonsmokers from tobacco smoke exposure. Founded under the name the Clean Indoor Air Educational Foundation in 1979–we have since expanded our focuses to include gun violence prevention, public health litigation tactics, tobacco policy development, predatory gambling, and addressing violence as a public health issue.

In 1992, we changed our name to the Tobacco Control Resource Center. This change was enacted to reflect our focus on tobacco litigation as a public health strategy. In the beginning of 2001–we began to expand our research and advocacy portfolio. It included legal approaches to prevent obesity, and focused on injury reduction.

By 2006, we had merged with our sibling organization, the Public Health Advocacy Institute. The name of their organization fit with our overall mission statement–so we adopted it and by 2014, PHAI had taken on our most ambitious advocacy project to date. We created the Center for Public Health Litigation. The Center is essentially a public interest non-profit law firm, and will tackle any public health-focused litigation, or, if necessary, help to defend public health measures.

Our focus since 1979 has been–and always will be–the overall well-being of the public. PHAI brings combined decades of experience in the public health and law field, and we will continue to utilize our experience and expertise to continue fighting to advance public health and social justic.