CEO Corner with Dr. Celine Coggins
Announcing Our Newest Grantee: The Rithm Project
We are thrilled to share our latest grant to support, The Rithm Project, a visionary nonprofit that’s tackling one of the most urgent challenges facing youth today: how to help young people navigate the world of AI companions and chatbots and while building their capacity for human connection.
In an era where young people spend an unprecedented amount of time online and where AI-driven experiences increasingly shape social interactions, The Rithm Project believes this moment is not just a crisis of loneliness and accelerating risk, but a crossroads that holds possibility if we act now. Their work focuses on empowering youth, parents, and educators to define the role AI should play in their lives and relationships, and the boundaries that are needed for healthy use.
Engaging Young People as Leaders and Designers
What sets The Rithm Project apart is its youth-centered approach — young people aren’t just beneficiaries; they are active partners, researchers, and changemakers. Through fellowships, summits, and research initiatives, youth contribute essential insight into how AI intersects with real-world relationships, community, and wellbeing. Their perspectives directly shape The Rithm Project’s frameworks and resources.
Resources That Translate Insight Into Action
Their work isn’t just academic — it equips educators, parents, and community leaders with practical tools to navigate this terrain thoughtfully:
- AI + Human Connection Curriculum Resources: Rithm has developed free AI literacy lessons for high school classrooms that emphasize social and emotional understanding alongside technical awareness. These lessons help students explore what it means to relate to each other — and to AI — with empathy and agency.
- Five Principles for AI Use: A resource for parents, educators, and young people. I participated in their process for developing this tool and want it in the hands of every parent! It is a framework that helps adults and teens alike to evaluate different AI platforms on whether they support or undermine human connection and safety.
- AI Conversation Tools: Innovative, engaging tools like card games and guided discussions help families and classrooms turn abstract questions about AI into real conversations about values, relationships, and choices.
Partnering for Collective Action
Our grant will help The Rithm Project expand these efforts — scaling youth engagement, research, and collaborative programming that equips parents, teachers, and community leaders with actionable strategies for nurturing safe, healthy, and empowered young people in an AI-augmented world.
Stay tuned for updates on their work and how your support is helping fuel this important movement!
