The THRIVE Lab
Designing flourishing futures for all
Build ventures. Launch futures.
The thrive LAB for Youth
An experiential learning launchpad where young leaders master both creative ideation and real-world execution.
THE FLOURISHING YOUTH ACADEMY
The THRIVE Lab for Youth
The THRIVE Lab: Where Insight Meets Action
The THRIVE Lab is where self-discovery meets the real world. Here, young innovators collaborate to build ventures, solve pressing global challenges, and pitch to industry mentors. Throughout the process, young people use their signature character strengths as active, practical design tools. This is the season of dreaming & building—where entrepreneurship is mastered as a life skill to drive personal agency, community building, and true freedom.
Design Thinking, Reimagined
Standard design focuses on fixing what is broken. FYA’s novel Flourishing-Centered Design approach asks a bolder question: What would it look like for entire communities to truly thrive?
Participants move through a complete, hands-on design cycle:
Empathize & Define: Connect with human needs to uncover meaningful challenges.
Ideate & Prototype: Generate bold concepts and build tangible solutions.
Test & Refine: Share projects with the world and iterate based on real feedback.
Global Citizenship in Action
In the THRIVE Lab, global citizenship is a lived experience. Participants apply their solutions directly to the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)—choosing a global cause that ignites their passion, and designing a viable, real-world venture to address it.
Ages 18–26 · Advanced
Impact Track
For young adults ready for a bigger stage. Cross-cohort collaboration, community impact projects, and preparation for the Flourishing Futures Fellowship.
Foundational + Venture Design + Leadership Skills
Entrepreneur Mindset
Global Leadership
Community Engagement
EcoSystem Mapping
External Relations
Strategic Marketing & Communications
Ages 11–14
Foundations Track
Introduction to problem-solving, team collaboration, and the design thinking process.
First ventures: small, local, real.
Building the confidence to try.
Foundational Skills
Design challenge identification.
Brainstorming.
Prototyping.
Presenting
Ages 14–18
Builders Track
Real venture development. Mentor feedback. Pitching to panels.
Building something with actual stakes — and learning what happens when things don't go as planned.
Foundational + Venture Design Skills
Social Entrepreneurship
Business Strategy
Pitch development
Prototype Testing
Feedback gathering
Iteration
THE FLOURISHING YOUTH ACADEMY
the Thrive lab: how it works
The THRIVE Lab is designed for educators ready to elevate learning beyond the traditional classroom, and for students eager to step into their power as creators. We offer distinct, high-impact pathways tailored to different age groups and educational goals.
Pathway 1: School Partnerships
Spring Programs for Middle & High Schools
We partner with forward-thinking middle and high schools to deliver immersive, custom-designed lab experiences. Whether hosted on-site at your campus or off-site as an inspiring field trip, we collaborate closely with educators to align our programming with your annual curriculum priorities.
The Perfect Fit For Schools Prioritizing:
STEM & Entrepreneurship: Equipping students with the practical, hands-on skills to build real-world solutions.
Social-Emotional Learning (SEL): Cultivating self-awareness, collaboration, and personal agency.
Global Citizenship & Language Immersion: Connecting classroom learning with global impact and real-world application.
Holistic Student Well-Being: Supporting schools dedicated to raising thriving, balanced, and confident young leaders.
Pathway 2: Summer Masterclasses & Intensives
Summer Programs for Young Adults (Ages 18–26)
For young adults navigating critical life transitions, our summer programs offer the ultimate launchpad to build entrepreneurial skills, clarify direction, and design impactful ventures.
We offer three flexible formats to fit summer schedules:
The Half-Day Intensive: A high-impact, 4-hour sprint to master the fundamentals of Flourishing-Centered Design and jumpstart a creative project.
The Full-Day Venture Lab: An immersive, 8-hour deep dive where participants form teams, build a prototype, and pitch to active mentors.
The 4-Week Cohort (Weekly 2-Hour Sessions): Our signature transformation experience. Over four weeks, participants move systematically from raw idea to validated venture blueprint, receiving continuous feedback and peer support.
THE FLOURISHING YOUTH ACADEMY
The Thrive Lab: Foundations Track
Ages 11–14 | The Spark of Creative Confidence
The Foundations Track is where curiosity transforms into capability. This program introduces middle schoolers to the fundamentals of problem-solving, teamwork, and design thinking.
By launching their very first ventures—focusing on challenges that are small, local, and real—students experience the immediate power of their ideas. This track is entirely about building the unshakeable confidence to try, experiment, and grow.
Core Skills Mastered
Strengths Spotting : Learning to observe the world with empathy and identify strengths & opportunities for positive change.
Collaborative Brainstorming: Expansive thinking that values and builds upon the ideas of teammates.
Rapid Prototyping: Bringing abstract concepts to life quickly through physical and digital models.
Empowered Presenting: Sharing designs and stories with clarity, pride, and confidence.
Key Outcomes
Creative Confidence: A shift from passive observer to active problem-solver who believes in their own agency.
Collaboration Skills: Real experience navigating team dynamics and combining unique individual strengths.
First-Venture Experience: The pride of taking an original idea from a brainstorm sketch to a tested, real-world prototype.
Build ventures. Launch futures.
The thrive LAB for Youth
An experiential learning launchpad where young leaders master both creative ideation and real-world execution.
THE FLOURISHING YOUTH ACADEMY
The Thrive Lab: builders Track
Ages 14–18 | From Concept to Real-World Impact
The Builders Track is where youth-led ideas transform into tangible, real-world ventures. Designed for high school students ready to step into leadership, this program takes design thinking to the next level by introducing the stakes of actual social entrepreneurship.
Working in cohesive design teams, students develop, prototype, and refine ventures that address pressing global challenges. By testing their ideas in the real world and pitching to panels of active mentors, participants learn the invaluable life lessons of feedback, resilience, and iteration when navigating the unexpected.
Core Skills Mastered
Social Entrepreneurship: Aligning business and innovation models with social impact and the UN Sustainable Development Goals.
Business Strategy: Learning the fundamentals of market viability, value propositions, and strategic growth.
Pitch & Storytelling: Crafting and delivering compelling presentations to engage mentors, partners, and advisors.
Rapid Iteration: Gathering authentic feedback, testing prototypes, and confidently pivoting based on real-world data.
Key Outcomes
The Entrepreneurial Edge: Students graduate with the foundational business acumen and strategic mindset demanded by the future of work.
Resilience in Action: A profound understanding of how to treat setbacks as data, navigating challenges with agility and confidence.
A Pitch-Ready Venture: A fully developed, tested prototype and pitch deck for a real-world social venture.
An Elite Network: Direct exposure to professional mentors, advisors, and peer innovators, expanding their future academic and career horizons.
Build ventures. Launch futures.
The thrive LAB for Youth
An experiential learning launchpad where young leaders master both creative ideation and real-world execution.
THE FLOURISHING YOUTH ACADEMY
The Thrive Lab: Impact Track
Ages 18–26 | Leading on a Bigger Stage
The Impact Track is designed for young adults ready to step into high-level leadership and drive systemic change. In this advanced space, participants leverage their strengths to design scalable, community-centered ventures and prepare for the prestigious Flourishing Futures Fellowship.
Working across dynamic, collaborative cohorts, young adults transition from local builders to global citizens. By mastering ecosystem mapping, strategic communication, and external relations, participants learn how to navigate complex systems and mobilize real-world resources to create a more flourishing society.
Core Skills Mastered
The Entrepreneur Mindset: Cultivating the adaptability, resourcefulness, and systems-level vision of a modern social innovator.
Global Leadership: Directing diverse teams with empathy, cultural intelligence, and a purpose-driven strategy.
Ecosystem Mapping: Identifying key community stakeholders, resources, and structural leverage points to maximize impact.
Strategic Marketing & External Relations: Crafting compelling narratives and building partnerships to champion ventures in the public sphere.
Key Outcomes
Systemic Problem-Solving: The ability to analyze complex global challenges and design scalable, community-anchored solutions.
Elite Leadership & Mobilization: Mastery in aligning diverse groups, communicating vision with authority, and driving collective action.
Professional Launchpad: A fully realized portfolio of impact projects, strategic marketing assets, and direct pathways to the Flourishing Futures Fellowship.
Influence & Authority: The confidence, vocabulary, and executive-level presence required to present ideas to institutional partners and global mentors.
For Educators: Equipped to Inspire and Transform
Mastery of Flourishing-Centered Design (FCD): Educators walk away with a deep, practical understanding of design-thinking synthesized with the science of human well-being.
An Active Classroom Toolkit: Teachers acquire a suite of proven facilitation techniques and project-based tools that can be seamlessly integrated into existing curricula starting on day one.
Authentic Assessment Frameworks: Educators learn to observe, measure, and assess real-time student growth in critical, complex domains: systems thinking, creativity, collaboration, and self-reflection.
A Culture of Active Innovation: Teachers gain the skills to cultivate vibrant learning ecosystems in classroom environments where students feel safe to take risks, prototype ideas, and learn through experiential iteration.
For young people: Empowered to Lead and Build
A Future-Ready Mindset: Young people master the foresight and strategic tools used by world-class designers, entrepreneurs, and innovators to confidently navigate an unpredictable future.
Strengthened Collaborative Leadership: Working in design teams, youth develop advanced skills in empathy, teamwork, collaboration, diversity & inclusion, constructive communication, and collective problem-solving.
A Portfolio of Real-World Impact: Young people graduate the lab with a tangible, tested prototype of a venture or project that directly addresses global sustainability and local community flourishing.
The Courage to Dream Boldly: Every individual leaves with a clear, inspiring vision of the world they want to help shape—and the practical agency, grounded in strengths and collaboration, to begin building it today.
THE FLOURISHING YOUTH ACADEMY
Key Outcomes—for youth & educators
Ideas change minds. Action changes the world.
The world needs visionary thinkers and the builders who bring those visions to life. The THRIVE Lab is where you become both.
NOW ENROLLING · Summer Programs for Young Adults (Ages 18–26)
Early adopters receive 50% discounted access, advisory board opportunities, and co-design influence over program development.
Spaces are limited for Summer 2026