OCTOBER 1, 2026
The second cohort of the In/Tend Innovation Incubator Hub has officially wrapped up! Over the past year, five teams have explored challenges in adolescent sexual and reproductive health, uncovered community insights, tested ideas, and developed innovative solutions.
Now, their Innovation Journey Scrapbooks are complete and ready to explore! Each scrapbook captures a team’s unique journey through the innovation process, from defining their challenge and learning from their communities to prototyping solutions and imagining what’s possible in the future. Flip through their scrapbooks to discover what they learned, what they created, and where their ideas could lead.
CodED
The CodED team—Morgan Peterson, Maisy Anderson, and Sam Wakefield of the Transformation Project South Dakota—is working to expand access to comprehensive sex education in rural communities. Drawing on their experience in youth support, community organizing, program development, and accessible communications, the team takes a human-centered, community-led approach.
The Challenge
Building on early learning and feedback from young people, CodED originally focused on prototyping and testing practical, responsive solutions that meet rural caregivers’ real needs and strengthen access to accurate, affirming education. Based on what they learned in Cohort 1, CodED refined its challenge to: How might we foster meaningful connection and trust between millennial and Gen Z parents and their children so that it creates a foundation for open, developmentally appropriate conversations about sexual health as children grow?
The Innovation
One solution they prototyped and tested was a Milestone Box, which is a mailed activity box that helps parents and children navigate developmental milestones through hands-on activities and guided conversations.
The Future Vision
Looking 5–10 years ahead, CodED envisions Milestone Boxes reaching families in rural communities and beyond, helping caregivers feel less alone and more equipped to have important conversations with their children. With the resources and partnerships to grow, the team hopes to expand its reach through activity boxes, guides, schools, providers, and community organizations.
Explore their scrapbook:
EntreNos: Parent-Youth Health
EntreNos: Parent-Youth Health team—Jazmin Pacheco, Jose Dominguez Magdaleno, and Claudio Rivera—works at the intersection of sexual health education and mental well-being within Spanish-speaking Latine communities. Drawing on their backgrounds in public health, bilingual health education, psychology, and community-based research, the team takes a social justice-oriented, trauma-informed, and culturally responsive approach to supporting parents and caregivers.
The Challenge
EntreNos initially focused on creating accessible, holistic workshops to equip families with the tools and confidence to have meaningful sexual health conversations with young people, while engaging caregivers of all genders and roles. Through their research and learning, they refined their challenge to: How might we center caregiver strengths and culture to promote safer communications and relationships with young people in the city of Chicago?
The Innovation
One solution the team prototyped and tested was an adolescent health version of Lotería, a traditional Mexican game similar to bingo. Their adaptation incorporates images, educational facts, and reflection questions to help families learn, play, and engage in meaningful conversations about health together.
The Future Vision
Looking 5–10 years ahead, EntreNos envisions contributing to a movement that breaks down stigma and taboos around family conversations about sexual health, mental health, and substance use. The team hopes their culturally responsive educational tool will bring generations together to learn, connect, and have fun.
Explore their scrapbook:
Rooted Collective
The Rooted Collective team—Elle Lynn Quimpo, Miriam Perez, and Nty Diakite—works at the intersection of adolescent sexual and reproductive health, mental health, and community care. Drawing on their shared experiences bridging cultures and supporting young people from immigrant families, the team creates spaces grounded in connection, joy, and collective healing.
The Challenge
Rooted Collective is addressing two key challenges facing young people from immigrant families: limited access to culturally and linguistically responsive resources and a shortage of trusted, relatable mentors. Through their innovation journey, the team refined its challenge to: How might we enable young people to explore sexual and reproductive health together with peers while feeling confident their privacy is protected?
The Innovation
One solution they prototyped and tested was a Youth of Immigrant Families (YIF) podcast, which is an audio-forward storytelling platform where anonymous YIF share experiences and engage in sexual and reproductive conversations with each other and experts.
The Future Vision
Looking 5–10 years ahead, Rooted Collective envisions becoming the #1 health podcast by and for young people of immigrant families! The team hopes to create a platform where sexual and reproductive health experts can connect directly with young people to share relevant resources, while listeners build community and find connection through shared experiences. They also aim to demonstrate the potential of audio storytelling as an effective health intervention.
Explore their scrapbook:
Waking Dreamers
The Waking Dreamers team brings together Destie Hohman Sprague, Bruce King, and Oronde Cruger—leaders from Hardy Girls, Maine Boys to Men, and youth education spaces, respectively. Combining expertise in feminist activism, masculinity work, and neuroscience-informed facilitation, the team is working to help young people build community and have more open conversations about gender and sexuality.
The Challenge
Waking Dreamers is exploring how organizations with distinct missions can collaborate to create shared programs that strengthen connections, challenge harmful gender norms, and empower young people to engage with one another thoughtfully and authentically. Through their innovation journey, they refined their challenge to: How might we help teens bring up real topics without risking or ruining the vibe?
The Innovation
One solution the team prototyped was a playful yet powerful collaborative card game that dares you to be the most known person in the room. Designed to spark meaningful conversations and build connections, the game gives teens an engaging way to explore identity, power, and relationships while moving beyond introductory lessons and definitions.
The Future Vision
Looking 5–10 years ahead, Waking Dreamers envisions its game becoming a trusted tool for educators to facilitate deeper conversations about identity, power, and relationships with students who have already learned the basics. Building on existing introductory programs and curricula, the team hopes to help young people move beyond learning concepts to exploring their own feelings, perspectives, and experiences.
Explore their scrapbook:
YOUniversal Education Services
The YOUniversal Education Services team—José Garth, Katie Horowitz, and Wren Ritchie—is part of a youth-centered organization focused on healing-centered health and wellness and long-term, community-rooted sex education. Together, they bring more than a decade of experience in positive youth development, sex education, evaluation, and curriculum design.
The Challenge
YOUniversal Education Services is working to address the gap in long-term, youth-led, community-rooted, and holistic sex education programming. Through their innovation journey, the team refined its challenge to: How might we provide ongoing tools and support for young people as they navigate risk-taking around sex, relationships, and sexuality?
The Innovation
One solution the team prototyped and tested was the Reframing Risk Framework, a holistic approach to understanding risk and its relationship to sex, sexuality, relationships, and adolescent development. The framework offers a foundation for helping young people explore risk-taking in a more intentional and informed way.
The Future Vision
Looking 5–10 years ahead, YOUniversal Education Services envisions a series of sex education curricula tailored to different stages of adolescence, paired with an interactive app that supports young people in taking embodied, intentional, and calculated risks. The team sees exciting possibilities for the Reframing Risk Framework to grow through partnerships across fields and disciplines, expanding its reach and impact.
Explore their scrapbook:
The Journey Doesn’t End Here
Innovation is a journey of curiosity, collaboration, experimentation, and learning. Throughout the second cohort, these five teams explored complex challenges, listened to their communities, tested new ideas, and imagined what’s possible for the future of adolescent sexual and reproductive health.
Learn more about the In/Tend Innovation Hub and the funding, training, coaching, and hands-on learning the teams engage in as part of our innovation pipeline in Where Big Ideas Bloom, an infographic resource.
Photo By: Leslie Cross
