THE FLOURISHING YOUTH ACADEMY
Design a life worth living.
Build a world worth having.
Credentials for the life & world YOU design
Flourish51’s design-thinking academy for young people ages 11-26
Our Vision
A global future shaped by a generation of conscious leaders who build with purpose, lead with authenticity, and elevate the communities they touch..
Our Approach
Every program uses flourishing-centered design — grounded in positive psychology, human-centered design, and living-systems thinking.
Young people engage as designers of their own flourishing, guided by a body of science that includes findings from Harvard's Global Flourishing Study.
Our Mission
Our mission is to empower young people to design and live a life of profound purpose and impact. Through discovering their unique strengths, co-creating impactful ventures, and studying thriving communities worldwide, they cultivate the essential skills and creative confidence to flourish on their own terms.
Flourishing Youth Academy (FYA) Programs
-
![]()
Life Design in the GEM Lab
Earn the FYA Certificate in Life Design for Human Flourishing
In the GEM Lab young people identify their unique character strengths, clarify values, and build a personal vision for a life that is fully and authentically their own.
-
![]()
Venture Design in the THRIVE Lab
Earn the FYA Certificate in Venture Design for Human Flourishing
In the THRIVE Lab, you join a new generation of leaders building innovative ventures that generate income while creating value for others—redefining business success by how fully people and communities thrive.
-
![]()
GEM Journeys: Global Flourishing Expeditions
Earn the FYA Global Human Flourishing Studies Certificate
Our GEM Journeys invite you to become an active explorer of human flourishing around the world. Travel to communities whose wisdom about living well expands what you believe is possible for yourself and others.
-
![]()
Flourishing Futures Fellows
Earn the elite designation of Flourishing Futures Fellow
Complete all three certificates to earn the Flourishing Youth Academy’s highest designation of becoming a Flourishing Future Fellow.
The GEM Lab: Design A Flourishing life
PROGRAM OVERVIEW:
Discover Your Strengths: Learn your signature strengths and master the skill of "strength-spotting" to lead yourself and others.
Rewire Your Resilience: Deploy positive psychology to navigate career pivots and life transitions with an unbreakable growth mindset.
Visualize Your Future: Map your "Best Possible Self" across every dimension of well-being, ensuring your daily rhythms align with your deep-seated values.
Rapid Prototyping: Turn "what if" into "what is" through high-energy design sprints and creative experimentation.
Your Launch Kit: Leave with a premium Blueprint & Journal—a toolkit designed to bridge the gap between big ideas and permanent daily habits.
Participants: Spaces available for 5 Middle + 5 High School Students· Ages 11–18
Duration: A 5-day in-person introduction to flourishing life design intensive. You spend 3 hours a day designing your life with peers who take flourishing as seriously as you do.
Schedule:
August 3-7, 2026
Middle School Students: 9:30am-12:30pm; High School Students; 1:30-4:30pm
Location: Bowie, Maryland
Tuition: $150 (Our Reduced, Introductory Beta Test Rate)
Certificate: Upon completion you will receive a FYA certificate in Life Design for Human Flourishing
15 hrs · in-person · summer · cohort based
Participants: Spaces available for up to 10 high school graduates who are on the career or college track
Duration: A virtual, seasonally-themed live cohort experience where you will learn flourishing life design and receive weekly life design coaching.
Schedule:
2026 Fall Life Design Sprint:
Sept. 21-Dec. 21:
A 2-hour virtual evening life design session per week (Dates TBD) + 1 hour of group life design coaching per week
2027 Winter Life Design Sprint:
January 3-March 21:
A 2-hour virtual evening life design session per week (Dates TBD) + 1 hour of group life design coaching per week
Tuition: $300 (Our Reduced, Introductory Beta Test rate)
Certificate: Upon completion you will receive a complementary individual 1 hour life design coaching session + a FYA certificate in Life Design for Human Flourishing
60 hrs · virtual · seasonal · cohort-based
The THRIVE Lab
entrepreneurship, Reimagined
Learn social entrepreneurship by building real-world start up ventures using a 4-phase design process
Gain global perspectives on human flourishing from Harvard’s groundbreaking Global Flourishing Study
Become global flourishing innovators by designing novel solutions to achieve the world’s Sustainable Development Goals
Develop creativity, leadership & teamwork strengths by cultivating a designer-mindset and working in design teams
In the THrive Lab, you build ventures using the flourishing-centered design process:
01-Illuminate
Engage subject matter experts to define the social impact challenge the team’s new venture will address.
02-Ideate
Launch into rapid brainstorming exercises to build tangible, "venture-ready" solutions designed for maximum social impact and scalability.
03-Innovate
Field test the prototype solution into the real world to gather hard data, stress-test your assumptions, and refine your venture for permanent impact.
04-Integrate
Assess the information gained from field testing and refine your venture for improved viability. Venture showcased at a Social Impact Expo or Pitch Day.
the Thrive LAB @ SChool
FYA is building a global network of schools ready to redefine excellence in education
By bringing the THRIVE Lab directly into middle & high-school classrooms, we equip student teams with design-thinking skills to transform raw ideas into viable ventures that are innovative solutions to achieving the world’s Sustainable Development Goals.
Every student leaves the lab with a functioning project and the creative confidence that goes with being a social entrepreneur.
Illustrative formats include:
Semester Labs: Deep-dive integration into the school year.
Design Sprints: Targeted 4–6 week high-intensity modules.
Innovation Weeks: Immersive 3–5 day intensives.
The Foundations Track | Middle School
Building the Designer’s Mindset
Students establish the core mindsets of curiosity, adaptability, and active problem-solving. They learn to see every challenge as a creative opportunity by discovering their unique strengths, learning design fundamentals, and tackling community challenges as a team.
What’s Included:
Strengths Discovery: Uncovering superpowers using the VIA Character Strengths framework.
Introduction to HCD: Learning the baseline steps of human/flourishing-centered design process.
Community Challenge Sprint: Collaborating in teams to solve real, local issues.
Social Impact Venture Expo: Showcasing final team concepts to the community.
Professional Development: Immersive educator training in Character Strengths and FCD integration.
The Builders Track | High School
From Idea to Real Venture
Students go further—developing, testing, and pitching a full venture concept built on their unique strengths and a genuine real-world opportunity. They shift from theory to execution by mastering the mechanics of venture creation and life design.
What’s Included:
Deep-Dive Alignment: Mapping personal strengths and values to the venture concept.
Full HCD Process: Navigating the complete human/flourishing-centered design framework.
Prototyping & Testing: Building models and running real-world stakeholder tests.
Pitch Day: Presenting final venture concepts to a panel of real-world experts.
Life Design Coaching: Small-group sessions helping students deploy their strengths to map out their future pathways.
GEM Journeys:
Global Expeditions in Human Flourishing
GEM Journeys: Expanding the Boundaries of a Good Life
We take young people out of their comfort zones and into the world to experience flourishing communities and cultures firsthand. By witnessing how diverse societies thrive, students completely redefine what is possible for their own futures and the world they are inheriting.
What They Bring Home:
Cross-Cultural Humility: A genuine, active curiosity about how other communities live well.
Global Contribution: A clear pathway connecting their personal strengths to massive global needs.
A Wider Vision: An expanded, permanent blueprint of what a meaningful and successful life actually looks like.
-
Identify and analyze the unique constellations of virtues, strengths, and cultural rituals that fuel thriving societies.
-
Participate in dynamic design teams to translate ancient wisdom into future-forward strategies for modern life.
-
Generate novel ideas that tackle the most pressing challenges to global well-being inspired by the experience.
-
Forge deep, cross-cultural alliances that facilitate a permanent exchange of knowledge, tradition, and perspective.
-
Upon completion, earn your Global Human Flourishing Studies Certificate—a testament to your ability to design for well-being on a global scale.
FYA Certificates
Credentials Built for Young innovators All FYA programs offer certificates that signals real, hands-on learning — shareable on college applications, LinkedIn, and portfolios.
FYA Certificate in Life Design
Master the architecture of a high-performance, high-well-being life.
The Core: Integration of Wellbeing Science, Positive Psychology, and Human-Centered Design.
The Process: Navigate the Design Rhythm to audit strengths and map your personal flourishing trajectory.
The Build: Translate values and vision into a formal Life Design Brief.
The Capstone Deliverable: A professional Personal Flourishing Portfolio—your strategic roadmap for long-term growth.
FYA Certificate in Venture Design
Engineer social enterprises that solve global problems while fueling human flourishing.
The Core: Social Entrepreneurship meets Systems Thinking and HCD (Human-Centered Design).
The Process: Master "Flourishing-Centered Problem Framing" to identify high-impact opportunities for change.
The Build: Lead rapid prototyping, empathy research, and iterative team builds.
The Capstone Deliverable: A comprehensive Venture Brief & Pitch Deck ready for real-world implementation.
Global Human Flourishing Studies Certificate
Analyze and adapt global drivers of well-being across cultural and geographic boundaries.
The Core: Cross-cultural Positive Psychology and Place-Based Ethnographic Research.
The Process: Field-test the "Global Gems" framework to decode how diverse societies engineer awe, creativity, and resilience.
The Build: Collaborative design sprints to translate cultural wisdom into scalable, modern solutions.
The Capstone Deliverable: A Flourishing Dossier that deconstructs the experience into a operational roadmap and outlines approaches for ongoing exchange with international collaborators.
-FYA’s Highest Designation-
become a
Flourishing Futures Fellow (F3)
Life Design Certificate + Venture Design Certificate + Global Human Flourishing Studies Certificate
Upon completing all three certificates you earn the highest distinction of a Flourishing Futures Fellow (F3) and join a global community of changemakers committed to designing a flourishing world—beginning with their own lives, extending through the ventures they build, and radiating outward to the communities and cultures they serve.
Benefits include:
Flourishing Futures Fellows Global Network
FYA Advisory Board Invitation
Access to Free Advanced Education Exclusively for Fellows
FYA Builds Essential Skills for the 21st Century
-
Character Strengths & Well-Being Science
Understanding what helps people thrive—and how to design lives, teams, and ventures around strengths.
-
Human-Centered & Flourishing-Centered Design
Applying design thinking to create solutions that support vitality, creativity, and real human needs.
-
Social Entrepreneurship
Designing ventures that generate value for both people and communities.
-
Prototyping & Testing
Turning ideas into tangible experiments and learning from real-world feedback.
-
Creative Confidence & StoryTelling
Building trust in innate capacity to create & the skills to communicate ideas with clarity & confidence
-
Cultural Intelligence
Learning to design with awareness, humility, and a global perspective.
