🌎 DIGITAL WELLNESS DAY SUMMIT! Young Voices: Mental Health & Flourishing in a Digital World

Join the 17 million people worldwide participating in Digital Wellness Day— a global movement to beat digital overwhelm, boost mental health, and build a more balanced relationship with tech. Our mission is simple: to provide free, evidence-based resources to support flourishing and balance in an always-on digital world.

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Young Voices: Flourishing in a Digital World
Celebrating Mental Health, Balance & Tech-Positive Wellbeing

This dynamic panel of youth educators and digital wellness advocates moves beyond the tired “just unplug” message. Instead, it shines a light on how today’s young leaders are using technology to fuel creativity, connection, and mental wellbeing.

Grounded in positive media psychology, this session explores how digital tools can be used not just wisely—but wonderfully.

Panelists will share:

- How to thrive—not just survive—in a hyperconnected world
- Unexpected ways tech can boost your mood, motivation, and meaning
- Behind-the-scenes habits for staying balanced without logging off
- Stories of using digital platforms for joy, activism, creativity, and connection

Tune in to hear how the next generation is flipping the script on digital wellness—with insight, intention, and bold new ideas for a more balanced future.

This panel is brought to you by Half the Story, a proud brand partner of Digital Wellness Day. Half the Story is a pioneering nonprofit dedicated to empowering the next generation’s relationship with technology. Through groundbreaking programs like Social Media U, they provide education, community, and tools to help young people navigate digital life with greater self-awareness, balance, and resilience. Together, we're building a future where tech enhances — rather than harms — mental health and emotional wellbeing.

⭐  Meet the panelists!  ⭐

Larissa May - Moderator
Larissa May is a digital wellness entrepreneur and the founder of #HalfTheStory, a non-profit dedicated to improving the next generation’s relationship with technology. Larissa founded #HalfTheStory after facing her own struggles with the pressures of social media, and has spent the past 10 years transforming her personal experiences into a global mission to promote intentional technology use. Larissa is recognized as the face of a rapidly growing movement toward digital wellness. As a social entrepreneur and changemaker, Larissa continues to advocate for a balanced, intentional approach to technology while spearheading the next wave of innovation in the digital wellness space. In 2023, Larz was honored with the Mozilla Foundation’s Rise 25 Award, recognizing her as one of the world’s top 25 leading innovators. She has been featured across major media outlets such as The Wall Street Journal, TIME, Forbes, Bloomberg, Refinery29, Well + Good, Good Morning America, The TODAY Show, and CBS This Morning. #HalfTheStory is a non-profit dedicated to improving the next generation’s relationship with technology. As the first youth-led non-profit of its kind, #HalfTheStory focuses on progressing education and advocacy work surrounding social media and tech use. Through its evidence-based education program, Social Media U, young people in schools across the US, UK, and Canada are taught the skills needed to have a healthy relationship with their screens and are empowered to understand and advocate for their digital health. #HalfTheStory’s funders include Pinterest, Pivotal, a Melinda French Gates organization, The Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation, The Archwell Foundation, and The Born This Way Foundation. In 2023, #HalfTheStory was selected by The Duke and Duchess of Sussex as one of the 26 organizations named to the first-ever Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund. In 2024, #HalfTheStory announced an education partnership with Girls Inc. to serve girls across the country.

Nina Krishnaiah
Nina Krishnaiah is a high school junior passionate about digital wellness and gender equality. She serves as a teen advisor and content creator for #HalfTheStory and loves discussing topics ranging from ethical AI to algorithms and social media. She also serves as one of twelve members of the Youth Advisory Committee for the California Partners Project, where she discusses how to improve the digital world for youth and researches how to engage more youth in California's in-person initiatives. Additionally, she is a member of the Digital Wellness Lab's Student Advisory Council, and she leads workshops in her community to educate middle school students about responsible tech use and digital activism. Furthermore, she is currently leading an independent research project on the mental health crisis among women and girls in India and examining how India can address the gender disparities within mental health care. She is also the co-executive for SheSaid News, a youth-led blog inspiring GenZ women to enter discourse with confidence. She hopes to pursue a career in social entrepreneurship in the future, specifically focusing on improving the digital world and inspiring youth to create change in their communities!

Nick Plante
Nick Plante is a researcher, writer, and organizer with a simple goal: spreading more happiness in the digital age. He has run studies on how to change social media habits, led responsible tech startups, and consulted on behalf of groups like the Ford Foundation. Currently, as an Organizing Director with Design It for Us, Nick works with Gen-Z advocates and policymakers to shape laws surrounding digital technology. As a Board Member at the Sustainable Media Center, he helps intergenerational efforts to support digital literacy and agency efforts. And as a facilitator with the Strother School of Radical Attention, he explores ways for communities to strengthen their agency and communal wellbeing.

Clementina Jose
Clementina Jose is a dedicated advocate for mental health, wellness, and creating safe spaces for diverse communities. As a licensed master of social work and program manager in higher education, she leads efforts to ensure all individuals have access to the resources they need to thrive, with a special focus on underserved populations. Beyond her day-to-day role, Clementina is an engaging speaker, writer, and SEL consultant, dedicated to transforming school-based mental health systems and promoting supportive environments.

Elizabeth Tate is a recovering social media addict. She’s a digital native who spent her adolescence and early adulthood plugged in and zoned out. Elizabeth had something of a nervous breakdown and spontaneously deleted the social media accounts to which she devoted more than a decade. She used her newfound free time to write her debut book, "Control Your Scroll: How to Demote Your Device and Reclaim Your Life." Elizabeth possesses a master’s degree in psychology and a stubborn curiosity about human nature. In school, she became interested in how technology shapes our minds, relationships, and sense of self. She writes about modern culture, tech, relationships, and Generation Z.