Introducing The Second Young Futures Open Funding Call: Under Pressure Challenge

When you catch up with a friend or acquaintance and ask them how they’re doing, how often do you hear …"I’m so busy!" "Stressed!" "I can’t believe how packed this [insert season] is!" "Where did the year go??"

The truth is, we’re all juggling an uncomfortable amount of responsibilities, and feeling pressure from every direction. It seems like being constantly under pressure has become the new normal for adults—especially parents and caregivers. As a working Mom, I’m right there with you. ICYMI, our Surgeon General put this all into perspective in The New York Times last week. Honestly, it was refreshing to see it called out so clearly. 

“The stress and mental health challenges faced by parents — just like loneliness, workplace well-being and the impact of social media on youth mental health — aren’t always visible, but they can take a steep toll. It’s time to recognize they constitute a serious public health concern for our country.” –  US Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy

But here’s the thing, when parents feel pressure, it doesn’t happen in a vacuum. It often trickles down to our kids, adding to the many pressures they deal with everyday. This isn’t about feeling guilty, it’s about having empathy for what young people are going through. And they’re going through a lot! That’s where we come in at Young Futures.

In our commitment to truly listen to young people—without assuming we know what they’re dealing with and how we can help—we recently embarked on a Youth Listening Tour, led by Dr. Kristine G. . We spoke with 13-17-year-olds and provided them with a platform to talk about the stressors in their lives, including how tech and social media help and/or add to their stress. What resulted was a powerful conversation about what it’s like to be a teen today, and one word kept coming up…PRESSURE. 

Today’s youth are incredibly wise, courageous, and resilient. Yet, they also face intense pressure to perform and to be exceptional, with technology playing a profound role in both easing and exacerbating these pressures. Tech can be a positive outlet for self-care or a safe space to connect with trusted friends, but it can also amplify stress in ways that become toxic and relentless.

Pressure is always going to be there. It's kind of just part of the internet culture in the internet world. 17 y/o female, YF Youth Listening Tour

The way that social media is designed can really perpetuate insecurity and is meant to keep you scrolling. So, even for someone who is fairly secure in their life and in their relationships, it's easy to fall into that hole online. – 14 y/o female, YF Youth Listening Tour

Our listening tour findings were mirrored in a recent Pew Research report where teens cited more pressures and expectations as the top reason they feel it’s harder to be a teen today than it was 20 years ago, with social media being the second.

[As an aside, teens view the effects of social media vs technology as a whole very differently. Although few think teens’ lives are easier today than 20 years ago, those who do largely say technology is a reason. Pew Research]  

The reality is that our non-stop digital environment creates a 24/7 pressure cooker for young people, especially in the critical years of adolescent experimentation as they form their identities, refine their voices, and navigate changing friendships. Combining what we heard directly from teens with the fact that 1 in 5 adolescents report symptoms of anxiety or depression, we knew we had to lean in to help young people access real, compassionate ways to reduce the pressures of growing up.

To find and uplift solutions that spark hope and joy, we are thrilled to announce our latest open funding call: Under Pressure Challenge. 

We are committing $1 million to support up to 10 early-stage non-profits working to alleviate the pressures teens and preteens face in navigating our tech-driven world. We are honored to collaborate with Emily Weinstein, Carrie James and the Center for Digital Thriving (CDT) on this challenge, integrating their youth research-backed perspectives into our evaluation of potential grantees. They are some of the most trusted researchers in our space, with a true talent for distilling their findings into practical tools and insights families can use.

You may be thinking…”pressure” is a pretty broad theme. What are some examples? Our friends at CDT have done some important work collaborating with teens and preteens to identify different types of pressures that many of them experience:

• Game Plan: pressure to have a future path figured out
• Achievement: the desire to maximize academic achievements
• Social: need to display social “thriving” on social media
• Appearance: pressure to look one’s best
• Self-Care: strive toward spiritual goals and the pursuit of hobbies
• Activism: need to maximize social impact
• Persona: pressure to curate a desirable identity online and off

So what does this mean in practice, for potential grant seekers? We are particularly interested in funding solutions that:

• Directly address digital tension and ease the pressures listed above – whether that is helping youth manage relationships on/offline and their digital footprints or increasing awareness of, and normalizing, the challenges associated with living in an always-online world.
• Support positive youth development and self-care by fostering self-esteem and identity development and honoring youth agency and choice.
• Show an understanding of how and where pre(teens) show up in the world like how young people communicate, spend their time, and navigate relationships, and their evolving developmental needs. 
• Have a demonstrated impact that is ready to expand beyond the organization’s initial use or location with clear plans for increasing impact in a measurable way. Early-stage projects within an established organization with a strong track record for positively serving (pre)teens will also be considered.
• Help adults understand how digital tension and pressures affect their teen’s wellbeing, and how they can help, as trusted adults are essential pieces of the puzzle.

If you are a non-profit with a solution that helps young people (10-19) relieve one or more of the pressures above, we’d love to hear from you. 

View full eligibility criteria, download our full RFP, and apply here!