Press Release
Oak Foundation Recognizes the Power that Gen Z holds
This fall, The Oak Foundation Children First Fund, a fund of Tides Foundation, awarded LookUp a generous grant to explore and accelerate Gen Z’s impact on improving mental health and safety in the online world.
The Oak Foundation Children First Fund, a fund of Tides Foundation, aims to support civil society as a pillar of democracy and justice and nurture innovation and visionary leadership within it. This is the critical overlap between LookUp and the Oak Foundation: LookUp supports youth-led solutions for improving mental health in the digital world through unique innovations, solutions, storytelling, and advocacy. LookUp keeps youth at the center of the conversation and gives them the space to refine their ideas and advocacy work through programming, mentorships, and funding.
Irrefutable evidence has revealed that Gen Z is the most connected but loneliest generation with an escalating mental health crisis and alarming spikes in youth suicides. With the help of this grant, LookUp’s youth leaders will continue to contribute solutions for a digital ecosystem that does not victimize, exploit, or otherwise harm young people with opportunities for youth to activate, unite and amplify their advocacy for a safe and healthy digital world. This award arrives just in time for the upcoming LookUp Innovation Challenge (LUIC) which is accepting applications until November 28th, 2022 11:59pm PST. The upcoming cohort will start January 9th, 2023.
This grant will further LookUp’s mission in its pilot advocacy program:
Expand the LookUp network with youth aged 13-25 who are advocates and/or innovators striving for a healthy and safe digital world.
Complete an interactive global map that will help support Lookup’s active youth network.
LookUp’s youth will create and/or join the advocacy branch of LookUp to help spread youth generated programming in high schools.
Fund 2023 Innovation teams who are focused on advocacy solutions.
Continue to challenge social norms by calling big tech companies to task through legislation that includes youth voices. The CA Age Appropriate Design Code passed with the support of Tech(nically) Politics and LogOff Movement, LookUp Innovators from 2022.
The opportunity to join LookUp as an Innovator in 2023 is open and accepting applications here.
