You’re invited to  the Young Futures Block Party

YF Advisory Board Member Lisa Damour, PhD is a leading voice in adolescent mental health, widely recognized for translating complex research into relatable, actionable guidance.

A three-time New York Times best-selling author of Untangled, Under Pressure, and The Emotional Lives of Teenagers, her work centers on helping adults better understand what preteens and teens are truly experiencing.

She also co-hosts the Ask Lisa Podcast, collaborates with UNICEF, and served as a consultant on Pixar’s Inside Out 2, bringing clinical, academic, and cultural perspectives to the forefront of youth wellbeing.

Kelsey Noonan leads a portfolio of philanthropic and venture investments in Adolescent Mental Health at Pivotal Ventures, a company founded by Melinda French Gates to advance social progress. Her work supports the social, emotional and mental wellbeing of adolescents, centered on BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth and their caregivers.

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She is particularly passionate about the impact of digital life on young people, and how to empower young people to prioritize their wellbeing amidst rapidly changing technologies. Kelsey's background is in behavior change programming, having previously worked in global health and community governance programs in conflict zones, including Syria, Iraq, South Sudan and Afghanistan.

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Despite the differences between country settings, Kelsey has always been galvanized by the way that young people shape norms and drive movements as they come into their own power as a generation.

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The Real Young Prodigies are an educationally-charged Hip Hop collective from Louisville, Kentucky. The group was founded by Kentucky's 2019 Elementary School Teacher of the Year. The Real Young Prodigies is an arts program under our grantee, HHN2L.

Maddie Freeman created nonprofit NoSo November in 2020 to encourage young people to avoid or reduce social media usage for one month each year, raising awareness about the platforms' harmful effects on youth and young adult mental health.

A Colorado resident, Freeman works year-round on NoSo and has reached about 28,000 students as participants in community detoxes or through workshops and speaking events at colleges or school districts around the country. Freeman is also piloting NoSo in an international school in Switzerland.

The Co-Founder and Executive Director of Next Gen Men. Next Gen Men is building a future where boys and men feel less pain and cause less harm.

Jake has scaled NGM from a grassroots idea to a national non-profit, speaking at the UN, and co-authoring “A Kids Book About Masculinity.”

He also steer the ship as publisher and editor-in-chief of Voice Male magazine, continuing its 40-year legacy in the pro-feminist men’s movement.

His work sits at the intersection of gender, equity, and social impact – with a healthy dose of curiosity, empathy, and the occasional dad joke

Trisha N. Prabhu is a graduate of Harvard University, where she concentrated in Government, on the Technology Science Track, with a secondary in Economics. She graduated summa cum laude and as a Phi Beta Kappa Scholar. Trisha is interested in the unforeseen consequences of technology on our society, and how to innovate towards a more kind, inclusive Internet.

She is the Founder and CEO of ReThink, a patented technology that proactively detects offensive digital content and gives users a chance to reconsider posting it.

For her work with ReThink, Trisha holds several US patents; she was also the 2019 winner of Harvard University's President's Innovation Challenge Grand Prize and the youngest honoree named to Forbes' 30 Under 30 2021 Social Impact list. Trisha has delivered numerous talks about ReThink on stages ranging from The White House to TED.

Outside of ReThink, Trisha has worked extensively at the intersection of government and technology, conducting research on innovative regulatory frameworks for online speech and supporting creation of kidney care technology solutions as an intern at the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. Trisha is deeply passionate about ending disparities within STEM fields, and has volunteered with Girls Who Code, the SoGal Foundation, and 501(c)(3) Commit2Change to diversify the tech world. At Oxford, Trisha will continue her studies at the intersection of technology and society.

Larissa May (Larz) is a global marketing guru and founder of #HalfTheStory, a non-profit dedicated to empowering the next generation's relationship with social media. In 2020, Larz was named one of Business Insider's Rising Stars in Brand Marketing for her role in launching multiple million dollar ventures (Otherland and Kin Euphorics). She also created a grassroots community that pioneered a nationwide conversation about the importance of digital wellbeing for youth. Her efforts in community building have led to the founding of the Global Day of Unplugging, an internationally recognized day to divest from technology and plug back into life.

During her senior year of college, amidst a dark battle with depression, Larz experienced a light bulb moment, realizing how social media was negatively impacting virtually all aspects of her life. With $250 from her college dorm room, she set out on a mission to help others create more meaningful connections through social storytelling— #HalfTheStory.The movement quickly garnered local attention, and within months, spread to other campuses in the region. Over the course of a year and a half, HTS grew into a globally recognized movement.

To date, #HalfTheStory has become a leading youth 501(c)3, receiving over 30,000 stories from 99 countries around the world. From political figures, to leaders in tech, Larissa’s work has permeated all facets of life and business and her voice continues to carry a new generation of digital activists.

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Arielle Geismar (she/her) is an organizer, advocate, creator, and strategist in human technology interaction. She has experience passing bills for young people on a state and federal level, advising nascent and foremost technology companies in ethics as well as the Biden-Harris Transition Team on mental health. She has led essential advocacy campaigns around responsible technology and mental health.

Her leadership has been recognized by the New York Times, Washington Post, CNN, MTV, New Yorker, and noted in Teen Vogue’s 21 Under 21 and Forbes 30 Under 30 lists. She has created content for Patagonia, Toms, Meta, and more around these issues. Arielle served as Student Body President of George Washington University before she graduated with her B.A. in International Affairs and International Science and Technology Policy. She is currently works as a technology ethicist.

A member of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation, Tesia Zientek is the AISES Managing Director of Programs.

Tesia graduated magna cum laude from the University of Notre Dame with a degree in English as a Gates Millennium Scholar. After graduating in 2009, Tesia spent two years teaching and managing an afterschool program in Puerto Rico before enrolling at Stanford University where she completed her MA in Education Policy in 2013.

Always wanting to pay forward what she learned as a scholar and teacher, Tesia is firmly committed to the advancement of Indigenous education and social justice. She is president of the National Indian Education Association, president of the Oklahoma Council for Indian Education, and a volunteer Board Member for the ACLU of Oklahoma and the Kwek Society.

Neha Shukla is an serial inventor, social entrepreneur, bestselling author, and AI ethicist passionate about developing technology to create positive change. She is the inventor of SixFeetApart, a wearable social-distancing device using ultrasonic technology to save lives amid the COVID-19 pandemic. She developed the PA Homeless Guide app to combat homelessness through policy change, interned with NASA to develop Earth-orbiting satellites to protect environmentally vulnerable regions, and developed an AI algorithm for disability inclusion with NVIDIA’s sponsorship. Neha Shukla is 21 years old and an AI ethicist, activist, and researcher fighting for a more responsible future of tech. She is the founder of Innovation For Everyone, a youth-led movement reaching over 70,000 students across 35 countries, mobilizing to bridge the AI ethics literacy gap and prioritize youth safety and wellbeing in the design and deployment of AI. Innovation For Everyone has partnered with the UN Foundation, New York Hall of Science, Algorithmic Justice League, and schools, museums, and community centers across the country. She served as the Chair of the World Economic Forum’s first-ever entirely youth-led AI advisory body, the Generation AI Youth Council, and advocated for ethical and child-safe AI systems alongside policymakers. She is the bestselling author of “Innovation for Everyone: Solving Real-World Problems with STEM” and “A Kids Book About AI” (Penguin Random House), equipping youth with practical tools for civic innovation. Her innovations and activism are recognized in the New York Times, Forbes, CNN, Harper’s Bazaar, Financial Times, ELLE, and commended by President Biden, Vice President Harris, and the Royal Family. She served as the Youth Advisor to the US Department of Education, advising a $5 million budget for the largest White House STEM engagement program. She is a student at Duke University, studying Computer Science and Sociology.

Girl Security’s mission is to empower girls and young women from underrepresented communities with the skills, experiences, networks, and support to pursue national security careers, which lead to job sustainability and greater societal impact.

Prior to founding Girl Security, Lauren served as a management consultant, providing strategic and analytical support to clients on local policy issues, including exclusionary land use policies and racial segregation in Chicago for over a decade. From 2002-2007, Lauren served as a national security policy analyst with a Chicago-based think tank, where she specialized in national security law.

In 2022, Lauren was named "One of the Most Influential People in Security" by Security Magazine. She was named "One of 50 Women Making the World a Better Place" by Instyle Magazine in 2021 and awarded the 21st Century Leader Award by the National Committee on American Foreign Policy. Lauren is a former Fellow with the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (2003), Truman National Security Project (2006), American Bar Association Standing Committee on Law and National Security (2012) and a former Emerging Leader with Chicago Council on Global Affairs (2017).