Tomas Barraza

(i) am a leader

Tomas has a passion for empowering adults to prevent negative youth behavior and inspiring youth to make positive life choices. His work as a Youth Development Coach for kids in foster care continued into his current position as a Prevention Specialist with notMYkid. In this role Tomas educates youth and adults from across the nation on life skills and prevention strategies to help kids reach their full potential. Since joining the notMYkid team in 2014 he has directly impacted communities through over 350 speaking engagements to an audience of over 50,000 at schools, organizations, conferences, corporations, and community groups. His experience with the Arizona Governor’s Youth Commission has inspired student leaders from counties across the state to proactively address challenges their peers are facing today. As the Chair of the Tempe Coalition to Reduce Underage Drinking and Substance Use, Tomas works with the committee to highlight awesome and fun alternatives so that youth have something better to do. In his spare time you can likely find Tomas hanging out with his family, on a hiking trail with friends, finding the best slice of pizza, or beatboxing till his face turns blue..