This year, OkaySo took important steps toward our mission: to improve the well-being of young adults across the US. We did that in the places where so many young people are already turning for support—college access programs, community centers, and workforce development initiatives.
In 2025, over 100 youth workers completed our on-demand trainings across eight sites nationwide. These are front-line staff and mentors who, together, are supporting thousands of young people as they navigate school, work, relationships, and everything in between. Our focus has been simple but powerful: make it easier for caring adults to show up as safe, steady, and skillful supports in everyday moments.
We’ve continued to grow our suite of short, interactive trainings designed specifically for youth workers. This year, we launched new modules on having difficult conversations and navigating cyberbullying—two areas our partners told us were especially pressing. We now offer more than 20 trainings, including core topics like active listening, setting healthy boundaries, and trauma-informed best practices, all designed to be practical and immediately usable in real interactions with young people.
Participants tell us the skills feel both accessible and relevant to their day-to-day roles. In post-training surveys, 87% of participants said they learned something new, and 84% said they would recommend the trainings to a coworker. One youth worker shared, “I will definitely use reflective listening more and avoid rushing to fix things.” Another reflected, “I appreciated how these trainings focused on simple, real life solutions. It made things feel approachable and less overwhelming.”
This year, we also wrapped up a pilot with a leading hotel chain, supporting staff at two domestic and two international sites. Through that partnership, we’ve seen how the same core skills—empathy, listening, boundaries, and trauma-informed approaches—can translate into a wide variety of youth- and young adult–serving contexts, from workforce readiness programs to entry-level employment settings. We are now exploring whether and how to expand this work beyond the pilot phase.
Looking ahead, we’re excited to keep building trainings in close collaboration with our partners. Every new topic we develop is driven by what organizations tell us they need: the real challenges their staff are facing with the young people they serve. In the coming year, we hope to deepen existing relationships and begin working with additional organizations who are committed to being safe, supportive spaces for young adults.
If your organization is investing in the adults who show up for young people every day—and you’re curious about practical, on-demand training that meets them where they are—we’d love to be in conversation.
