Kid Cudi’s Big Bro Foundation and Young Futures Launch $1.5M+ Express Yourself Challenge Series to Fund Solutions for Teens Navigating Gender Pressure Online
New funding opportunity will back 10+ solutions helping girls, boys and trans and gender-expansive young people build confidence, belonging and digital wellbeing.
NEW YORK, April 08, 2026–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Teens today are figuring out who they are in digital spaces that are actively working against them. Algorithms push rigid gender expectations whether young people seek them out or not, platforms reward conformity and penalize taking up space and the same corners of the internet where young people find their people are often the ones most aggressively telling them who to be.
Today, Young Futures announced the Express Yourself Challenge Series: a $1.5M+ funding opportunity for U.S.-based nonprofits building solutions that help girls, boys and trans and gender-expansive young people develop a strong sense of self, online and off.
The Express Yourself Series is organized into three tracks. Girl On Fire is for the girl who is confident, funny and full of opinions in real life — and has learned to make herself smaller online or vice versa. In My Dreams is for the boy who is struggling but doesn’t have the language for it, handed a script about manhood that makes it harder to ask for help or show up fully. Just The Way You Are is for the young person who has to defend their existence before they can begin to explore it. Each track funds solutions that address the specific pressures that shape young people’s experiences of digital life by gender.
“We keep treating the harms young people experience online as side effects. They’re not — they’re the predictable result of platforms built to maximize engagement, not wellbeing. Girls learn to make themselves smaller. Boys get handed a script about manhood they never asked for. Trans and gender-expansive youth have to defend their existence before they can explore it,” said Katya Hancock, Chief Executive Officer of Young Futures. “Every one of those young people is looking for the same thing: connection, belonging and a sense of who they are. The Express Yourself Challenge Series exists to find and fund the organizations helping them get there.”
The In My Dreams track is being supported by Scott Mescudi, also known as Kid Cudi, and his organization, the Big Bro Foundation.
“As someone who’s always believed in the power of self-expression, I know how important it is for young people, especially boys, to have space to be honest about who they are, what they feel, and what they’re up against,” said Kid Cudi. “Too many boys are being fed narrow ideas about masculinity online before they’ve had the chance to define themselves. ‘In My Dreams’ is about opening that up and making room for vulnerability, creativity, connection and a fuller vision of what it means to grow up with confidence.”
The challenge is informed by recent listening and research conducted by Young Futures in collaboration with In Tandem, including direct input from young people ages 14-18. Across genders, teens described intense pressure to look or act a certain way online, exposure to harmful content and harassment, and an equally strong desire for digital spaces to remain places of creativity, connection and community. Young Futures designed the Express Yourself Series in response to this complexity, recognizing that online spaces can both affirm identity and distort it in harmful ways.
Selected organizations will receive grant funding and join the Young Futures Academy, a five-month accelerator built on the premise that what leaders need is not just capital, but community, coaching and a room full of people solving adjacent problems. Participants receive leadership development, fundraising support, storytelling coaching, mentorship and peer networking, culminating in a virtual Showcase for funders, partners and users. Critically, all grantees join a shared cohort regardless of track — because the organizations working on girls’ confidence, boys’ emotional lives and affirming the identities of nonbinary youth have more to learn from each other than they might think. That cross-gender perspective is a core part of the design.
Pinterest’s support reflects a shared belief that online spaces can help young people explore identity, creativity and self-expression in healthier ways when those spaces are designed with intention. As part of that spirit, the Express Yourself Challenge Series is also exploring creative ways for applicants to share their vision, including through visual formats inspired by Pinterest’s platform and collage feature.
“At Pinterest, we believe digital spaces should inspire young people to find who they are, not confine them to who algorithms expect them to be,” said Malik Ducard, Chief Content Officer at Pinterest. “Building healthier online environments takes intention, and the Express Yourself Challenge Series helps young people nurture their wellbeing, unleash their creativity and lift up their dreams. Pinterest is committed to investing in partners and programs that make every young person feel safe, seen and celebrated.”
Young Futures (YF) is a nonprofit seeking to make the digital world an easier place to grow up. YF provides a social compass for teens and families navigating the tech-driven world by supporting emerging nonprofits working tirelessly to help young people and their families not just survive but flourish as a team when navigating the uncertainties of the digital wilderness. Its foundational funders include Pivotal, Susan Crown Exchange, The Goodness Web, Enlight Foundation, Arthur M. Blank Family Foundation and Resonance Philanthropies.
