The Children and Screens’ 2024 Digital Media Youth Voices Campaign provides a glimpse into the hopes and concerns of youth leaders in the digital space. Using their own words, the campaign aims to elevate and amplify the voices of youth themselves as they work to create a healthy digital future.
Andrew Abikzer, Founder and CEO of Youths for Youths Foundation
Andrew J. L. Abikzer is a 17-year-old visionary and advocate, championing the transformative potential of integrating sports and technology. He is Founder and CEO of the Youths for Youths Foundation, which endeavors to instill a love for play and authentic connections among young people, addressing the adverse impacts of digital overconsumption.
Danielle Boyer, Founder & Youth Robotics Designer, The STEAM Connection
Danielle Boyer is a 23-year-old Indigenous (Ojibwe) robotics inventor and advocate for youth who has been teaching kids since she was ten. In 2019, she created The STEAM Connection, a minority and youth-led charity that has reached 800k+ youth with free, accessible, and representative technical education. The organization has 34k+ users on the Make-A-Robot virtual learning platform, has donated 11k+ free “EKGAR” robotics kits to students, and 100% of their products are designed by youth for youth.
Maddie Freeman, Founder of NoSo
Madeline Freeman is from Littleton, Colorado. She is a Business Management major with a focus on entrepreneurship at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Maddie is the founder of her nonprofit organization NoSo November. She is a changemaker in the digital space, spreading awareness surrounding social media’s design techniques and how this business model negatively impacts mental health. She is an advocate for suicide awareness and has changed thousands of teens’ lives through guiding them through digital detoxes to focus on their well-being.
Yoelle Gulko, Director of Our Subscription to Addiction
Yoelle Gulko is a documentary filmmaker, entrepreneur, and well-being activist from NYC, directing films about human connection. She is the creator and director of the upcoming film “Our Subscription to Addiction,” which captures her raw experience growing up with phone addiction and her discovery of a youth-led digital well-being movement. The film has been awarded grant funding and mentorship from Netflix’s The Social Dilemma, the prestigious Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund, and LookUp.live. She is also a current Senior at Washington University in St. Louis studying Organization and Strategic Management.
Ahmed Othman, Content Creator and Facilitator for HTS
Ahmed Othman is a 17-year-old from Wakefield, Massachusetts. Ahmed is a teen advisor for #HalfTheStory, the first youth-led non-profit dedicated to improving the next generation’s relationship with technology. As Content Creator and Facilitator at #HalfTheStory Ahmed works on empowering teenagers through social media and facilitating events and opportunities for youth engagement and advocacy. Ahmed is passionate about creating a safer, better environment for youth online.
Ally Phan, Social Media Coordinator at #HalfTheStory
Ally Phan is an 18-year-old from Seattle, WA. Ally is on the teen advisory board at #HalfTheStory, the first youth-led non-profit dedicated to improving the next generation’s relationship with technology. As #HalfTheStory’s Social Media Coordinator, Ally is responsible for developing the content strategy and leading the teen creator collective. Ally is passionate about amplifying the voices of her peers to inspire change.
Trisha Prabhu, Founder and CEO, ReThink
Trisha Prabhu is a 22-year-old innovator, social entrepreneur, global advocate and inventor of ReThink™, a patented technology which detects and stops online hate at the source, before bullying occurs and the damage is done. Her globally acclaimed research has found that with ReThink, adolescents change their mind 93% of the time and decide not to post an offensive message.