Today's young people know more about technology than any generation before them. But knowing how to use a screen isn't the same as knowing how to build a friendship, resolve a conflict, or ask for help. Rithm teaches young people to notice how technology shapes their relationships, then gives them real tools to build better ones: rooted in empathy, trust, and a sense of belonging. Early partners, including aiEDU, are already bringing this work into classrooms across the country.

Michelle Culver, Founder, The Rithm Project

Michelle started as a 5th-grade teacher in Compton. Twenty years later, she's chasing the same question at a bigger scale: what actually helps young people thrive? At Teach For America, she built the organization's first national program, then went on to lead 14 regions, 300 staff, and a $68M budget serving over 200,000 students. She later ran TFA's R&D lab, where she became convinced that no amount of scale matters if students don't have a strong human community around them. That's the idea she built Rithm to protect.