Innovations for Youth (i4Y)
Innovation for Youth, also known as i4Y, is a political research group based at the University of California, Berkeley. It is made up of scholars who work with policymakers and young people in the United States and internationally to address issues such as youth violence, homelessness, reproductive health, and educational inequalities. 1
Contents
Innovation for Youth says it trains and mentors undergraduate, graduate, and postdoctoral students to be the next generation of leaders in adolescent health. 2
Background
Innovation for Youth, also known as i4Y, is a political research group based at the University of California, Berkeley. It describes itself as a cross-disciplinary research hub to address youth health and “youth equity.” 3 It focuses on collaborative research, training, and community engagement for projects addressing youth health and wellbeing, education, and homelessness. 3
The organization argues that adolescents globally are facing a crisis in health and that it is driven by rising inequalities. 4 The group engages youth perspectives in its research and provides training opportunities for undergraduates, graduates, and post-doctoral fellows. 3
I4Y claims to build an interdisciplinary partnership between faculty of different fields, students, adolescents, and community collaborators and says it seeks “a world in which all adolescents have access to the structures of opportunity and are free from barriers to fulfill their greatest potential.” 5
Initiatives
The group has four initiative areas: Promoting youth-led “participatory action research”; studying the effect of social determinants on the health and wellbeing of marginalized youth; reproductive health, sexuality, and relationships that focuses on global problems such as youth marriage, as well as domestic issues regarding “reproductive outcomes”; and Training opportunities for students that includes the Youth Equity Discovery Initiative (YEDI) program for mentorship and apprenticeship for undergraduate students. 5
I4Y’s Youth Equity Discovery Initiative sponsors a YEDI scholars program that was formerly known as Youth Equity Scholars, or YES. The program conducts research mentorships and apprenticeships programs. YEDI is described as a pipeline into education careers. 2
Leadership
As of 2025, Colette Auerswald was a co-director of Innovation for Youth. Auerswald is a pediatrician who specializes in adolescent medicine. She is a professor in the division of community health sciences at Berkeley Public Health. She is one of the co-founders of i4Y. She is a faculty mentor for Youth and Allies Against Homelessness. 6
As of 2025, Emily Ozer was a co-director of Innovation for Youth. Ozzer is a clinical/community psychologist in public health. She is the director of the Institute of Human Development. She works in partnership with San Francisco Peer Resources and the San Francisco Unified School District. She is an i4Y co-founder. 6
As of 2025, Valerie B. Shapiro was a co-director of Innovation for Youth. Shapiro is an associate professor in social welfare at University of California, Berkeley. She is the faculty lead for the SHIFT Research Group. 6
As of 2025, Marieka Schotland was the executive director of Innovation for Youth. She has worked in schools in connection with restorative justice, youth program evaluation, and health promotion among diverse adolescents. 6