First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, the California Innovation Council, and digital wellness nonprofit #HalfTheStory announced on August 11 a new program that brings California teenagers directly into state policy discussions on artificial intelligence, social media, and digital wellness, making California one of the first states to embed youth advisors into an official technology policy body.
Key Takeaways
- The California Innovation Council and #HalfTheStory are launching a teen advisory program that positions young Californians as direct participants in state-level decisions about technology, AI, and digital wellness policy.
- First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who has championed youth digital safety as a policy priority, is leading the initiative alongside the Innovation Council’s broader advisory infrastructure.
- The California Innovation Council was established in December 2025 as a 30-member body including leaders from Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI, the Mozilla Foundation, UC Berkeley, the Brookings Institution, and the California Chamber of Commerce.
- #HalfTheStory is a New York-based nonprofit founded in 2015 that operates teen-led advisory boards, a Digital Civics Academy, and the Social Media U curriculum; the organization previously partnered with Governor Hochul and Secretary Clinton to launch New York’s Teen Tech Council in 2025.
- The program aligns with California’s AI Transparency Act, which takes effect in August 2026, and the Transparency in Frontier AI Act (SB 53), which made California the first state to regulate frontier AI model development when it took effect January 1, 2026.
The Program Puts Teenagers Inside the State’s AI Policy Infrastructure
The teen advisory initiative is not a standalone outreach campaign. It operates within the California Innovation Council, a 30-member advisory body Governor Gavin Newsom created in December 2025 to guide the state’s approach to artificial intelligence, online safety, tech-enabled fraud, and government modernization. By embedding teen advisors into this existing structure, the state is giving young people a direct channel to the same policy apparatus that includes Stanford’s Institute for Human-Centered AI, the UC system, the Mozilla Foundation, the Brookings Institution, and the California Chamber of Commerce.
The framing matters. Previous state-level youth advisory programs have typically operated as standalone commissions or feedback mechanisms detached from active policymaking bodies. California’s approach places teenagers alongside technology executives, academic researchers, and policy experts within a council that is actively shaping how the state regulates AI, protects children online, and modernizes government services. First Partner Jennifer Siebel Newsom, who has led the administration’s focus on youth digital safety and children’s wellbeing, is the initiative’s public champion and has positioned the program as a recognition that the people most affected by technology policy, young users themselves, should have a structural role in shaping it.
#HalfTheStory Brings an Established Teen-Led Model to California
#HalfTheStory is a nonprofit founded in 2015 by Larissa May that has built one of the most developed youth-led digital wellness infrastructures in the country. The organization operates a national Teen Advisory Board of more than 27 members who co-design programs, advise on organizational strategy, and engage directly with policymakers on issues related to social media, mental health, and technology design. Its core programs include Social Media U, an evidence-based digital wellness curriculum delivered in classrooms and after-school settings, and the Digital Civics Academy, an annual summer intensive that trains teenagers in activism, storytelling, and policy engagement around technology issues.
The organization’s model has been validated through measurable outcomes on the Digital Flourishing Scale for Adolescents, with the nonprofit among the first to demonstrate sustained behavioral improvements in teen digital wellness after program participation. #HalfTheStory has partnered with Pinterest on a Screen Free Prom initiative that launched nationally in 2025, collaborated with Girls Inc. on a play-based digital wellness curriculum for middle school students, and worked with Melinda French Gates on teen engagement events. The nonprofit’s existing Teen Advisory Board includes members who have participated in advocacy around algorithmic harm, youth mental health, and platform accountability.
The New York Precedent Established the Template California Is Now Adopting
California is not the first state to partner with #HalfTheStory on a government-level teen technology advisory body. In July 2025, Governor Kathy Hochul and Secretary Hillary Rodham Clinton launched the New York State Teen Tech Council in partnership with #HalfTheStory, creating the first statewide youth advisory group focused on digital wellness and phone-free school implementation. That program brought 20 New York high school students to the Clinton Foundation for the inaugural board meeting, where they advised on the state’s “distraction-free schools” initiative, which required bell-to-bell smartphone restrictions across all New York schools for the 2025-2026 academic year.
California’s version expands the scope beyond school phone policies. The Innovation Council’s mandate covers artificial intelligence governance, tech-enabled fraud, workforce development in an AI-driven economy, and the modernization of government digital services, giving teen advisors exposure to policy questions that extend well beyond social media and screen time. The partnership also arrives at a moment when California is implementing some of the country’s most significant AI regulations. SB 53, the Transparency in Frontier AI Act, took effect on January 1, 2026, making California the first state to enact legislation specifically governing the development of frontier AI models. The California AI Transparency Act, which establishes additional disclosure requirements for AI-generated content, takes effect this month.
California’s Regulatory Posture Creates the Context for the Program’s Significance
The teen advisory launch does not exist in isolation from the state’s broader technology policy trajectory. Governor Newsom’s administration has built a layered regulatory framework around AI and digital platforms over the past two years. The Innovation Council itself was created in December 2025 alongside an Emerging Technology Accelerator that formalized partnerships with Stanford, UC Berkeley, and other research institutions to pilot AI tools in state government. Newsom described the approach at the time as an effort to shape the future of AI rather than react to it.
In parallel, the state’s legal apparatus has been actively engaged. Attorney General Rob Bonta is among 29 state attorneys general whose trial against Meta over child social media addiction begins jury selection in Oakland federal court on August 13, just two days after the teen advisory announcement. California is also home to the companies at the center of the national debate over youth digital safety: Meta, Google, and Snap are all headquartered in the state. The teen advisory program positions California to argue that its technology regulation is informed not only by industry expertise and academic research but also by the lived experience of the young people who use these platforms daily.
FAQs
What Is the California Innovation Council?
The California Innovation Council is a 30-member advisory body created by Governor Newsom in December 2025 to guide the state’s approach to artificial intelligence, online safety, technology fraud, and government modernization. Members include leaders from Stanford’s Human-Centered AI Institute, the Mozilla Foundation, UC Berkeley, the Brookings Institution, the California Chamber of Commerce, and former U.S. Senator Laphonza Butler.
What Is #HalfTheStory?
#HalfTheStory is a nonprofit founded in 2015 that focuses on improving the next generation’s relationship with technology through education, advocacy, and youth-led policy engagement. The organization operates a national Teen Advisory Board, a Digital Civics Academy, and the Social Media U curriculum. It previously partnered with New York Governor Hochul on the state’s first Teen Tech Council in 2025.
How Does This Relate to California’s AI Laws?
The teen advisory program operates within the same Innovation Council infrastructure that is advising on California’s emerging AI regulatory framework. The Transparency in Frontier AI Act (SB 53) took effect January 1, 2026, and the AI Transparency Act takes effect in August 2026. The teen advisors will contribute perspectives on how these policies affect young people as both users and subjects of AI-driven systems.
