Together with our friends at Young Futures, and with support from Niantic, Pivotal and Susan Crown Exchange, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center is thrilled to announce the 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.
From video games to creative coding, digital play fosters creativity, connection, and emotional resilience—yet too few solutions prioritize youth wellbeing. This challenge seeks to change that by funding innovative, youth-centered solutions that:
- Align with the Responsible Innovation in Technology for Children (RITEC) research-backed well-being outcomes (safety, autonomy, relationships, and more)
- Embrace the Four Freedoms of Play: freedom to fail, experiment, embody identity, and engage with effort
- Are co-created with teens to meet their developmental needs
Grants of up to $100,000 will be awarded to up to these eight organizations. Grantees will also join the Young Futures Academy, a five-month program to scale their impact.
Learn more about the Here Comes the Fun cohort here.
