From interactive games to digital communities, meet the visionary leaders who are reimagining play for the digital age, with youth voices leading the design of experiences that build resilience, connection, and joy.
NEW YORK CITY, Oct. 17, 2025 /PRNewswire-PRWeb/ -- Today, Young Futures unveiled their Here Comes the Fun Cohort, a group of eight nonprofits and university labs working alongside students to design and scale digital play experiences that actively support the wellbeing of pre-teens and teens. In partnership with the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop and Niantic Spatial, these grantees, named Young Futures (YF) Innovators, will pilot a diverse array of solutions—from youth-co-designed video games to digital communities and creative platforms—that prove play isn't just fun, it can be a pathway to stress relief, identity formation, and meaningful social connection..
The cohort was selected from a competitive national open call for proposals. Their work addresses a critical gap identified in Young Futures' Youth Listening Tour: the decline of unstructured, joyful play in adolescents' lives, even as they spend increasing time in digital spaces.
"Play is not a luxury; it's a developmental necessity that doesn't end in childhood," said Katya Hancock, CEO of Young Futures. "When designed well, digital play can help teens connect, decompress, and discover who they are. But without guidance, it can also lead to isolation, lack of sleep, and negative outcomes. This cohort is meeting young people where they are—in digital worlds—to build healthier, more supportive experiences for them and their families."
The work of these YF Innovators is grounded in research, including the Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) framework, which outlines how digital play can contribute to outcomes like autonomy, competence, healthy relationships, and identity exploration when designed intentionally.
"At its best, digital play can offer adolescents extraordinary opportunities for agency, creativity, and belonging in ways uniquely suited to their development," said Michael Preston, Executive Director of the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop. "Through this partnership with Young Futures, we're excited to spotlight and learn from innovations that incorporate youth voice and build the evidence for positive digital futures."
The Work In Action: Eight Projects and the YF Innovators Leading Them…
- Boys & Girls Clubs of Southeastern Michigan (Detroit, MI) – Alise Dixon, Chief Program Officer, is launching GameSafe, a youth-designed program that empowers young people to create safer, more inclusive gaming communities through initiatives like a peer-led pledge, trainings, and a youth-managed Twitch channel.
- CodeSpeak Labs (Orange County, CA / New York City, NY) – Jen Chiou, Founder, is expanding Quest Craft, a digital role-playing game where youth work together through culturally diverse adventures that spark imagination, build social connection, and grow skills for navigating life's quests.
- Learning Economy Foundation (London, UK) – Amanda Slavin, Chief Development Officer, is developing a platform that provides children and their teachers or parents with a safe, secure digital tool that tracks meaningful play and offers personalized prompts for shared activities that strengthen learning and connection in games.
- New Jersey Institute of Technology & Drexel University (Newark, NJ / Philadelphia, PA) – Dr. Erin J.K. Truesdell, Assistant Professor, leads Skyscraper Games, which invites youth to learn computational thinking and programming skills by designing and programming games for the world's largest architectural video game display.
- Next Gen Men (Vancouver, BC) – Jake Stika, Executive Director, is growing the NGM Alliance, an online community where masculine-identifying young people in middle and high school connect, play, and support each other—building friendships and wellbeing through safe, youth-led digital experiences.
- play2PREVENT Lab at Yale School of Medicine (New Haven, CT / Hanover, NH) – Dr. Lynn Fiellin, Founding Director, is co-creating PlaySocial with teens, an interactive digital game that engages teens and their families to tackle the mental health challenges of social media, empowering youth to build resilience and foster healthier online experiences.
- Tech Unlimited (formerly Tech Kids Unlimited) (Brooklyn, NY) – Beth Rosenberg, Founder & Executive Director, is launching Play My Way, a project where neurodiverse teens create short videos explaining why their favorite video games matter to them, highlighting digital play as a source of confidence, identity, and connection for their families and caregivers.
- University of Georgia (Athens, GA) – Kathryn Youngblood, Senior Research Engineer, is developing Debris Tracker Junior, an app that reimagines community science to put youth joy and creativity first through mission-based, character-led games that empower teens to prevent plastic pollution.
This October, the Here Comes the Fun Cohort will join Young Futures' five-month Academy, becoming part of a vibrant, national peer community. The experience begins with a retreat in Boulder, Colorado, where YF Innovators will participate in expert-led Masterclasses and start building a strong community together.
"We are inspired by this cohort's creativity and their deep commitment to co-designing solutions with young people," said Cassie Archdeacon, Programs Associate at Young Futures. "Through the Academy, they will gain the strategic support and connections needed to scale their impact and demonstrate the profound role digital play can have in helping teens thrive."
For more information about the Here Comes the Fun Cohort and their initiatives, visit https://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. Young Futures is a project of the New Venture Fund, a 501(c)(3) public charity. Its principal sponsors include Pivotal Ventures, Susan Crown Exchange, and The Goodness Web.
About the Joan Ganz Cooney Center at Sesame Workshop
Named for the co-founder and visionary behind Sesame Street, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center is an independent research and innovation lab within Sesame Workshop that advances positive futures for kids in the digital world. They conduct research on emerging technologies and collaborate with technologists, digital media producers, and educators to put this research into action to support children's learning and wellbeing. They facilitate an international network of researchers and partner with young people themselves, elevating their voices in our research and engaging them in co-designing digital media experiences. They also work directly with policy makers and investors to drive national conversations and decisions that help children thrive within our digital world.
About Niantic Spatial
Niantic Spatial is building a living model of the world that people and machines can talk to. Powered by a Large Geospatial Model trained on real-world data, our technology delivers high-fidelity 3D reconstruction, centimeter-level localization, and semantic understanding of physical spaces. These capabilities enable AI, robotics, and wearables to perceive, navigate, and understand the world with unprecedented precision and intelligence.
Media Contact
Brooke Messaye, Young Futures, 1 3232406653, [email protected], https://www.youngfutures.org/
SOURCE Young Futures
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