What Young Futures does

Young Futures is a Berkeley, California-based nonprofit philanthropic organization founded in 2022 that funds and scales nonprofits helping young people, families, and educators navigate digital pressures and mental health challenges. The organization operates in the youth digital wellbeing space, addressing social media pressures, AI navigation, gender pressures online, social connection, and phone use in schools. Its primary constituents are youth-focused nonprofits (grantees), young people aged 13-24 (beneficiaries), and the foundation and donor ecosystem that funds its work. The organization reports reaching over 868,000 young people through its portfolio of funded organizations and has awarded $4.7 million in grants to 51 nonprofits to date.

Young Futures' core offerings center on a portfolio of twice-yearly open-call funding challenges (including Express Yourself, Lonely Hearts Club, Under Pressure, Call Me Maybe, Here Comes the Fun, and Oops!...AI Did It Again), each themed around a specific dimension of youth digital wellbeing. Selected grantees join the YF Academy, a five-month accelerator featuring an in-person retreat and culminating in a showcase event. The flagship YF500 initiative is a five-year, $50 million commitment to fund and scale 500 nonprofit innovators, with $26 million raised to date. Supporting programs include the YF Awards (powered by Hopelab) recognizing changemakers, YF Studio for narrative change, and the YF Innovator Directory, a searchable platform of 101+ funded organizations. The organization has published research on AI's impact on youth mental health in partnership with Surgo Health and The Jed Foundation.

The business model is philanthropic grantmaking rather than commercial. Young Futures raises capital from a coalition of major foundations (Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation, Pivotal, Susan Crown Exchange, Omidyar Network, Bezos Family Foundation, Mozilla, Enlight Foundation, Resonance, GoodnessWeb) and cultural partners (Pinterest, Kid Cudi's Big Bro Foundation), then redistributes funds via grants typically ranging from $50,000 to $100,000 per organization. There are no fees charged to grantees; participation in challenges and the YF Academy is free for selected nonprofits. The organization does not sell products or services, has no traditional revenue stream, and operates with a lean team of 1-10 employees administering the grant portfolio.

Name

Young Futures

Legal name

Young Futures

Website

https://youngfutures.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2022

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Young Futures is a nonprofit philanthropic organization that funds and scales youth-focused nonprofits addressing digital wellbeing, social connection, and mental health through open-call grant challenges, the YF Academy accelerator, and the YF500 initiative targeting 500 grantees.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Wellbeing Philanthropy

NAICS

Other Grantmaking and Giving Services (813219), Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industry

Grantmaking & Philanthropic Funds (Institutional Donors) (BPADAOAB)

Keywords

• Youth wellbeing philanthropy
• Nonprofit grantmaking
• Accelerator programs
• Digital wellness funding
• Youth mental health

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: Young Futures operates as a philanthropic organization that raises funds from foundations and individual donors to provide grants to youth-focused nonprofit organizations. Revenue comes from charitable contributions rather than product/service sales.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Young Futures is a nonprofit philanthropic organization that funds and scales youth-focused nonprofits through twice-yearly open funding challenges, distributing grants of $50,000 to $100,000 per organization. Selected grantees join the YF Academy five-month accelerator, which includes an in-person retreat and a showcase event, while the broader YF500 initiative represents a five-year commitment to fund and scale 500 nonprofit innovators with a $50M goal.

Product overview

Young Futures operates as a philanthropy-focused organization that funds and scales nonprofits helping young people thrive in a tech-filled world. The organization runs a portfolio of funding challenges (Express Yourself, Lonely Hearts Club, Under Pressure, Call Me Maybe, Here Comes the Fun, and Oops!...AI Did It Again) that distribute grants to youth-focused nonprofits, supplemented by the YF Academy accelerator program, YF Awards recognition program, and YF Studio narrative initiative. The YF500 represents the organization's five-year, $50M goal to fund and scale 500 nonprofit innovators. Resources include the YF Innovator Directory and Grantee Directory searchable by challenge, work type, and location, plus a Resources Hub with toolkits for youth, parents, educators, and nonprofits.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Express Yourself Challenge Funding challenge supporting bold solutions that help girls, boys, and trans- and gender-expansive young people build confidence, belonging, and agency in a digitally shaped world. Distributes a minimum of $1.5M+ in grants across 10+ organizations, with individual awards ranging from $50,000 to $100,000.
• Oops!...AI Did It Again Challenge Funding challenge empowering teens to navigate a world reshaped by artificial intelligence and supporting youth agency in AI. Awarded nearly $1.4 million to 16 nonprofits selected from over 200 applicants.
• Lonely Hearts Club Challenge Funding challenge supporting solutions to bolster social connection among young people.
• Under Pressure Challenge Funding challenge supporting solutions that relieve digital tension and alleviate pressures pre-teens and teens face in today's tech-driven world.
• Call Me Maybe Challenge Funding challenge supporting schools to navigate phone use by putting students at the center.
• Here Comes the Fun Challenge Funding challenge supporting wellbeing through digital play, reimagining play as a pathway to youth wellbeing.
• YF500 A five-year commitment to fund and scale 500 nonprofit innovators across the nation, building a nationwide infrastructure for youth wellbeing. $26M raised toward a $50M goal.
• YF Academy A five-month accelerator program for YF Innovators, featuring an in-person retreat and culminating in a showcase, supporting selected organizations from funding challenges.
• YF Awards Awards program powered by Hopelab recognizing young changemakers and adult champions helping young people thrive in a tech-filled world, spanning categories including Activists, Entrepreneurs, Storytellers, and Researchers.
• YF Studio Initiative focused on shifting narratives creatively to support youth wellbeing in the digital world.

Quantifiable outcome

• 868,000+ young people reached through funded organizations
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers49 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Surgo HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 February 2026Research partner in a nationally representative study on how youth ages 13-24 engage with AI and its implications for mental health, based on surveys of 1,300+ youth.
• The Jed FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 February 2026Research partner in the two-part study examining AI's impact on youth mental health, identifying six distinct patterns of AI engagement among young people.
• Big Bro Foundation (Kid Cudi's organization)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKid Cudi's organization partnering on the 'In My Dreams' track of the Express Yourself Challenge Series, contributing to the $1.5M+ initiative addressing gender pressures teens face online.
• HopelabcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner powering the Young Futures Awards program recognizing changemakers helping young people thrive in a tech-filled world.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Broad incumbents

• Mozilla Foundation: Mozilla Foundation is a larger, more established internet-health philanthropy that funds work on trustworthy AI, online privacy, and digital wellbeing. It overlaps thematically with Young Futures' digital wellbeing and AI navigation focus, but operates across broader issues and a global footprint.
• Sesame Workshop: Sesame Workshop produces research-backed educational content and programs for children, including digital wellbeing resources for families. It is a much larger, more established incumbent operating across adjacent educational and wellbeing territory with similar child-development orientation.
• Mental Health America: Mental Health America is the nation's oldest community-based mental health nonprofit, with a broader remit spanning adults and youth. It overlaps on the mental health and youth education side but does not specialize in the digital/AI navigation niche Young Futures occupies.

Direct peers

• Born This Way Foundation: Born This Way Foundation, co-founded by Lady Gaga, supports youth mental health through grantmaking, peer support programs, and storytelling. Comparable foundation model focused on the same age cohort with overlapping mental health and digital wellbeing themes.
• Hopelab: Hopelab is both a Young Futures partner (powers the YF Awards) and a direct peer — a philanthropic foundation funding research and ventures to improve mental health for young people, including in digital and gaming contexts. Operating model, mission framing, and grantee types substantially overlap.
• Common Sense Media: Common Sense Media is the most direct peer: a mission-aligned nonprofit focused on kids, teens, and families navigating media and technology. It operates rating/review programs, an education arm, and funds related nonprofits — closely matching Young Futures' positioning in youth digital wellbeing plus grantmaking.
• Susan Crown Exchange: Susan Crown Exchange is a Young Futures funder and a peer foundation focused on youth wellbeing through tech, digital, and informal learning. Comparable in portfolio construction (multi-issue youth programming with nonprofit grantees) and grantmaking scale.
• The Jed Foundation: The Jed Foundation protects emotional health and prevents suicide for teens and young adults. It is a co-research partner with Young Futures on the GenAI youth mental health study and operates the same combination of grantmaking, programming, and thought leadership aimed at the same demographic.
• Pivotal Ventures: Pivotal Ventures is both a Young Futures funder and a directly comparable philanthropic vehicle focused on issues affecting women, families, and youth. It pools resources across challenges and initiatives in a structurally similar way to YF500.

Emerging players

• Thorn: Thorn is a technology-focused nonprofit that builds and funds tools to defend children from sexual abuse online. It is a narrower-vertical peer: same digital-safety-for-youth mission and tech-amplified grantmaking model, but concentrated on child exploitation rather than general digital wellbeing.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/young-futures-org

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments15 records

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Frequently asked questions about Young Futures