Healthy Online Platforms for Everyone Coalition
We aim to hold social media companies accountable for the messages we all receive.
In 2018, San Mateo County Health contracted Youth Leadership Institute to create and lead the Healthy Online Platforms for Everyone (HOPE) Coalition to bring together prevention leaders across the state to understand how harmful messages reach youth’s social media feeds and the impact on youth’s mental health and well-being.
Since its implementation, the HOPE Coalition has carried out a quarterly General Coalition meeting for prevention leaders, youth-serving organizations, and youth to mobilize campaign projects.
HOPE’s approach is grounded in yli’s Youth-led Participatory Action Research (YPAR) model, an innovative approach to positive youth and community development while being rooted in social justice principles.
Using YPAR, yli trains young people to conduct research to improve their lives, their communities, and the institutions intended to serve them. In the process, youth gain skills in critical thinking, research techniques, and data analysis, while being supported by a community of adult allies who serve as mentors.
