What if the key to supporting young people isn’t adding more guidance—but listening more deeply?
Join us for a compelling conversation with HIS client Michaela M. Leslie-Rule and Jennifer Breheny Wallace as they explore how adults can better support youth by centering their voices, challenging achievement culture, and creating pathways to meaningful futures.
Michaela M. Leslie-Rule, author of How We See Us: Young People Imagining a Path to Their Futures, brings research that amplifies what young people actually think and feel about education, work, and their lives. As a researcher, artist, and Senior Program Officer at the Gates Foundation, she challenges deficit-focused narratives and offers practical frameworks for educators and policymakers to support youth in mapping their own paths forward.
Jennifer Breheny Wallace, New York Times bestselling author of Never Enough: When Achievement Culture Becomes Toxic, examines the high-pressure culture driving anxiety and depression in today’s young people. Drawing on interviews with families, educators, and nearly 6,000 parents, she reveals how the relentless drive to “get ahead” undermines well-being—and offers guidance for fostering resilience and intrinsic motivation instead.
Together, they’ll explore what happens when we shift from managing youth to truly hearing them—and how creating space for young people to thrive personally and academically starts with valuing their experiences, not just their accomplishments.
Thursday, October 23, 2025 | 1:00pm Eastern
This Next City webinar is pay-what-you-wish. Your contribution helps program future conversations that matter.
