Twenty-four youth and intergenerationally led organizations to advance tech accountability, youth mental health, responsible AI, and technology-based climate solutions

SAN FRANCISCO, April 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Today, the Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund (RTYPF) announced $1.9 million in funding to support 24 youth- and intergenerationally-led organizations working to create a safer, more equitable digital ecosystem. This is RTYPF’s third year of investing in the youth-led responsible technology movement, and its newest cohort arrives as mounting legal scrutiny of social media’s impact on young people and urgent conversations around AI safety converge to affirm that the work of building a safer digital ecosystem is more critical than ever. 2026 grantees will use grant funding to advance work across a variety of issues, including tech accountability, youth mental health, responsible AI, and technology-based climate solutions. The fund’s grantees are receiving one-year grants of $50,000 to $100,000, allocated based on organizational capacity and funding needs.

Reimagining Power in Philanthropy

RTYPF was founded with the acknowledgment that traditional philanthropic organizations too rarely center the voices of the communities they serve — especially young people. The Fund has deliberately engaged in power-sharing in grantmaking, inviting young leaders to move from recipients to decision-makers.

In its second year, the RTYPF steering committee added four seats to include young leaders from previous grantee cohorts (AI Consensus, Innovation for Everyone, Future Incubator, and trubel&co). Each young leader received $75,000, providing the financial resources to remain focused on their organizational goals while serving in decision-making roles in grant selection, ecosystem building, and future thinking for the Fund. This step helped refine the Fund’s focus to three specific areas of responsible technology: AI, climate activism, and mental health.

Now in its third year, RTYPF has continued to elevate youth leadership on its steering committee and has mobilized a cumulative amount of $7.5 million of support for a diverse group of young leaders, with investments from co-funders, Allen Family Philanthropies, Archewell Philanthropies, Arthur M. Blank Foundation, Carmel Hill Fund, Hopelab, Omidyar Network, Pinterest, Pivotal, Stuart Foundation, and Susan Crown Exchange, and an intergenerational grantmaking approach. By reimaging power structures in funding decisions, RTYPF demonstrates what is possible when young people are centered in decisions that transform the potential of grantmaking.

“Creating change requires bringing the voices, lived experience, and grassroots action of young people to decision-making spaces”, said Neha Shukla, Founder of Innovation for Everyone and RTYPF Steering Committee Member. “We can be the leaders, organizers, and activists standing alongside older generations to reimagine a safer future of technology.” 

2026 Grantee Cohort

The 24 organizations joining the Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund’s third cohort represent a diverse cross-section of youth and intergenerationally-led work addressing critical challenges at the intersection of technology, health equity, and community well-being.

#Halfthestory is moving the world from screen-fear to screen-free fun by putting teens at the table of tech decision-making.
Agents of Influence helps young people take back control of their attention, their decisions, and the technologies shaping both.
AI Consensus builds environments that let young people come together and decide what AI becomes.
Center for Intimacy Justice works to hold technology platforms accountable for ensuring that young people can access accurate health education online without stigma, censorship, or algorithmic bias.
Civics Unplugged shapes young leaders to redefine civics as a verb and become active world-builders in their communities.
Cyber Collective gives people the tools, language, and support to stay safe online.
Decifer Studio allows people to pull the curtain on emerging technologies, look behind the scenes, and imagine themselves at the steering wheel.
Design It For Us believes that young people should be at the center of the solutions to creating safer, more productive online spaces.
Despierta helps young people and families build healthier relationships with technology, themselves, and each other by blending mental health education, youth leadership, and culturally responsive learning.
Future Incubator is an operational partner for youth-led initiatives, providing administrative support in finance, HR, and legal compliance, removing barriers for young leaders to fundraise, hire, and scale, and stay focused on leading.
Gen-Z for Change brings together attorneys, creators, strategists, and organizers to translate digital influence into meaningful civic engagement.
Generation Patient is building a future where young adults with chronic conditions lead the way in reshaping care, through peer support and systems reform led by lived experience.
Innovation for Everyone is a youth-led movement mobilizing for AI ethics literacy, reaching 70,000 students across 35 countries to preserve critical-thinking and youth agency in the age of AI.
Kentucky Student Voice Team is a laboratory for democratic participation where young people investigate the education systems that shape their lives and help redesign them.
Kinston Teens, Inc empowers young people through service, leadership, and civic engagement.
NClude Inc. works to unlock employment and economic independence for people with disabilities by transforming inaccessible digital systems into inclusive opportunities through accessible, responsible AI.
Next Gen Men creates a positive shift in the way boys and men think of themselves, relate to others, and are viewed in the community.
NoSo Connection Collective empowers young people to reclaim control over their time, attention, and well-being by forming healthier relationships with technology, using it as a core strategy to improve their mental health.
Our Subscription to Addiction inspires young people to reclaim their agency with social media, equipping them with the confidence, tools, and resources needed to build a better relationship with their phones and to contribute their voices to solutions.
Reboot is a publication by and for technologists.
Rooted Futures Lab is a research and action collective dedicated to centering environmental justice principles in technology.
trubel&co (pronounced like “trouble”) is a tech-justice nonprofit that mobilizes youth and communities to leverage local data to tackle challenges that matter most.
Young People’s Alliance is empowering young people to ensure that AI’s encroachments on our humanity create the conditions for us to collectively prioritize policies that put our humanity first.
Youth for Privacy – Privacy Runway is a youth-led, youth-centered group advocating for privacy, with a mission to raise awareness of privacy through education, outreach, research, and advocacy.

About the Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund (RTYPF)
The Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund (RTYPF) is a first-of-its-kind philanthropic initiative that supports youth- and intergenerationally led organizations in collectively defining what responsible technology looks like for their communities. By reimagining power structures in philanthropy — inviting young people to move from recipients to decision-makers — the Fund is building solutions that shape a more equitable and safer digital ecosystem. Now in its third year, the Fund has raised $7.5 million to support 501(c)(3)-eligible public charities, with award amounts ranging from $50,000 to $125,000 depending on the organization’s stage and funding needs. Grantees work across tech accountability, youth mental health, responsible AI, and technology-based climate solutions. Learn more at www.rtyouthpower.org.

The organizations partnering to invest in the Fund are Allen Family Philanthropies, Archewell Philanthropies, Arthur M. Blank Foundation, Carmel Hill Fund, Hopelab, Omidyar Network, Pinterest, Pivotal, Stuart Foundation, and Susan Crown Exchange.

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SOURCE Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund

Industry Veteran Joins from Mattel as Christoph Frehsee Moves Into the Global Role of Chief Revenue Officer

PALO ALTO, Calif., April 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — tonies®, the globally leading interactive audio platform for children, today announced the appointment of Mark McColgan as General Manager, North America. Effective immediately, McColgan leads tonies’ largest market, overseeing operations with a focus on continuing the company’s rapid growth through retail expansion and partnerships, as well as deeper consumer engagement. He will report to Christoph Frehsee, who since 2020 has built tonies’ North American activities from the ground up into a more than $300 million net revenue business. Most recently, in 2025, tonies in North America sustained its growth rate above group average, increasing revenue by 40% year over year, in constant currency. In July 2025, Frehsee assumed the role of Chief Revenue Officer on tonies’ Management Board. In his new capacity, he is responsible for tonies’ global commercial strategy, enabling growth across all markets and driving international expansion.

“Mark is a dynamic leader with a proven track record of creating affinity for beloved brands. As we continue to deepen our footprint in North America, Mark’s expertise and deep understanding of the market will be instrumental in continuing our high-growth momentum, making the U.S. and Canada a key driver for tonies’ global growth,” says Christoph Frehsee, CRO of tonies. “I look forward to working with Mark as we scale established and new partnerships in North America and realize our full potential in tonies’ most important growth market.”

McColgan brings more than two decades of leadership experience in the toy and consumer products industries. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President and General Manager of Mattel US, where he led strategy, sales and commercial growth. Having started his career in the industry as a store manager and buyer, he went on to scale major consumer brands and drove profitable growth in competitive markets in positions across the U.S. and U.K. With deep domestic expertise and international perspectives, McColgan contributed, among others, to the success of properties such as Mattel’s Hot Wheels, Barbie and Fisher-Price, Disney’s Cars, and Universal’s Wicked.

“With its unique audio-first approach, tonies has created a category of its own, scaled it, and continues to lead and redefine it. tonies’ focus on creating moments that really matter has earned the trust and love of families around the world and inspired me to join: Tonieboxes bring together freedom for engaging play with parents’ desire for a safe space that inspires growth,” says Mark McColgan, General Manager of tonies, North America. “Building on strong momentum, there is massive, untapped potential in North America, and I’m thrilled to be joining the team to bring the tonies’ unique experience to even more families across the country.”

“North America is key to our global growth strategy. We have big ambitions, and we are delighted to have Mark join us to lead the next phase of scaling this important market,” says Tobias Wann, CEO of tonies. “With his appointment and Christoph Frehsee fully moving into his CRO role, we are elevating our leadership to pursue our ambition of becoming a truly global icon – a brand trusted by families everywhere, with an ecosystem that grows along with kids as they get older.”

About tonies
tonies® is the globally leading interactive audio platform for children redefining how children aged 1 to 9+ play, learn and grow independently without screens. Since its founding in Germany in 2014, more than 11.8 million Tonieboxes have been activated and over 156 million Tonies sold worldwide.

On average, children engage with tonies for ~280 minutes per week, making it a trusted everyday companion that brings the joy and magic of interactive audio entertainment and education into family life worldwide.

The intuitive and award-winning system – centered around Toniebox 2 – offers a portfolio of around 1,500 Tonies figurines and two dozen Tonieplay games and more than 3,500 digital titles via mytonies (library and app) – ranging from tonies Originals® to licensed content from around 460 partners including Disney, Warner Bros., NBC Universal, Mattel, Marvel, Paramount, Hasbro, Universal, Sony Music.

tonies is rapidly expanding its platform globally. Besides DACH, central growth regions include tonies’ largest market, North America, the United Kingdom and Ireland, France, Australia and New Zealand with Tonieboxes now active in over 100 countries. tonies employs more than 630 people and achieved USD 756 million (EUR 630 million) in group revenue in fiscal year 2025 (+31% YoY) and is listed in the SDAX segment of Frankfurt Stock Exchange (tonies SE).

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SOURCE tonies®

A new cloud AI layer filters every driver safety alert before it reaches a fleet manager, eliminating the false alarms that have eroded trust in driver monitoring technology for years

SAN FRANCISCO, April 21, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — LightMetrics, a global leader in AI-powered video telematics and driver safety technology, today announced ΦFP™, a cloud-based artificial intelligence (AI) layer that filters every driver safety alert before it reaches a fleet manager, ensuring that only genuine safety events make it through to the coaching queue.

Fleets across the industry have invested heavily in driver monitoring cameras, but the volume of inaccurate alerts these systems typically generate has eroded trust on both sides. Drivers feel unfairly flagged for events that were not genuinely risky, and fleet managers spend hours reviewing alerts that turn out to be false alarms. Over time, both groups stop taking the system seriously. ΦFP is built to change that – giving fleet managers and safety teams a tool they can trust, rather than one they’ve learned to second-guess.

How ΦFP Works

Traditional dash cameras process video footage directly on the device, analyzing short clips to detect risky driving behavior. Edge devices, however, operate under real constraints: limited on-board computing power and the economics of device cost mean that the largest, most accurate neural networks cannot always run on in-vehicle hardware. This is a fundamental trade-off in the industry and not a flaw in design, but a reality of deploying safety technology at scale. ΦFP is built to resolve that trade-off, adding a second layer of intelligence in the cloud where a more powerful AI model re-examines every event flagged by the camera before it reaches anyone’s queue. This cloud layer has access to far greater processing power than any in-vehicle device, allowing it to run more sophisticated analysis and apply a higher standard of accuracy.

The impact is measurable. Drowsiness and fatigue detection is among the most challenging behaviors to identify accurately, given the wide range of ways it can manifest. LightMetrics’ edge AI already achieves 94% precision on these events, which means that for every 1,000 genuine drowsy driving incidents, roughly 60 alerts are false positives. In early customer deployments, ΦFP reduces that number to just 9, lifting precision from 94% to 99.1%. For a fleet manager, that is the difference between a coaching queue they can trust and one they have learned to ignore.

The result is a curated coaching queue that contains only the events that genuinely warrant attention.

“Every false positive has a cost, such as driver attention, eroded trust, and wasted time. Manual reviews are time-consuming, expensive, and inconsistent. ΦFP is built on the advances in generative AI and vision language models. We are giving fleet operators something they have never had before: complete confidence that when an alert surfaces, it is real, it is serious, and it demands action.”
– Krishna Govindarao, Co-Founder & Head of Product and Marketing, LightMetrics

What This Means for Fleets

For fleet managers and safety teams managing large numbers of drivers, the ability to focus on genuine risks rather than sifting through hundreds of questionable alerts is a meaningful shift in how driver safety technology can be used. LightMetrics sees ΦFP as part of a broader vision to make AI-powered fleet safety not just more accurate, but more actionable, which helps fleets build stronger coaching programs, improve driver relationships, and make better use of the technology they have already invested in.

With deployments spanning North America, Europe, Latin America, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia, LightMetrics is positioned to bring ΦFP to fleets and telematics providers worldwide. To learn more about LightMetrics and its AI-powered video telematics platform, visit www.lightmetrics.co.

About LightMetrics

LightMetrics is a global leader in AI-powered video telematics, on a mission to make roads safer for drivers and fleets everywhere. Its RideView platform delivers enterprise-grade driver monitoring, real-time coaching, and fleet safety intelligence to telematics service providers, OEMs, and fleet operators across North America, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Asia, and Australia. LightMetrics goes to market exclusively through a global network of white label channel partners, enabling telematics providers to deliver advanced video safety under their own brand. Learn more at www.lightmetrics.co and follow us on LinkedIn.

Media Contact
geetika.jain@lightmetrics.co
Director of Marketing
LightMetrics Technologies Pvt Ltd

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SOURCE LightMetrics