Co-founder & CEO
Samin Bhan
Lookupp
Joon Baek
Jennifer Siebel Newsom
Sarah Gardner
Co-founder & Executive Director
Mike Fauteux
GiveThx
Dr. Claudia-Santi Fernandes
Director, Division of Library Development
Dawn La Valle
Connecticut State Library
Chief Program Officer
Alise Dixon
Boys & Girls Club of Greater Detroit
Executive Director
Michelle Parker
KQED
School Partnership Coach
Brandon Wiley
Challenge Success
Lennon Torres
Andrew Brennen
Interim Superintendent
Pat Ross
Holmes Consolidated School District
Ava Smithing
Founder & Executive Director
Juliana Lozano
Despierta
Founder
Michelle Culver
The Rithm Project
Founder
Larissa "Larz" May
#HalfTheStory
Founder & President
Emily Bell McCormick
The Policy Project
Dan-Mircea Mirea
Executive Director
Luke Wall
Only7Seconds
Dr. Alfiee Breland-Noble
Co-Founder and Executive Director
Dr. Jennifer Chace
The Source School
Maddox Guerilla
Executive Director, Televisa Foundation
Alejandro Villanueva
Televisa Foundation Inc.
Founder & CEO
Maddie Freeman
NoSo Connection Collective
Oliver Huang
Director of Research, Translation, and Dissemination
Andrew Pool
Center for Parent and Teen Communication at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Beck Tench
Executive Director
Leah Clapman
PBS News Student Reporting Labs
Chief Operating Officer
Julie Chelovich Perconte
Urban Initiatives
Chief of Staff
Samantha Ng
Letters to Strangers
Chief Program Officer
Amanda Slavin
Learning Economy Foundation
Administration and Communications Specialist
Suzanne Kiss
Connecticut State Library
Alice Lassman
Lead Director of Learning
Andy Neilsen
Urban Initiatives
Katherine Myers
Davida Padi
Oleksandr Sharlai
Jay'Shun Matthews
Rameen Sajjad
Managing Director
Sam Lee
Screen Sanity
Director of Development
Abby Binder
Civics Unplugged
Director of Programs
Kimberly Tsai
Challenge Success
Founder and CEO
Lauren Buitta
Girl Security
Founder & Director
Regisha “Reggie” Rijkaard
Pause4Peace
Director of Strategic Partnerships and Community Outreach
Jacques Louis
Center for Parent and Teen Communication at Children's Hospital of Philadelphia
Founder
Tony Weaver
Weird Enough Productions
Head of Responsible AI and Digital Wellbeing Strategy
Mariel Emanuel
NoSo Connection Collective
Founder & CEO
Trisha Prabhu
ReThink Citizens
Executive Director
Diana Chao
Letters to Strangers
Executive Director
Carolyn Gan
California Partners Project
Senior Director of Implementation and Partnership
Marcus Bratton
Colorado Education Initiative
Co-Chair
Zamaan Qureshi
Design It For Us
Founder and Executive Director
Neha Shukla
Innovation For Everyone
Fund Development Director
Melissa Dunning
Code Girls United
Alexis Williams
Pratika Katiyar
AISES PK-12 Program Officer
Cheyenne Skye Branscum
Advancing Indigenous Science and Engineering Society (AISES)
Co-founder
Alex Owens
Be Loud Studios
Managing Director
Randy Depew
KQED
Managing Director of Programs
Tesia Zientek
Advancing Indigenous Science and Engineering Society (AISES)
CEO and Founder
Marianne Smith
Code Girls United
Co-founder & COO
Atiksh Bhan
Lookupp
Lead Digital Producer
Rawan Elbaba
PBS News Student Reporting Labs
Research Engineer
Dr. Kathryn Youngblood
Debris Tracker Junior (University of Georgia)
Policy Implementation & Grants Manager
Lindsay Butrum
The Policy Project
Chief Operations Officer
Kat Eves
Give Us The Floor
Margaret Garcia
Ariana Soto
Assistant Professor
Dr. Erin Truesdell
Skyscraper Games (Entrepreneurial Game Studio at Drexel University)
Chief Executive Officer
Alex LeeNatali
Health Connected
Founder & Executive Director
Valerie Grison-Alsop
Give Us The Floor
Chief of Research and Development
Emily Love
Colorado Education Initiative
CEO and Co-Founder
Tracy Foster
Screen Sanity
Founder & President
Lewis Bernstein
Sesame 3G
Co-founder
Anahita Dalmia
Agents of Influence
Founder & Executive Director
NyRee Clayton-Taylor
HipHop N2 Learning (HHN2L)
Ramiro Hernandez
Alyssa Goldberg
Alex Edgar
Nora Sun
Founder
Jennifer Chiou
CodeSpeak Labs
Founder & Executive Director
Beth Rosenberg
Tech Unlimited
CEO & Co-Founder
Josh Thompson
Civics Unplugged
Former Co-Chair
Arielle Geismar
Design It For Us
Co-founder
Diana Turner
Be Loud Studios
Program Manager
Samira Kamal
Cyber Collective
Program Lead
Amulya Panakam
Girl Security
Executive Director
Domenico "Dom" Ruggerio
We Are Family
Chief Executive Officer
Tazin Khan
Cyber Collective
Arielle Galinsky
Chief Learning Officer
Charlotte Dungan
Mark Cuban Foundation
Tara Mandrekar
Founder and CEO
Demetrius Lancaster
Joy Education
Anika Dugal
Co-founder & Executive Director
Jake Stika
Next Gen Men
Founding Director
Dr. Lynn E. Fiellin
play2PREVENT Lab
Product Lead
Darryl Hutchinson
Joy Education
Education Administrator
Daniel Merin
The School District of Philadelphia - Office of School Climate and Culture
Apuroopa Kavikondala

Meet the people making the digital world easier

to grow up

Meet our YF Innovators, nonprofit leaders, researchers, advocates, technologists, storytellers and creators shaping a healthier digital future for young people. The YF Innovator Directory brings together all of our YF Innovators, from challenge cohorts to YF Awardees, as we build toward 500 leaders by 2030.

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YF Innovators

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Explore the organizations funded through Young Futures challenges and the people, programs, and ideas behind their work.

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Meet our YF Innovators & grantee leaders across challenges, award categories, and fields of work.

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Jay'Shun Matthews

Jay'Shun Matthews

YF Awardee
2026
Category
Entrepeneurs
entrepeneurs
No items found.

Jennifer Chiou

Jennifer Chiou

Challenge
Here Comes The Fun (2025)
Organization
CodeSpeak Labs
play-games-and-creative-expression
social-connection-and-belonging
tech-and-digital-agency
california

Jennifer Siebel Newsom

Jennifer Siebel Newsom

YF Awardee
2026
Category
Adults Championing Youth and Their Families
adults-championing-youth-and-their-families
No items found.

Joon Baek

Joon Baek

YF Awardee
2026
Category
Activists
activists
No items found.

Josh Thompson

Josh Thompson

Challenge
Lonely Hearts Club (2024)
Organization
Civics Unplugged
youth-mental-health-and-wellbeing
social-connection-and-belonging
play-games-and-creative-expression
new-york

Juliana Lozano

Juliana Lozano

Challenge
Under Pressure (2025)
Organization
Despierta
youth-mental-health-and-wellbeing
gender-responsive-youth-support
social-connection-and-belonging
north-carolina

Julie Chelovich Perconte

Julie Chelovich Perconte

Challenge
Oops!... AI Did it Again (2026)
Organization
Urban Initiatives
ai
youth-mental-health-and-wellbeing
play-games-and-creative-expression
social-connection-and-belonging
illinois

Kat Eves

Kat Eves

Challenge
Under Pressure (2025)
Organization
Give Us The Floor
gender-responsive-youth-support
youth-mental-health-and-wellbeing
social-connection-and-belonging
new-mexico

Katherine Myers

Katherine Myers

YF Awardee
2026
Category
Adults Championing Youth and Their Families
adults-championing-youth-and-their-families
No items found.

Kimberly Tsai

Kimberly Tsai

Challenge
Call Me Maybe (2025)
Organization
Challenge Success
school-climate-learning-and-phone-use
social-connection-and-belonging
youth-mental-health-and-wellbeing
california

Larissa "Larz" May

Larissa "Larz" May

Challenge
Lonely Hearts Club (2024)
Organization
#HalfTheStory
ai
youth-mental-health-and-wellbeing
tech-and-digital-agency
social-connection-and-belonging
play-games-and-creative-expression
california

Lauren Buitta

Lauren Buitta

Challenge
Oops!... AI Did it Again (2026)
Organization
Girl Security
tech-and-digital-agency
ai
youth-mental-health-and-wellbeing
gender-responsive-youth-support
massachusetts