The World Vapers’ Alliance amplifies the voice of passionate vapers around the world and empowers them to make a difference for their communities. Our alliance includes groups representing vapers – our partners – as well as individual vapers from around the world.
Governments worldwide are increasingly restricting vaping, through measures like making them more expensive and banning flavours. Despite an ever-growing amount of independent international evidence proving that vaping is much, much less harmful than smoking, lawmakers continue these crackdowns.
The World Vapers’ Alliance was established to defend vaping by providing a unified platform that makes vapers’ voices heard by those in the corridors of power.
For too long, policy decisions about vaping have been made in a vacuum. Vaping has already changed the lives of millions of smokers for the better and can change countless more if regulators listen to those who have had their lives improved by vaping.
The World Vapers' Alliance has three major objectives:
The World Vapers’ Alliance (WVA) Advisory Board is our forum of advocates and experts supporting the work and development of the Alliance. Through their work and expertise, the Advisory Board members strengthen and amplify the voices of vapers’ worldwide and ensure the message of the World Vapers’ Alliance is heard around the world.
Vaping communities from around the world have joined the WVA. Together, we make an impact by participating in public consultations, creating content, running campaigns and ensuring that vapers around the world have their voices represented.
The World Vapers’ Alliance is now an independent 501(c)(3) organization, having first been launched and now funded in part by the consumer advocacy group, Consumer Choice Center. We welcome funding and donations from partners and individual donors. We are proud to have full independence in our work. We are committed to only representing the interests of consumers, empowering them to make informed decisions about their own health and advocating for consumer access to low-risk nicotine products such as vaping.
Michael Landl is the Director of the World Vapers’ Alliance. He is an experienced policy professional and passionate vaper.
Michael studied at the University of St. Gallen International Affairs and worked for several public policy outlets and as well in the German Parliament.
Liza focuses on overseeing WVA’s projects and partner relations. She has years of experience managing various activist groups and working with grassroots movements.
She holds an MA in Philosophy, Politics, and Economics (PPE) at the CEVRO Institute. Liza is passionate about vaping as a life-saving innovation and is a vaper herself.
Alberto is the Policy Manager of the World Vapers’ Alliance. He is from Spain, currently based in Madrid. He graduated in Economics from University Carlos III of Madrid and has worked for various non-profit organizations and think-tanks in the past years. He is an experienced activist and is passionate about tobacco harm reduction.
Mariam Gogolishvili is campaign manager at the World Vapers’ Alliance. She is an experienced grassroots campaigner, having worked with several NGOs, activist groups, and civil movements across Europe. As a former smoker and current vaper, Mariam has always been passionate about harm reduction policies and regulatory trends in healthcare systems. She was an organizer of #DoNotArrest movement which has been launched against repressive drug policy and catalyzed decriminalization of cannabis in Georgia.
Lika Janelidze is a program manager at the World Vapers’ Alliance.
Based in Tbilisi, Georgia, Lika studied Business Administration at the Agricultural University of Georgia and has experience in various non-profit organisations as well as businesses. Lika has also led activist groups across Europe and is passionate about harm reduction policies.
Julia Kril is a communications manager at World Vapers’ Alliance. She specialises in public relations and strategic communications and has previously worked with several grassroots organisations and businesses. Julia is passionate about harm reduction policies and civil rights activism. She is currently based in Milan, Italy, where she is pursuing a master’s degree in political science.
Bernhard Mayer is a professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at the University of Graz in Austria. Moreover, he is Corresponding Member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences.
After his dissertation and habilitation at the University of Graz he became head of Pharmacology and Toxicology of the Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2004 and still occupies this role. His main field of research is molecular pharmacology of the cardiovascular system with a focus on NO / cGMP, organic nitrates and lipid metabolism.
He is a notable figure in the field of e-cigarettes and is also considered a mediator between policy makers and vapers. Recently he published “Die E-Zigarette. Fakten & Mythen (The e-cigarette. Fact and myths) (Delta X Verlag, 2020)” where he brings together the most recent research on vaping and its harm reduction potential.
Kurt Yeo is the co-founder of VSML (Vaping Saved My Life). Kurt left a 16-year career in information systems to start a business in the then-fledgling vape industry.
With growing negative reporting on electronic cigarettes, VSML was formed in 2017 as a testimonial portal for ex-smokers now vapers to share their stories on how vaping had changed their life.
In 2019, Kurt decided to leave the commercial aspects of vaping and dedicate his time to educating, promoting, and addressing misinformation around electronic nicotine delivery products.
With the loss of both his Mother and Father due to smoking-related diseases, Kurt lives by the motto, “The most important Vaper is the smoker that hasn’t switched.”
Joseph is the chairman of the Campaign for Safer Alternatives, a pan-African organisation that advocates adopting tobacco harm reduction policies in Africa. Joseph also has extensive experience working in tobacco control, creating smoke-free environments.
Currently, he champions substituting conventional cigarettes with reduced-risk products for smokers to reduce smoking-related diseases and mortality in Africa.
Carmine Canino has been the President of ANPVU (National Association of Italian E-cig Consumers) since 2018.
Aside from his work advocating for vapers’ rights, since 1999 he has been working for a public-private joint-stock company, where he specialises in the management of purchases and tenders.
Andrew Urushadze is a former Minister of Labor, Health and Social Affairs of Georgia (2010-2012) and health and social policy expert with more than 25 years of experience in this field.
During the last eight years, he has been working with international and governmental institutions in more than ten countries, including Georgia, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, Moldova, Uzbekistan, Albania, and Tajikistan.
Andrew is a leading expert in the healthcare sector in emerging economies, with extensive in-country experience advising governments and multilateral organizations, in CIS countries Eastern Europe, Central Asia. Andrew worked at the forefront of implementing Georgian healthcare reforms in 2006-2012.
Brian Marlow is the Executive Director for the Australian Taxpayers’ Alliance, and the Director of Legalise Vaping Australia, where he heads the campaign to Legalise life-saving vaping technology in Australia. Brian has worked in grassroots campaigning since 2015 at both the state and federal level.
Brian has been interviewed by major national news sources in Australia including the SBS and ABC, as well as countless international newspapers, radio and television stations.
Hi, I am Allison Boughner. I work for Ecig Charleston as the Marketing and Communications Director and FDA liaison. I am the President of the South Carolina Vapor Association and the Communications Director for the United States Vaping Association.
My passion for advocacy stemmed from the misinformation coming from public health here in the US, I couldn’t believe this powerful technology that finally got me off cigarettes when all other options failed was being portrayed in such a negative way. We owe it to every single smoker to speak out against misinformation; they deserve accurate and positive information on the health benefits of e-cigarettes as a smoking cessation tool.
I am excited to be a part of the World Vapers Alliance and look forward to working with them to fight for the right to harm reduction.
I am a researcher and senior officer at Africa Initiative for Rural Development, an organization in Kenya that focuses on areas of research, policy and capacity building.
I work mainly with the marginalized communities and I seek to develop and promote the evidence base in tobacco harm reduction and vaping.
Aylen Van Isseldyk is the community manager of Asovape Argentina. She is a fashion designer and is currently specializing in Marketing and Advertising in Córdoba, Argentina. Although she has been working in Asovape Argentina for a little over a year, her passion for activism and tobacco harm reduction was born a long time ago, and she has been actively participating in different communities and pro-vaping groups, both local and international.
Aylen is always in constant search of the common welfare through public and socio-health policies, advocating for a sensible regulation of reduced risk products.
Dr. Bala Bhargav Parvatham is a distinguished health professional with a multifaceted career spanning dental health, public health, and health promotion.
Dr. Parvatham’s commitment to public health excellence is recognized through his fellowship with the Royal Society for Public Health and his association as a member of the Faculty of Public Health.
He expresses enthusiasm for his recent involvement with the World Vapers Alliance, where he anticipates making significant contributions to policy-making and advocacy efforts.