BIC for Hire: UJA this Fall's Capstone Client
Being a 21st century Jewish teen comes with a lot of benefits – modern technology seems to offer just about everything at one’s fingertips. Yet today’s teens are also experiencing new frontiers of stress. Research shows large numbers of teens struggling with issues like depression, anxiety, suicide, and loneliness. Of critical importance, these are the years that set the stage for the future. It’s where we start to build our identity and make those initial life choices about who we want to become. Therefore, there needs to be new thinking and innovation on how we support these emerging adults during this critical life-juncture.
The UJA’s response is to partner with BIC students to help provide a platform where Jewish teens can find accurate information, comfort, and real connection with the following goal: to reduce isolation for the Jewish teen community when it comes to issues of mental health. Because teens are digital natives, Pamela Schuller, Program Manager, for the Teen and Mental Health Initiative Jewish Community Services is asking BIC students to leverage online, social, mobile, and other digital communications vehicles that meet our audience where they “live.” In order to create a dynamic community, this project seeks to inspire a movement in which teens become active participants, content creators, and advocates.
This project is part of the Fall Non-Profit Capstone lead by Professor Douglas Davis. All BIC students are required to participate in creating a communications campaign in the not-for-profit space in order to make an impact on society in positive ways. Our partnership with UJA comes through a connection of Belle Frank, EVP at Y&R.
