Design It For Us

What Design It For Us does

Design It For Us is a youth-led nonprofit advocacy coalition founded in March 2023 and based in Washington, DC, with a secondary mailing address in New York. The organization mobilizes young people aged 18-26 to hold Big Tech accountable through state and federal legislative advocacy on youth online safety, privacy, and emerging technology policy. It operates as a coalition of 330 active members, 18 youth-led member organizations (including Encode AI, GenZ for Change, AYA, Blue Future, Log Off Movement, Civics Unplugged, and others), and a 12,000+ youth network spanning 37 states, with organizing hubs in Vermont, Maryland, and Illinois. The coalition has co-led passage of landmark legislation including California Age-Appropriate Design Code (2022 foundation), KOSA and COPPA 2.0 in the U.S. Senate (91-3 vote, 2024), Illinois Children's Online Social Media Safety Act (HB 5511, 2025), Illinois AI Safety Measures Act (SB 315, 2025), New Jersey Kids Code (2026), and the New York RAISE Act (December 2025).

The coalition's deliverables consist of advocacy documents (2023 Policy Platform, 2025 AI Policy Platform, Declaration of Digital Rights), programs (Innovator Circle 2026 cohort, Campus Tour reaching 280+ attendees across 5 campuses, Tech Unfiltered video series), and assessment tools (Designed For Us Rubric). There is no proprietary technology platform or product; the technology stack is limited to standard organizing infrastructure (Action Network for petitions, Slack community, Substack, social channels across Instagram/TikTok/YouTube/X/Bluesky/LinkedIn). Distribution of influence occurs through direct advocacy, lobbying, legislative testimony, rallies (Meta NYC headquarters, Apple actions), polling research (in partnership with Data for Progress), and earned media (CNBC, Politico, Fox32, Morning Joe).

The business model is grassroots donor funding via ActBlue plus likely foundation grants; the website states that the organization's work "depends on grassroots donors." With ~19 employees (small dedicated staff including Managing Director Alison Rice, Director of Community and Engagement Atiya Farooque, and Director of Campaigns and Policy Zamaan Qureshi), the organization is lean relative to its legislative output. Advisory board includes Frances Haugen, Carole Cadwalladr, Nicole Gill (Accountable Tech), Jason Kint (Digital Content Next), Meetali Jain (Tech Justice Law Project), Vicki Harrison (Stanford), David Jay (Relationality Lab), and Mikka Kei Macdonald (Community Change).

Name

Design It For Us

Legal name

Design It For Us

Website

https://designitforus.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2023

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Design It For Us is a youth-led nonprofit coalition (founded March 2023, ~19 staff, Washington DC) that mobilizes members ages 18-26 across 37 states to pass legislation holding Big Tech accountable on youth online safety, privacy, and AI governance through grassroots organizing, policy advocacy, and a coalition of 18 youth-led member organizations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Advocacy Coalition

NAICS

Research and Development in the Social Sciences and Humanities (54172)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Leadership, Oratory & Civic Speaking Programs (EDAMAOAH)

Keywords

• Youth advocacy coalition
• Tech accountability policy
• Online safety legislation
• AI safety regulation
• Grassroots organizing

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others

Revenue model

1. Grassroots Donations: The organization relies on grassroots donors for funding. Donations are accepted through ActBlue (secure online donation platform). The footer states 'Design It For Us' work depends on grassroots donors.' This is the primary funding mechanism.
2. Grants and Organizational Support: As a coalition supported by youth-led organizations, staff, and advisors, the organization likely receives grant funding and organizational support from aligned foundations and nonprofits, though specific funders are not publicly listed.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Design It For Us is a youth-led nonprofit coalition that organizes grassroots advocacy campaigns to hold Big Tech accountable and advance online safety and AI legislation at the state and federal level. It produces policy platforms, declarations of digital rights, polling research, educational video content, and programs such as the Innovator Circle and Campus Tour to mobilize youth members, member organizations, and supporters into coordinated legislative and public campaigns. Participation in the coalition is free; funding comes from grassroots donations via ActBlue and likely grants.

Product overview

Design It For Us is a youth-led coalition (not a traditional product company) focused on advocacy, policy reform, and grassroots organizing to hold Big Tech accountable and protect young people online. The coalition's core offerings consist of advocacy documents (2023 Policy Platform, 2025 AI Policy Platform, Declaration of Digital Rights), programs (Innovator Circle, Campus Tour, Tech Unfiltered video series), and assessment tools (Designed For Us Rubric). These resources collectively advance the coalition's mission of disrupting Big Tech's harmful business models through state and federal legislative advocacy, public awareness campaigns, and youth mobilization.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Innovator Circle: A first-of-its-kind community empowering innovators who are building human-centered competitors that challenge Big Tech's dominance.

Products and services

• 2025 AI Policy Platform Policy document outlining six key principles for AI governance including safety accountability, addressing business models, transparency requirements, AI literacy in education, human-AI collaboration, and youth participation in AI governance; published for policymakers and the public to advance the coalition's AI policy agenda.
• Declaration of Digital Rights Foundational document articulating twelve digital rights for young people including privacy, safety, consent, agency, user controls, deletion rights, choice, transparency, and protection from manipulation; used as a policy and design reference for advocacy and the Designed For Us Rubric.
• 2023 Policy Platform Original policy platform with five key principles for protecting kids, teens, and young adults online: safety responsibility on Big Tech, addressing surveillance capitalism business models, user agency, algorithmic accountability, and data minimization.
• Innovator Circle First-of-its-kind community program empowering innovators building human-centered competitors that challenge Big Tech's dominance; connects founders and builders committed to safety, privacy, and human well-being, and underpins the coalition's engagement with pro-human technology alternatives.
• Designed For Us Rubric Rights-based design rubric based on the Declaration of Digital Rights, outlining technical design practices for social media platforms to uphold young people's digital rights; underpins Innovator Circle discussions and is used as a reference for human-centered product design.
• Tech Unfiltered Video Series Video series explaining why existing tech products are detrimental to young people in service of company profit, and empowering the generation to demand better alternatives; distributed via YouTube and other channels to drive awareness and education.
• Campus Tour College campus tour program featuring interactive panel events with speakers, polling of attendees, and discussions about responsible technology, social media impacts, and what young people need and deserve online; reached 5 campuses, 280+ attendees, and generated 20% growth in new coalition members.

Quantifiable outcome

• Co-led successful passage of Illinois Children's Online Social Media Safety Act (HB 5511) requiring default safety and privacy protections for minors
• +5 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

27 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• American Young Adults (AYA)coreOthersYouth empowerment organization that is a founding member organization of the Design It For Us coalition. Contributes to the coalition's grassroots power and shared policy agenda.
• Blue FuturecoreOthersYouth-led organization and member of the Design It For Us coalition, contributing to the organization's grassroots organizing base.
• Encode AIcoreOthersAI-focused youth organization and coalition member. Worked alongside Design It For Us on the RAISE Act in New York, co-leading rallies, lobby days, and organizational sign-on letters. Lead organization behind the Public Safety and Child Protection Transparency Act model bill.
• GenZ for ChangecoreOthersYouth advocacy organization and member organization of the Design It For Us coalition, contributing to shared tech accountability campaigns.
• Log Off MovementcoreOthersDigital wellness organization whose Director of Chapter Development (Matthew Stevens) also serves as Education and Engagement Lead at Design It For Us. Member organization of the coalition.
• Accountable TechminorOthersNicole Gill (Executive Director at Accountable Tech) serves on the Design It For Us Advisory Board. Organizations co-organized a rally at Meta's NYC headquarters in April 2025 and partnered on testing of Meta's Teen Accounts protections.
• Data for ProgressminorOthersConducted AI safety polling in partnership with Design It For Us (May 2024) showing voters want rigorous safety checks on AI tools developed for social media users and young people.
• Heat Initiative / ParentsTogether ActionminorOthersPartnered with Design It For Us in April 2025 to host rally at Meta's NYC headquarters and deliver petition of 10,000+ signatures. Also partnered on polling report 'Instagram Teen Accounts Are Missing the Mark' (October 2025).
• Common Sense MediaminorOthersMajor online safety organization that signed coalition letter urging Governor Hochul to sign the RAISE Act (December 2025). Co-signatory on advocacy letters and aligned policy positions.
• Civics UnpluggedcoreOthersYouth civic engagement organization and member organization of the Design It For Us coalition.
• Half the StorycoreOthersDigital wellness organization and member organization of the Design It For Us coalition.
• InnoVenture Collective (Inno for Everyone)coreOthersInnovation-focused youth organization and member organization of the Design It For Us coalition.
• LookuppcoreOthersYouth-focused organization and member of the Design It For Us coalition.
• NoSo (No Social November)coreOthersDigital wellness initiative and member organization of the Design It For Us coalition.
• ReThink (ReThink Words)coreOthersYouth advocacy organization and member organization of the Design It For Us coalition.
• The Luddite ClubcoreOthersDigital wellness/critical technology group and member organization of the Design It For Us coalition.
• ReConnect MovementcoreOthersDigital wellness organization and member organization of the Design It For Us coalition.
• Voters of TomorrowcoreOthersYouth civic engagement organization and member organization of the Design It For Us coalition.
• Young People's Alliance (YPA)coreOthersYouth advocacy organization and member of the Design It For Us coalition. Supported California AB1709 alongside other online safety groups.
• Youth Power Project (YPP)coreOthersYouth empowerment organization and member organization of the Design It For Us coalition.
• Youth AI InstitutecoreOthersAI-focused youth organization and member of the Design It For Us coalition.
• Ctrl Alt ReclaimcoreOthersDigital rights/tech accountability organization and member of the Design It For Us coalition.
• Blacksky AlgorithmsminorOthersHuman-centered tech company featured in the Innovator Circle 2026 cohort as a founder building pro-human digital products.
• NewsreelminorOthersHuman-centered tech company featured in the Innovator Circle 2026 cohort as a founder building pro-human digital products.
• SparkableminorOthersHuman-centered tech company featured in the Innovator Circle 2026 cohort as a founder building pro-human digital products.
• The NudgeminorOthersHuman-centered tech company featured in the Innovator Circle 2026 cohort as a founder building pro-human digital products.
• TribelaminorOthersHuman-centered tech company featured in the Innovator Circle 2026 cohort as a founder building pro-human digital products.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Heat Initiative: Campaign-focused organization advocating for stronger protections for kids on social media. Partnered with Design It For Us on the April 2025 Meta NYC rally (10,000+ signature petition delivery) and on the 'Instagram Teen Accounts Are Missing the Mark' polling report.
• Tech Justice Law Project: Legal advocacy organization working on tech accountability, founded by Design It For Us advisor Meetali Jain. Closely aligned with DIFU's regulatory and litigation goals around online harms to young people.
• Center for Digital Democracy: Long-standing consumer advocacy organization focused on digital marketing, data privacy, and protecting children from commercial exploitation online. Similar advocacy focus and FTC/policymaker engagement model.
• Electronic Privacy Information Center (EPIC): Established privacy and digital rights advocacy organization. Design It For Us Campaigns Program Lead Kendall Schrohe works at EPIC, and the organizations collaborate on platform accountability advocacy, litigation, and research.
• Fight for the Future: Digital rights advocacy organization running high-profile campaigns on net neutrality, algorithmic accountability, and AI. Comparable grassroots coalition model with strong earned-media presence targeting Big Tech.
• ParentsTogether Action: Parent-led advocacy organization focused on kids' online safety and tech accountability. Co-partnered with Design It For Us and Heat Initiative on the Meta NYC rally and joint polling/report work on teen accounts.
• Encode AI: Youth-led AI policy advocacy organization and Design It For Us coalition member. Co-led advocacy on the NY RAISE Act, RAISE Act sign-on letters, and the Public Safety and Child Protection Transparency Act model bill. Closest organizational analog in mission and demographic.
• Accountable Tech: Tech accountability advocacy organization led by Nicole Gill (a Design It For Us advisor). Co-organizes rallies and policy campaigns targeting Meta and other Big Tech platforms on youth safety and surveillance. Direct strategic partner with overlapping policy agenda.

Broad incumbents

• Common Sense Media: Largest U.S. nonprofit focused on kids and media/tech safety. Closest comparable to Design It For Us in mission (youth online safety, policy advocacy), but is a much larger, established organization with broader scope including ratings, reviews, and education programming in addition to advocacy.

Emerging players

• AI Now Institute: AI policy research and advocacy organization producing influential reports on AI governance. Complementary to DIFU's AI policy platform work, but focused more on research and less on grassroots mobilization.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses1 record

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/designitforus
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@designitforus
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/design-it-for-us-coalition
• Instagraminstagram.com/designitforus
• TikToktiktok.com/@designitforus

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles19 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Design It For Us