Elise Schuster
Ashoka زميل منذ 2023   |   United States

Elise Schuster

OkaySo
Against the backdrop of a growing youth mental wellbeing crisis, Elise is reinventing the support service ecosystem to expand and improve public health access for young people so they can live without…
أقرا المزيد
This description of Elise Schuster's work was prepared when Elise Schuster was elected to the Ashoka Fellowship in 2023.

Introduction

Against the backdrop of a growing youth mental wellbeing crisis, Elise is reinventing the support service ecosystem to expand and improve public health access for young people so they can live without shame or fear. 

The New Idea

Despite spending an average of nine hours per day online, 80 percent of young people say they don’t have an online source that they trust with personal, important issues. Less than half of teenagers in the United States receive even basic information about critical topics including birth controlأقرا المزيد

The Problem

People born between 1996 and 2010 are often referred to as “Generation Z.” Their generation’s experience and identity has been shaped by the digital age, as well as by global climate and economic anxiety.

Like all young people before them Gen Zers are navigating the ups and downs of adolescenceأقرا المزيد

The Strategy

Elise believes that the best thing to help young people navigate sexism, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and ableism as it shows up online and in the so-called “real world” is to ensure that every young person can connect with adult allies they can trust, thus helping them become comfortable withأقرا المزيد

The Person

As Elise (who uses they/them pronouns) grew up in a single-parent, midwestern, evangelical Christian home as a queer, nonbinary person, they lacked the support they needed to understand and explore their own identity. Their mother's decision to remove them from a high school health class due toأقرا المزيد