Announcing the new faces of change, our Young Futures Innovators
Hey YF community,
We’re back with a huge update, but calling it an update feels like an understatement. If you’ve been following us for a while, we’ve shared a lot of great updates, but most of them have been about getting Young Futures going. We’ve been in build mode. (Shout out to the YF #dreamteam). This one is different.
DUN, DUN, DUN!
WE’RE HAPPY TO ANNOUNCE OUR FIRST COHORT OF YOUNG FUTURES INNOVATORS!! We’re meeting a moment that can’t wait.
As you know, we launched our first funding challenge this spring: The Lonely Hearts Club. If you don’t know, TL;DR is that growing up in the digital world is often lonely, so we wondered what kind of orgs, people and visions could help teens feel like they’re connected (and matter!) to other humans, and how could we help them do it. That led us to our 10 grantees, who if we talked about here, could lead to a very, very long intro.
That’s why we have a blog post that goes into detail about what makes each of them so special. This week, we’ve kicked off the six-month Young Futures Academy, and we could not be more excited to convene our YF Innovators for a retreat in DC next week. There will be hugs, there will be conversations, there will be learning, and there will be southern humidity!
And to close on an extra joyful note…It’s June, which means Pride, which means HAPPY PRIDE! Whether you’re in the community or an ally, we hope you spend this month uplifting Queer voices and histories as we’ll be doing here at YF.
Warmly,
Your friends at Young Futures
Young Futures in the news
June 5, Announcing the new faces of change...Young Futures Innovators✨✨
June 5, Young Futures Announces Winners of The Lonely Hearts Club Funding Challenge (press release)
Young Futures Innovators in the news
February 6, The Mozilla Blog, YF Innovator Trisha Prabhu of ReThink dishes on technology’s evolution, AI and her early career success.
May 13, Education Next Podcast, YF Innovator Larissa May, of #HalfTheStory joins Paul E. Peterson to discuss how May’s organization is working to help teens change social media.
April 15, Wall Street Journal, YF Innovator Larissa May, of #HalfTheStory, The Woman Rallying Teens to Change Social Media
May 15, Rolling Out, YF Innovator Tony Weaver Jr. is teaching everyone to embrace being a weirdo in new book.
Spotlight on youth voices
In the latest discussion from the “Digital Natives Take the Mic Panel” at the Digital Parenthood Summit, teens took the hot seat and were asked what they wished parents would know. One thoughtful response from panelist, Kaitlyn Hsu of Bloom, shared "find the balance - you as parents - between showing your child that you trust them and they can come to you, while also setting these boundaries to keep them safe."
What we’re reading
May 21, Common Sense Media + HopeLab: A Double-Edged Sword: How Diverse Communities of Young People Think About the Multifaceted Relationship Between Social Media and Mental Health
May 29, Connected Learning Alliance: How to Foster Digital Wellbeing through Youth Leadership and Voice: Announcing the Release of the Connected Wellbeing Impact Studio Case Study Series
May 30, PR Newswire: Pinterest Launches Fund in Partnership with SHOWTIME/MTV Entertainment Studios to Elevate Cultural Healing Practices that Improve Young People's Mental Health
May 31, HopeLab: Teen and Young Adult Perspectives on Generative AI
Friends of YF
Nominations for the Young Innovators in Behavioral Health Award from our friends at the HopeLab are open through June 18. They’re seeking to spotlight young people ages 18-29 doing exciting work in the behavioral health space at the Behavioral Health Tech conference in Arizona in November.
Following the success of Hopelab's 2023 Health Equity Fellowship pilot, our friends at the HopeLab are excited to continue the program with a new Fellowship opportunity supporting HBCU researchers in translating their work into practice. The Fellowship gives researchers at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs) access to the resources and networks they need to translate adolescent development and well-being expertise to improve the quality and quantity of mental health and well-being solutions for Black young people.
Talking to teens
Does it ever feel like your teen opens up to you at the most inconvenient times? Why do teens do this? And how can we use this knowledge to support them? Check out these tips from @techwithoutstress
Upcoming events
June 11, 2024: The Coalition to End Social Isolation and Loneliness and Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine invite you to participate in their third annual Global Loneliness Awareness Summit in Washington, D.C. on June 11th. At this event, you will hear from thought leaders and policymakers and add your voice to the conversation through small group discussion and networking opportunities. Register here.
July 12-13, 2024: National Association of Media Literacy Educators (NAMLE) will host its professional development virtual conference dedicated to educators, practitioners, scholars, and concerned citizens. Register here.