Larissa "Larz" May

Larissa May (Larz) is a digital wellbeing pioneer and the founder of #HalfTheStory (HTS), the first non-profit dedicated to empowering the next generation’s healthy relationship with social media. As the first youth-led nonprofit of its kind, #HalfTheStory is a multifaceted institution focused on educating, advocating and mitigating the harms associated with social media and tech use. HTS' evidence-based program, Social Media U teaches key digital metacognition and emotional regulation skills, while empowering young people to understand and advocate for their digital wellbeing. Larz has become the face of a rapidly growing movement towards digital wellness, leading the global narrative around policy and youth-centric advocacy in the US, UK, EU, and UAE. In 2023, Larz was awarded a Rise 25 award from the Mozilla Foundation as one of the top 25 leading innovators in the world. Prior to #HalfTheStory, Larz helped build some of today’s buzziest D2C brands, including Kin Euphorics and Otherland, winning the Business Insider Brand Marketing Rising Stars Award for her work. Larz has also been featured in the WSJ, TIME, Forbes, Refinery29, Good Morning America, The TODAY Show, and NBC.