About the Challenges
We hold two $1 million open funding calls annually
Young Futures supports youth-centered solutions that strengthen belonging, wellbeing and healthy digital habits.
Addressing the most pressing
issues facing youth today
Each YF Funding Challenge is a national open call inviting nonprofits to address high-need themes facing young people today—from loneliness to the pressures of growing up in a tech-filled world.
We fund promising early-stage solutions, accelerate their growth and connect innovators across fields to build a shared movement for youth wellbeing.
National Reach, Human Impact
5
Challenges Launched
$3.25M
in Funding Distributed
$75M
In Funds Requested
41
YF Innovators Funded
50
States Reached
Meet our grantees
(a.ka. The YF Innovators)
CEO & Co-Founder
Josh Thompson
Civics Unplugged
Senior Director of Implementation and Partnership
Marcus Bratton
Colorado Education Initiative
Founder & Executive Director
Beth Rosenberg
Tech Unlimited
Executive Director
Dr. Jennifer Chace
The Source School
Founder & Executive Director
Juliana Lozano
Despierta
.avif)
Founder & Executive Director
Valerie Grison-Alsop
Give Us The Floor
Founder & President
Lewis Bernstein
Sesame 3G
.avif)
Assistant Principal
Valerie Tillman-Bankhead
Holmes Consolidated School District
Co-founder & Executive Director
Jake Stika
NextGen Men
Co-Chair
Arielle Geismar
Design It For Us
Executive Director
Carolyn Gan
California Partners Project
Founder & President
Emily Bell McCormick
The Policy Project
Co-founder & Executive Director
Mike Fauteux
GiveThx
Chief Program Officer
Amanda Slavin
Learning Economy Foundation
Chief Program Officer
Alise Dixon
Boys & Girls Club of Southeastern Michigan
Founder & Executive Director
NyRee Clayton-Taylor
HipHop N2 Learning (HHN2L)
Assistant Professor
Dr. Erin Truesdell
Skyscraper Games (Entrepreneurial Game Studio at Drexel University)
Co-Chair
Zamaan Qureshi
Design It For Us
Founder & President
Emily Bell McCormick
The Policy Project
Chief Executive Officer
Alex LeeNatali
Health Connected
Assistant Professor
Dr. Erin Truesdell
Skyscraper Games (Entrepreneurial Game Studio at Drexel University)
Director of Development
Abby Binder
Civics Unplugged
Co-founder
Anahita Dalmia
Agents of Influence
Co-Chair
Arielle Geismar
Design It For Us
Research Engineer
Dr. Kathryn Youngblood
Debris Tracker Junior (University of Georgia)
Founding Director
Dr. Lynn E. Fiellin
play2PREVENT Lab
Founder & President
Lewis Bernstein
Sesame 3G
Co-founder & CEO
Samin Bhan
Lookupp
Executive Director
Carolyn Gan
California Partners Project
Director of Programs
Kimberly Tsai
Challenge Success
Founder & Executive Director
Beth Rosenberg
Tech Unlimited
Founder & CEO
Maddie Freeman
NoSo
Founder
Larissa "Larz" May
#HalfTheStory
Co-founder & COO
Atiksh Bhan
Lookupp
Co-founder & Executive Director
Jake Stika
NextGen Men
Co-founder
Niobe Way
agapi.kids
Explore the Challenges
Here Comes the Fun
Reimagining play as a pathway to wellbeing.
Impact Snapshot
Year Launched
Spring 2025
Number of Applicants
78
Awardees
8
Total Funding
$800,000
Lonely Hearts Club
Beglonging in a hyperconnected world.
Impact Snapshot
Year Launched
Spring 2024
Number of Applicants
195
Awardees
10
Total Funding
$1,000,000
Call Me Maybe
Reimagining phone use in schools by putting students at the center.
Impact Snapshot
Year Launched
Spring 2025
Number of Applicants
50
Awardees
7
Total Funding
$500,000
Oops!...AI Did It Again
Empowering teens to navigate a world reshaped by artificial intelligence.
Impact Snapshot
Year Launched
Fall 2025
Number of Applicants
209
Awardees
TBA 2026
Total Funding
TBD
Under Pressure
Alleviating the pressures pre-teens and teens face in today's tech-driven world.
Impact Snapshot
Year Launched
Fall 2024
Number of Applicants
176
Awardees
10
Total Funding
$950,000
Introducing the
YF500 Initiative
$50M Goal
The YF500 is our five-year initiative funding 500 visionaries to impact +20 million youth across the nation.
Featured Grant Recipients
Be Loud Studios
Amplifying youth confidence through radio and digital media production.
Be Loud helps kids turn screens into tools for self-expression and courageous collaboration in New Orleans, helping youth find their voice and use it powerfully through storytelling, podcasting, and media production.
Civics Unplugged
Cultivating the Future of Civic Innovation.
Civics Unplugged is an intergenerationally-led organization that equips young people with the training, funding, and community they need to become civic innovators.
GiveThx
Improving student mental health by ensuring every student knows they belong, one thank you at a time.
GiveThx is a digital program that strengthens student and educator wellbeing and social-emotional skills through gratitude.
Tech Unlimited
Diverse Minds. Unlimited Futures.
Tech Unlimited (TU) is a non-profit education organization that uses technology tools, computer science thinking, and social-emotional learning to ignite unlimited futures for neurodiverse students in need.
We Are Family
An affirming space for LGBTQ+ youth and allies
We Are Family is South Carolina's oldest nonprofit that provides life-affirming and life-saving programs for LGBTQ+ young people that have a lasting and measurable impact, with a focus on those who are BIPOC and/or low-income.