2023
YEAR IN REVIEW
OUR TOP 4 HIGHLIGHTS
Ahead of our 30th year, we rolled out our new strategic plan in late 2022 to deepen our commitment to diversity, equity, inclusion and belonging and position DoSomething for sustainable growth for our next 30 years. Here are our top four achievements from 2023, one year into the plan:
Strategic priority: Foster a culture of belonging and purpose within our organizations and across our collective
We used 2023 to define what DEIB means for DoSomething and to integrate it into all facets of our internal operations, including our talent, onboarding and retention strategies, and vendor solicitation processes; as well as in our programming and member engagement strategies.
Experimented with and implemented new strategies and practices to reflect our commitment to DEIB
4. DEEPENED OUR COMMITMENT TO DIVERSITY, EQUITY, INCLUSION AND BELONGING
SCROLL TO EXPLORE THE IN-PROGRESS DESIGN
Strategic priority: Foster a diverse and inclusive collective of young people who will use their power to effect change together
We announced Project Rise at The Futures Ball, our work to modernize DoSomething.org to support the next generation of changemakers in their journey from civically curious to civically committed. In response to insights gleaned from young people, the new platform will offer greater personalization, community and identity through a guided journey where members can set intentions, build personalized DoTHIS lists and collectively celebrate one another's actions.
Announced Project Rise, the future of the DoSomething platform, at The Futures Ball
3. PREVIEWED THE FUTURE OF DOSOMETHING.ORG
Strategic priority: Build a sustainable organization positioned for long-term impact
We hosted The Futures Ball, our 30th anniversary bash, on November 16, 2023 to commemorate 30 years of youth-led impact and share how we’re fueling the future of youth activism. The inaugural event was a vehicle for us to honor established and emerging youth leaders while raising funds to support our new direction.
Convened over 300 leaders from across the social impact sector to champion youth-led impact
2. HOSTED THE FUTURES BALL
Strategic priority: Change the economic and political conditions that block young people from using their power to change the world
We launched our flagship civic engagement program, The Art of Democracy, to help young people find their civic spark and stay civically engaged in and beyond the voting booth. We piloted this in New York City and began scaling this program in Milwaukee, Wisconsin and exploring additional regions ahead of the 2024 elections.
Convened over 850 young people across New York City and gathered stories from over 100 to elevate their voice ahead of the NYC City Council elections
1. LAUNCHED THE ART OF DEMOCRACY
SUPPORTING YOUNG PEOPLE IN FINDING THEIR THIS
For 30 years we have been fueling young people to find their THIS – their civic voice – and do something to channel it into action. Our flagship 30th anniversary video celebrated young people finding their THIS and the collective impact they have achieved since our founding. It offered a call to action for the work ahead – because there is so much more of THIS that still needs doing a mantra for our 2023 Year in Review and one we are carrying with us into 2024.
THE BIGGEST NIGHT IN YOUTH ACTIVISM
We used our 30th anniversary celebration not only to commemorate a milestone, but to preview the future of DoSomething.org and recognize the next generation of young people leading change.
DeNora Getachew
Chief Executive Officer
John Faucher
Board Chair
LETTER FROM LEADERSHIP
In many ways 2023 was also a year of renaissance for DoSomething – thank you Beyoncé. Not only did we celebrate three decades of youth-led impact at The Futures Ball in November, but we ushered in a new generation of changemakers through the launch of the Generation Future Award and welcomed the oldest members of Gen Alpha (the newly 13 year olds born in 2010) onto the DoSomething platform. DoSomething’s tech powered platform is only as good as its responsiveness to the needs of our community. We spent much of 2023 listening to our members and revamping our platform from the ground up to keep pace with technology and the needs of Gen Z and Gen Alpha. One year into our new strategy, we began to see the impact of our new, deeper programmatic offerings and approach. This included the launch of our new flagship civic engagement program The Art of Democracy. Through this initiative, we engaged approximately 1,000 youth in person to understand their personal civic why, and leverage their civic identity to get engaged to push for the change they seek. Leading into the critical 2024 election year, this program couldn’t be more timely when the fundamental principles of our democracy are being tested daily. It is not cliche to say that now more than ever, we need young people to Do Something. Our goal is to register at least 100,000 new young people to vote in the 2024 elections and equip them to claim their role in shaping our democracy as core to their identity. Efforts to ban books were at a fever pitch in 2023. We did our part by activating over 20,000 young people to fight back against those efforts through the simple act of reading and equipped them to advocate for diverse perspectives in schools nationwide. We’ll double down on these efforts in 2024 leveraging our new tech platform’s dialogue-centric and customizable capabilities - enabling youth to share perspectives and drive action together. We heeded the clarion call to address the rising youth mental health crisis by launching Camp Reboot, our year-long virtual mental health program. We took young people on a new, tiered journey offering them several tools to address their and their peers’ mental health needs; all the while destigmatizing mental health access through accessible and diverse activities and offerings. We launched our first cohort of mental health champions - The EMBER Collective. We will be expanding our programming to address the pernicious challenge young people face as they balance protecting their mental health with the realities of living in a digital age. History has repeatedly shown us that young people don’t need an invitation to press for change. Former First Lady Rosalynn Carter wisely said, “I believe that one of the most important things to learn in life is that you can make a difference in your community no matter who you are or where you live.” Our role at DoSomething is to be the hub for them to make a difference and fuel them to lead the change they seek together. Looking ahead to the opportunities that 2024 will bring, we’re energized by the promise of our new platform, our new programming, and the work to support young people to claim our democracy and do something to build a more just, equitable world.
With gratitude,