FUTUREYOUTH INITIATIVE
About the Future Youth Initiative
A Connecticut-based effort to better understand youth transition into adulthood.
The FutureYOUth Initiative (FYI) is a Connecticut-based effort focused on understanding the conditions that shape youth transition into adulthood, what's working well, where systems are falling short, and what needs to be redesigned. Because insight must come before intervention.
Future youth
Why FYI Exists
Communities across Connecticut are deeply committed to helping young people succeed. Schools are creating new opportunities. Community organizations are expanding services. Funders are investing in innovative programs. Employers are developing workforce pathways. Yet too often, decisions begin before understanding. FutureYOUth Initiative was created from a simple belief: before we decide what young people need, we should first understand what they are experiencing. Rather than beginning with assumptions, FYI begins with listening. Rather than focusing only on outcomes, FYI seeks to understand the conditions that influence those outcomes. That shift creates opportunities for stronger conversations, better questions, and more thoughtful responses across Connecticut.
Our Mission
To help Connecticut better understand the conditions shaping youth transition into adulthood by elevating youth voice, gathering meaningful insight, and encouraging conversations that lead to stronger communities and greater opportunities for young people.
Our Vision
A Connecticut where every young person is supported by environments intentionally designed to help them thrive. We envision communities that make decisions grounded in understanding, informed by youth voice, and committed to continually learning from the experiences of the young people they serve.
Meet the Founder
The FutureYOUth Initiative was founded by Dr. Dayeshell P. Muhammad (“Dr. Daye”), an executive leader, organizational operator, and conditions-based change strategist. She brings more than two decades of experience leading youth- and family-serving organizations, improving organizational performance, and helping adults, organizations, and communities better understand the environments that shape people’s lives.
Dr. Daye created the FutureYOUth Initiative as a Connecticut-based initiative for listening to young people and the adults, organizations, and institutions responsible for supporting them—so that decisions and interventions can be informed by lived conditions rather than assumptions.
SEE360™, a structured insight system developed by Dr. Daye and housed through FutureDaye, is one of the methods FYI uses to gather conditions-based insight from young people and adults across Connecticut. FYI combines this structured insight with facilitated conversations, community convenings, credible research, and relevant public data to deepen understanding and build shared responsibility for responding.
To learn more about Dr. Daye’s broader framework and conditions-based change work, visit DrDaye.com.
WHERE FYI LIVES
The FutureYOUth Initiative operates through the Life After High School programs of My People Clinical Services and My People Community Services. Together, these organizations provide the operational and administrative infrastructure that supports FYI’s youth listening, adult engagement, community convenings, and learning activities.
The proprietary insight systems used through the initiative, including SEE360™, were developed by Dr. Dayeshell P. Muhammad and are housed through FutureDaye Consulting.
Join the Initiative
Whether you're a school, community organization, employer, policymaker, funder, practitioner, or someone who believes young people deserve environments where they can thrive, there's a place for you in the FutureYOUth Initiative. Together, we can build a stronger understanding of today's young people and encourage conversations that create lasting impact across Connecticut.