Young Invincibles

Young Invincibles (YI) began in the summer of 2009, out of the recognition that young people’s voices were not being heard in the debate over health care reform.

Co-Founders Ari Matusiak and Aaron Smith and a few friends wanted to change that. So they put up a one-page website, asking young people to share their stories, believing in their generation’s capacity to stand up and make itself heard.

In a little more than a year, YI went from being a group run out of a law school cafeteria to a national organization, representing the interests of 18-34 year-olds and making sure that their perspective is heard wherever decisions about our collective future are being made.

YI does this through cutting-edge policy research and analysis, sharing the stories of young Americans, campaigns designed to educate, inform and mobilize their peers and advocacy intended to change the status quo.

The organization’s current campaigns focus on higher education, jobs and the economy, health care and entrepreneurship.

YI’s Los Angeles office furthers YI’s work through policy research and analysis, sharing stories, and initiating campaigns. One of the first LA office projects is overseeing a major health care education project targeting underserved youth populations, and creating a coalition of community health centers, youth service organizations, high schools and community colleges.

The project has also involved the development and distribution of a health care mobile application to educate young people about their health options. The app, HeathcareLA, is available now.

Selected Awards:
Judges' Awards
Social Innovation Fast Pitch, 2012