For Larissa May, founder of #HalfTheStory, the mission began at age 19 after her own mental health crisis revealed how unprepared systems were to help young people thrive in the digital age. #HalfTheStory equips teens with emotional regulation and peer leadership skills so they can use technology intentionally and build resilience in a world without clear digital guardrails.

The organization’s approach blends storytelling, systems change, and education. It focuses on:

• Developing teen-centered programs such as Social Media U for middle and high school students.
• Training youth advocates through the Digital Civics Academy and a state-level Teen Tech Council model.
• Partnering with institutions like Discovery Education and Girls Inc. to expand reach through a business-to-business-to-teen framework.
• Building the largest research base on digital flourishing across 21 domains, validated in partnership with the Georgetown Thrive Center.

#HalfTheStory’s storytelling reached more than a billion people in the past year. Its curriculum is now distributed to tens of millions of educators through Discovery Education. After a national listening tour, 75 percent of Girls Inc. affiliates requested the program. In New York, the Teen Tech Council secured funding for a teen-led ideas fund and in-person training, with the model now being adapted in Arkansas and North Carolina. Internal data show that every student in #HalfTheStory’s summer program would recommend it to a peer, and nearly all reported measurable improvements in digital wellbeing.

May’s insights emphasize co-design, trust, and collaboration as essential to building digital wellness. She argues that success requires evidence-based programming and a cultural shift toward emotional resilience and flourishing, rather than fear or restriction.

Challenges remain. Early attempts to send facilitators directly into schools proved unsustainable, and some partnerships have collapsed for political reasons, such as the termination of a federal grant in Indiana. #HalfTheStory continues to refine its sustainability model, pursue a randomized controlled trial, and expand research on how young people can navigate emerging technologies like AI with agency and confidence.

For Daniella Ivanir, youth engagement and advocacy manager at #HalfTheStory, supporting digital wellness begins with recognizing young people’s agency. #HalfTheStory is a youth-led nonprofit that helps the next generation understand and improve their relationship with technology through programs such as the Digital Civics Academy, the Teen Advisory Board, and a new Teen Tech Council for New York State. #HalfTheStory’s approach centers on co-creation and peer facilitation so that young people are part of designing and leading the initiatives that affect them.

Ivanir and her team respond to the growing need for young people to feel more in control of their digital lives by:

• Defining digital wellness as the connection between technology habits and emotional wellbeing.
• Teaching “agentic mindsets” that encourage reflection and intentional tech use.
• Building community through peer-led workshops and school-based partnerships.
• Strengthening civic readiness by preparing youth to advocate for healthier digital cultures.

#HalfTheStory has trained youth advocates across the United States, and they recently partnered with New York’s governor and Hillary Clinton on a statewide initiative where students led public interviews with both leaders. Projects such as Screen-Free Prom have inspired students to rediscover joy and connection in offline spaces. These experiences often become formative moments for participants who see that their voices and choices matter.

Ivanir emphasizes that adults must also examine their own digital habits and model the balance they encourage in youth. She calls for collaboration across generations to build a more intentional digital culture. Sustaining partnerships with schools and institutions remains challenging, and protecting youth voices requires ongoing attention to prevent tokenism. Still, Ivanir believes that progress comes through shared responsibility and trust in young people’s ability to lead.

As social media coordinators at #HalfTheStory, Ally Phan and Olivia DeMartini work at the intersection of youth culture and digital wellness — and as young people themselves, they bring firsthand experience to the work. Both describe a moment where the conversation around social media is shifting from crisis to flourishing, though they are clear-eyed about the challenges. "Big tech will continue to find ways to hook users unless a miracle happens," Phan notes, "which is not realistic." Their focus is on equipping young people with the tools and mindset to navigate platforms intentionally, rather than avoid them entirely.

Their work at #HalfTheStory includes:

• Running Social Media U, a curriculum delivered through lessons in videos, slideshows, and static posts that offers study and technology tips for young people who are going to be online regardless.
• Coordinating a creator collective of 30 teams, ages 15 to 22, who meet monthly to brainstorm and produce content on digital wellness, responsible technology, and mental health — with #HalfTheStory supporting scripting, editing, and posting.
• Hosting monthly meetings with a teen advisory group to discuss what young people are experiencing on social media and what issues they want to address.
• Running a Digital Civics Academy over the summer, where teens develop skills in advocacy, content creation, and civic engagement.
• Using the platform Breakthru to manage workflows with teen creators, structuring submission and feedback processes through a system of missions and weekly check-ins.

The peer-to-peer dimension of this work is central to its effectiveness. As Phan explains, when content comes from teens, "it comes across as a little more authentic, because they're going through the same exact challenges." DeMartini adds that the goal is always to make content accessible to someone without any prior experience in the digital wellness space. The organization is also actively working to reach boys, a population Phan describes as "a completely untapped issue that needs to be addressed," particularly given the rise of manosphere content online.

Challenges remain around keeping up with fast-moving trends, platform algorithm changes, and the difficulty of maintaining consistent engagement with busy teen creators. Phan and DeMartini also point to a broader tension in the work: young people can feel "they're just being used for research, but not actually valued." Their response is to make co-creation genuine — implementing what teens ask for and making clear, as Phan puts it, "that you're actually going to implement the things they want you to design alongside them."