Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund

🌟 How Can We Empower Teens to Be Digital Wellness Activists at Scale? Introducing #HALFTHESTORY#HALFTHESTORY Summer Civics Academy! As a young activist, I learned the importance of protecting your story, realizing local impact, and the power of storytelling. I'm thrilled to announce that our team at #HTS is launching our program (brought by popular demand) to equip young people with the skills they need to advocate—thinking globally and acting locally. 🌍💪 Our program includes visits to tech companies and organizations, empowering youth at scale through hybrid and in-person experiences. I am deeply grateful to our exceptional speakers: Arturo Béjar, Georgia Wells, Neha Shukla, Bill Smith, Zamaan Qureshi, Yoelle Gulko, and Ava Smithing! Along with our partners at California Partners Project! This initiative wouldn't be possible without the dedication of my incredible team and TEENS — Daniella Ivanir, Olivia DeMartini, Ally Phan, and Lucas Johnson —who brought this vision to life. And, of course, heartfelt thanks to our funders for making this possible Katie Fortunato, Onwards & Upwards, Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund, and LookUp.Live Susan Reynolds, M.Ed. 🌟 APPLY NOW!!! https://lnkd.in/gDxyEy-c #ThinkGlobalActLocal #YouthEmpowerment #CivicsAcademy #SummerProgram #HalfTheStory

If you're feeling disconnected and ill at ease in high stakes meetings with prospective donors, and end up feeling disappointed and dispirited after spending months working to get the meeting, chances are you may be experiencing one or more of the following: --Putting so much energy into prepping and delivering a perfectly polished and professional pitch that you can't really track how it's landing --Living in dread of any awkward moments and talking to fill the silence anytime there's a moment's pause --Working to find some point of personal connection through hours of online background research, and then clamming up in the meeting because you're worried that you'll let the wrong thing slip and come across like a cyber-stalker. --Struggling to stay fully focused because you find yourself feeling hyper aware of anything about your identity or experience that sets you apart from the donor If you're experiencing any of these pain points in your fundraising efforts, you're not alone! And while there is no magic cure for everything that ails philanthropy and fundraising, the good news is there are some simple things within your own span of control to increase the possibility of building a positive, authentic relationship when you are meeting with ultra high net worth donors. Join me on Monday June 10th at 12:30 ET for this month's Fully Human Fundraising webinar where we'll be looking at 9 keys to positive personal connection in your fundraising meetings.

We’re thrilled to see the inaugural Young Futures Org Innovators cohort announced yesterday. This grant, awarded by Young Futures, is a testament to their commitment to empowering (pre)teens aged 10-19 in navigating the complexities of the digital age. We're equally excited to see that three of the 10 innovators are from the Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund -- #HALFTHESTORY#HALFTHESTORY, Civics Unplugged, and ReThink Citizens. Young Futures is playing a critical role in building up this entire ecosystem for the digital well-being of young people. With this grant comes not only a financial boost of $100,000 but also invaluable access to the Young Futures Academy. Over the next six months, they'll have the opportunity to engage in tailored leadership and organizational coaching, mentorship sessions, community-building activities, and media support. We will closely follow the journey of these Young Futures Innovators and, as partners, continue to cheer on this important and necessary work. As this ecosystem grows, we’re committed to also helping uplift others in order to promote meaningful social connection, resilience, and digital well-being among (pre)teens! 💻🌈 #YoungFutures #LonelyHeartsClubChallenge

It was great to appear on ABC News Live Prime with five other digital natives to discuss our experience growing up on social media, the trends in usage among our generation, and what we need to do about it. I spoke on the Design It For Us' perspective as we approach the policy conversation bringing youth voices to policymakers on social media and technology-related issues. I was pleased to appear alongside Mara and Juniper who have been instrumental in Maryland and Vermont (respectively) in passing the Kids Codes/Age Appropriate Design Codes which have become or are set to become law. Thanks to Elizabeth Schulze for hosting a great conversation and the ABC News team (cc: Ella Katz) for spotlighting our work! You can watch the segment titled "Generation Swipe" here: https://lnkd.in/gy9NU4d5 And the entire series here: https://lnkd.in/gbQvRNcS

📣 Today, we unveil AI 2030 (ai2030.encodejustice.org) — an unprecedented youth-authored platform for global AI action by 2030, with 22 urgent recommendations for world leaders and a lineup of signatories like Mary Robinson (the former President of Ireland and former United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights), Yoshua Bengio (the “godfather of AI” and most cited living computer scientist), Audrey Tang (the first and current Digital Minister of Taiwan), Daron Acemoglu (economist at MIT and the author of Why Nations Fail), Maya Wiley (the President and CEO of the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights), and more. And it’s already covered in the Washington Post. (https://lnkd.in/d74yarug) Sunny Gandhi, Adam Billen, Luke Drago, Lysander Mawby: I’m so proud of us for the work we’ve poured into this over the last 6+ months. This wouldn’t have been possible without the most brilliant, indomitable team I’ve ever had the honor of working with. None of what we’ve presented today was easy to pull off — we know all too well how many late nights and hours-long calls it took — but with the South Korea AI Safety Summit approaching, I hope what we’re building will help shape the course of global AI policy, establish lasting consensus on priorities and solutions, and engage young people worldwide. And I hope world leaders will listen. Now, all we ask is that you lend your name to our campaign at ai2030.encodejustice.org. We think this is really important, and we hope you think so too — our success will depend on your support. Join us today ❤️