OUR WHY
Young people possess immense potential that deserves to be cultivated in ways that reflect their talents, aspirations, and growth. When our systems and structures recognize this, we create space for that potential to grow.
A video exploring the ideation of purpose at a 2022 “purpose jam” hosted by our co-founders. Video by Rio Holaday.
Research* shows that a sense of purpose yields immense benefits, particularly when cultivated and supported in young people: greater resilience, better physical health and emotional well-being, stronger academic achievement, and deeper social connections.
Purpose provides orientation and meaning that helps young people navigate challenges and contribute to the world around them. Our systems should support young people to explore, develop, and nurture their sense of purpose — and to do that well, we need to understand it.
Purpose science provides the foundation to do exactly that. By creating spaces for researchers, young people, and those who work every day to support them, we have an opportunity to ask new questions, apply new approaches, share learnings and highlight new insights into purpose. All so that we can do what matters most: support young people in realizing their full potential.
*Research from Burrow & Hill (2013); Burrow, Agans, & Rainone (2018); Cohen et al (2016); Hill & Turiano (2015); Kashdan, Rose, & Fincham, (2004); Kim et al. (2018); Lewis & Hill (2021); Mwilambwe-Tshilibo et al.(2019); Scheier et al. (2006); Steptoe & Fancourt (2019); Yeager et al. (2018)
What We Do Differently
We don’t claim to have all the answers; instead, we’re creating a network to ask better questions. By connecting the brilliance and collective wisdom of researchers, young people, and those who support them, we’ll uncover opportunities to create the conditions that enable purpose cultivation.
Purpose Commons is dedicated to exploring new ways society can nurture young people’s sense of purpose. Our work follows a collaborative approach that brings young people, researchers, and communities together to change how purpose is explored, understood, and supported. This ecosystem involves:
Engaging young people, researchers, and communities to understand real-world experiences, questions, and expertise.
Piloting innovative approaches in partnership with researchers at the Purpose Science and Innovation Exchange (PSiX) at Cornell University to test and refine innovative ideas.
Listening and capturing community-driven insights from young people and their communities to further shape our questions and guide the growth of research.
Scaling and sharing impactful models and approaches to shift how purpose is understood and measured across systems and communities.
Our role is to connect the brilliance of our communities to surface unanswered questions, support novel collaborations, and explore new applications of science and research — all in service of reshaping how systems can better support all young people in exploring and cultivating their sense of purpose.
What We Do
We work across three interconnected areas that reinforce each other:
Connecting the Purpose Ecosystem
We bring together the brilliance and passion in every corner of the purpose ecosystem, working to help young people cultivate their purpose. This ecosystem allows relationships to form, learnings to be shared, and ideas to spark. Together, we turn purpose into action—sharing, testing, and applying ideas that help systems and communities nurture purpose and agency in young people.
Advancing & Applying Purpose Research
Through our partnership with PSiX at Cornell, we bring research into the world and the world into the research. This partnership creates a cycle where science improves practice, and practice strengthens research.
Elevating the Power of Purpose
We amplify diverse voices from across the ecosystem through genuine storytelling and collaboration. Our stories shift the way purpose is understood, accessed, and cultivated. Here, we are shifting the narrative around purpose toward ongoing opportunity and possibility that brings purpose science out of academia and into the heart of communities, inspiring positive change.
What We’re Exploring Now
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The Contribution Project
The Contribution Project provides young people funding to pursue contributions they value—with no strings attached. Through partnerships with youth-serving organizations nationwide, we're researching how the freedom to contribute on one's own terms fosters purpose development and well-being and catalyzes positive change in one’s community. The Contribution Project has empowered hundreds of young people to research, plan, and create impact.
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Purpose in Action
Our collaboration with This Teenage Life explores purpose through multiple perspectives—from researchers in conversation with teenagers discussing the science, to young people sharing their contribution journeys and documenting their experiences in real-time. Together, we co-create media by, with, and for young people that elevates youth stories in their own voices and brings purpose science to life through authentic, youth-led storytelling.
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Youth/Youth-Serving Organizations Co-Design Lab
We center young people and communities as experts, not just participants. In partnership with In Tandem, young people serve as co-designers—leading research, shaping the questions we ask, making sense of findings, and designing solutions rooted in their lived experiences. This process grounds our work in what matters most to youth and guides future phases of exploration.
