2025 was a busy and exciting year for the Breakthrough Accelerator! From our inaugural cohort completing their journeys and presenting at our first-ever Demo Day, to onboarding and training our second cohort of innovators, 2025 was filled with learning, innovation, community, and progress.
A snapshot of our 2025 accomplishments
Across our two cohorts, we invested $1 million in solutions focused on adolescent health and well-being, helping nine innovation development teams develop and scale bold new approaches. The 27 innovators leading this work represent seven states and bring expertise in public health, social work, education, parenting, the arts, and more. Although their innovations and backgrounds vary, they are united by a shared commitment to break through the status quo and build a world where young people are served by solutions that are truly responsive to their needs.
Training and skill-building
In 2025, Breakthrough staff delivered 62 hours of training through a mix of in-person workshops and ongoing virtual learning sessions. These workshops provided teams with dedicated time and space to build skills and produce practical tools to advance their innovations. As a result, teams developed:
- Business model canvases that identify the resources, partnerships, and funding they need to sustain their innovation
- Learning loops to test critical assumptions and see what works
- Product roadmaps that outline next steps for developing their innovation
- Preliminary plans for scaling their work and reaching more users
Teams left the workshops feeling connected to other innovators, and with clear directions on where their innovation could go next:
This experience has clarified a lot for our team, giving us direction, and helped us feel more optimistic about our project having future success.
I left both of the labs … just feeling really good about us and our team and feeling really accomplished.
I loved how hands-on our lab was. I really appreciated having multiple one-on-ones with our coach, receiving the guidance needed to advance our project and feeling more confident in the process. I also love that we got to interact with the other teams and get to know them a little more!
We continued to strengthen innovators’ capacity through monthly virtual sessions intended to introduce teams to key topics that they will later apply in practice.
It was quick and to the point and gave us the opportunity to come together after each piece we learned.
I enjoyed the overview of these concepts. I think they’re going to be really helpful in our development.
Topics from these trainings included identifying an innovation’s TAM, SAM, and SOM; developing research questions for evaluation; establishing a compelling brand identity; and crafting effective pitches.
Coaching and individualized support
Between formal training opportunities, Breakthrough coaches dedicated hundreds of hours to providing personalized support, helping each team translate new concepts into practical strategies. This hands-on coaching ensured that teams could immediately apply what they learned to advance their innovations with clarity and confidence.
Deep engagement with end users
Throughout their time with us, Cohort 1 teams continued to center young people in their work by engaging over 550 end users—including more than 300 youth—in designing, developing, and testing their solutions. End users’ insights shaped product decisions and increased the relevance of each innovation. We look forward to seeing this engagement grow as Cohort 2 teams advance through the program.
A milestone moment: Demo Day 2025
In May 2025, we celebrated a major milestone with our first-ever Demo Day: a celebration of progress for the Breakthrough Accelerator and our inaugural cohort. More than 160 people registered to attend our virtual innovation showcase and in-person Demo Day, which gave teams the opportunity to pitch their innovations, reflect on their accelerator journey, and share their impact with our growing community.
The voices of our innovators tell this story best. Watch the video below to hear Cohort 1 teams reflect on their journey and growth.
This snapshot highlights Cohort 1’s journey, showing how each team’s initial hopes and ideas developed into practical outcomes over the course of our accelerator program.
Looking ahead to 2026
Thank you to our incredible partners, staff, youth advisors, and innovation teams who made this work possible, and to all of you for cheering us on.
We are excited to carry this momentum into 2026 and to recruit our third cohort of innovation teams later this spring! Stay connected through our social media channels and sign up for our newsletter to be notified when applications open.
Suggested citation: McClay, A. (2026). Breaking through in this year of innovation, impact, and momentum. Breakthrough Accelerator. https://breakthrough.fund/breaking-through-in-this-year-of-innovation-impact-and-momentum/