Young Futures launches its first dedicated AI funding initiative.

As artificial intelligence reshapes how young people learn, create and connect, Young Futures today announced nearly $1.4M in funding for 16 nonprofits building youth-centered solutions at the intersection of AI and adolescent wellbeing.

Selected from over 200 applicants, this cohort will receive funding and support to scale bold, youth-centered solutions that help pre-teens and teens navigate artificial intelligence safely, critically and with confidence.

Backed by foundational funders Pivotal, Susan Crown Exchange, Enlight Foundation, Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Resonance Philanthropies and The Goodness Web, with challenge support from Pinterest, Bezos Family Foundation, Hopelab and Omidyar Network, the challenge reflects a growing recognition that AI is already reshaping how young people learn, create, communicate and understand themselves. Oops!... AI Did It Again was designed to support solutions that help young people feel more confident, connected and in control as they navigate an AI-driven world.

“AI is already shaping how young people learn, relate, create and make sense of themselves, but too often they are being asked to navigate that reality without the support, context, or power to question it,” said Katya Hancock, CEO at Young Futures. “What gives me so much hope about this cohort is that these leaders are not simply teaching young people how to use AI, they are creating the conditions for young people to build confidence, exercise critical thinking and develop real agency in a world where AI is increasingly unavoidable.”

The Oops!... AI Did It Again Challenge focuses on four key areas: Youth-Powered AI, Learning & Work, Relationships & Mental Health and Intergenerational Guidance. Across those areas, the selected YF Innovators are building solutions that reimagine how young people engage, explore and evolve in the age of artificial intelligence.

“No one has a bigger stake in how AI is shaping the future than young people,” said Renee Wittemyer, Vice President of Program Strategy at Pivotal. “This cohort of organizations will help young people do more than understand AI; it will help them harness it to create the future they want.”

“Young people aren't just the future of AI — they're building it right now. Omidyar Network is proud to support the organizations that give youth the tools, knowledge, and platform to challenge and shape the systems that affect their lives,” said Omidyar Network President Michele L. Jawando. “Technology must expand opportunity, not concentrate it. This cohort isn't teaching adaptation — it is demonstrating agency. And that's exactly the kind of bold, inclusive vision that moves us from an AI revolution to an AI renaissance.”

Beginning this spring, the cohort will join the Young Futures Academy, a five-month accelerator combining leadership development, fundraising strategy, executive coaching, one-on-one mentorship and narrative support with a peer community of leaders. The Academy launches April 13th at an in-person retreat in Colorado and culminates in a live Showcase in August.

The Oops!... AI Did It Again cohort includes:

• Youth-Powered AI: Leaders in this category are helping young people transition from passive users of AI to active builders and critical thinkers, shaping how AI impacts their lives.
  • Code Girls United — Marianne Smith, Founder & Chief Executive Officer
  • Girl Security — Lauren Buitta, Founder & Chief Executive Officer
  • Joy Education — Demetrius Lancaster, Founder & Chief Executive Officer
  • NoSo — Mariel Emanuel, Head of Responsible AI & Wellbeing Strategy
• AI in Learning, Work, and Creativity: These leaders are helping young people navigate how AI is transforming education, creative expression and the future of work.
  • Connecticut State Library — Dawn La Valle, Director of the Division of Library Development
  • Innovation For Everyone — Neha Shukla, Founder & Executive Director
  • Mark Cuban Foundation — Charlotte Dungan, Chief Learning Officer
  • Televisa Foundation Inc. — Astrid Viveros, Director of Technolochic@s
• AI in Relationships and Mental Health: These leaders are exploring how AI affects relationships, emotional wellbeing and identity—and helping young people navigate those dynamics safely.
  • Letters to Strangers — Diana Chao, Founder & Executive Director
  • PBS News Student Reporting Labs — Leah Clapman, Founder & Executive Director
  • Urban Initiatives — Julie Chelovich Perconte, Chief Operating Officer & Vice President
• Intergenerational Guidance: These leaders are equipping parents, educators and communities with the tools they need to help young people navigate AI with confidence and care.
  • Advancing Indigenous Science and Engineering Society (AISES) — Tesia Zientek, Managing Director of Programs
  • Center for Parent and Teen Communication at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia — Jacques Louis, Director of Community Partnerships and Outreach
  • Cyber Collective — Tazin Khan, Founder & Chief Executive Officer
  • KQED — Michelle Parker, Executive Director of Education
  • Screen Sanity — Tracy Foster, Co-Founder & Chief Executive Officer

The Young Futures Academy is designed to help grantees make a bigger impact together as a cohort, with a strong emphasis on leadership, storytelling, fundraising, subject-matter expertise and peer support. The program is built for leaders who are youth-centered, collaborative, eager to expand their solutions and committed to showing up fully for one another.

“Every YF Innovators cohort comes in with strong ideas and deep community roots, but what makes this group different is the moment they're entering. AI is moving so fast that even the most experienced practitioners are figuring it out in real time. YF Academy is designed to give these leaders the rare gift of slowing down together — to sharpen their thinking, stress-test their approaches and build the kind of peer relationships that will outlast the program,” said Sierra Malia Foxwoods, Director of Programs at Young Futures.

These 16 YF Innovators are not just preparing young people for an AI-shaped world; they are already building it, with young people, not for them.

For more information about the Oops!... AI Did It Again cohort and their initiatives, visit www.youngfutures.org/innovators/.

About Young Futures

Young Futures (YF) is a nonprofit seeking to make the digital world an easier place to grow up. YF provides a social compass for teens and families navigating the tech-driven world by supporting emerging nonprofits working tirelessly to help young people and their families not just survive but flourish as a team when navigating the uncertainties of the digital wilderness. Its foundational funders include Pivotal Ventures, Susan Crown Exchange, The Goodness Web, Enlight Foundation, Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and Resonance Philanthropies.

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“AI is already shaping how young people learn, relate, create and make sense of themselves, but too often they are being asked to navigate that reality without the support, context, or power to question it,” said Katya Hancock, CEO at Young Futures.