From tending to the practical aspects of maternal care to innovating in Edtech, Bezos Family Foundation partners are continually moving early learning and adolescence research forward. Below, our researcher partners share aspects of the work they are energetically bringing in the new year to make a positive impact in the lives of children, youth and families.

Facilitating Food Access for Latina Pregnant Mothers

R. Gabriela Barajas-Gonzalez, Associate Professor

Population Health, NYU Grossman School of Medicine

In interviewing Latina pregnant women, many have emphasized the value they place on fresh produce and nutritious foods. Given economic constraints, these mothers rely on food pantries for such foods, which some stop frequenting in the third trimester due to the physical challenges of carrying pantry items and using public transportation. There are strategies we can test to facilitate the continuation of food access, such as partnering with food delivery services. That there are solutions to this brings me hope, given that the third trimester is such a critical period for both mother and baby.

Cultivating Purpose in the Adults Who Support Young People

Anthony Burrow, Associate Professor

Cornell University

For years, my research has focused on how young people cultivate a sense of purpose in life, revealing its profound benefits for health, well-being, belonging, and school or early career success. More recently, I’ve turned my attention to the environments and adults who play a pivotal role in fostering this sense of purpose in youth. This work gives me hope because it highlights the transformative potential of empowering adults to intentionally support young people’s development, unlocking deeper and more meaningful pathways to thriving. For me — a salient feature of hope is agency, or a sense of control over one’s experiences and outcomes. Weaving the significant and dynamic role of the adults who work in proximity to youth into my exploration of youth purpose is extending me greater confidence that we, collectively, can exert more control over ensuring the positive outcomes we want to see for all young people.

Taking Good Risks

Adriana Galván, Professor of Psychology; Co-Executive Director of the UCLA Center for the Developing Adolescent; Dean and Vice Provost, Division of Undergraduate Education

University of California, Los Angeles

I am energized by findings in our lab and labs around the world showing how risk-taking and exploratory behavior can be beneficial for adolescents. The adolescent brain is really good at telling the difference between good risks and bad risks. In a brain imaging study we did in the lab, the adults were really good at talking themselves out of taking risks — even when it made sense. But the adolescents carefully considered each of the risky options. And we found they were skilled at choosing when they should — and shouldn’t — take the risk. And it was because the brain region that helps us evaluate the pros and cons of risks was more active in their brain than in the adults. This adolescent-unique attribute motivates adolescents to stand up for causes they believe in, try out new technological advances or leave home to attend a great college. These are the good risks we want them to be taking.

Applying Human-Powered Technology

Gail E. Joseph, Professor

University of Washington

Every quarter, I am inspired by the passion, creativity and dedication of the students I teach. Their unwavering commitment to making a difference in the lives of young children gives me tremendous hope for the future. Watching them embrace inclusive policies and practices and demonstrate a reflective approach to their work assures me that the next generation of educators will be compassionate and impactful leaders. New partnerships and applied research focused on innovative use of human-powered technology in our work that will increase equitable access to higher education for early childhood educators is making me particularly hopeful about this year and beyond!

Centering Community Voice in NYC

Bonnie Kerker, Associate Professor; Director, Together Growing Strong

NYU Grossman School of Medicine

As we enter 2025, I am most excited about how Together Growing Strong centers community voice in research. This year, based on mixed-methods, community-engaged research, we are pilot-testing an intervention to help families whose children receive special education services navigate the transition from preschool to kindergarten. Many children lose services during the transition or enter kindergarten with the wrong services, profoundly affecting their learning trajectory. We are working with the New York City Public School system to develop and test this intervention, and we feel hopeful that this collaboration will lead to a sustainable and scalable mechanism to strengthen families and enable children to thrive.

Understanding the Magic of the Child’s Mind

Patricia Kuhl, Professor and Co-Director

I-LABS, University of Washington

My hope lies in the promise of scientific research, as well as interventions stemming directly from basic research, to increase our understanding of the magic of the child’s mind and brain. Children’s ability to learn and be resilient in the face of challenges is truly astounding. I believe we’re entering a Golden Age in which the possibilities for children are boundless. Together, we can enhance the potential of every child to be happy and feel fulfilled.

Taking a Moonshot for Open-Source Edtech

Lilach Mollick, Co-Director

Generative AI Lab at Wharton (GAIL)

We’re excited about building “Primer,” a moonshot initiative to create an open-source platform for educators and flip the script on educational technology. Instead of teachers adapting to pre-made tools, we’re building an open-source AI platform where they can create what their students need through natural conversation. Primer aims to let any teacher — no coding skills required — build adaptive, AI-driven simulations for their students through a coordinated team of specialized AI agents. This isn’t science fiction — it’s what happens when we combine generative AI, learning science, and game design with the drive to make creation accessible for every educator.

Launching Families Off to an Optimal Start

Catherine Monk, Diana Vagelos Professor of Women’s Mental Health

Center for the Transition to Parenthood, Columbia University

We are partnering with patients and providers at a federally qualified women’s health clinic in the Bronx to identify gaps in the psychosocial aspects of obstetrical care and design together responsive, novel interventions. So far, listening sessions with providers indicate a need for more mental health services and a systematic approach to helping patients feel ready for birth and the weeks after. We are very optimistic that this work, in its early stages, will lead to scalable solutions for leveraging the high-frequency contact of prenatal care to help get families off to an optimal start.

Making Evidence-Based Childcare Policy Investments

Cynthia Osborne, Executive Director and Professor

Prenatal-to-3 Policy Impact Center, Vanderbilt University

As the 2025 legislative session begins in State Houses across the country, I am excited to watch many states introduce legislation that research shows will improve the lives of infants and toddlers and their parents. From Medicaid expansion to earned income tax credits to paid leave and childcare assistance, states are focused on making evidence-based investments. I am hopeful that state legislatures will make policy choices that create the environments in which all children thrive from the start.

Diverting Juvenile Detention

Becky Pettit, Professor

University of Texas at Austin

Our community partners continue to work tirelessly to keep youth accused of assault and family violence out of detention. Community-based organizations — along with institutional partners — have built an incredible team that provides youth and their families with support instead of surveillance and gives youth and their families opportunities to engage in transformative and healing circles. The partnerships themselves are an incredible accomplishment, and early results for youth are promising: more than 50 youth from four jurisdictions have been diverted from juvenile detention, and 96% have stayed out of the system.

Moving Early Childhood Development Forward

Jack P Shonkoff, Founding Director

Center on the Developing Child, Harvard University

Advances in the science of early childhood development (ECD), what we now call “ECD 2.0,” have underscored the important effects of both responsive relationships and community influences on the foundations of early learning, later educational achievement, social and economic mobility and lifelong health. In 2025, we’re taking what we’ve learned about “neurons” and connecting it to “neighborhoods” through strategic partnerships that have the potential for much larger impacts than we’ve seen in the last 25 years from either child-, family-, or community-focused programs by themselves.

Co-Creating Relationship-Rich Programming

Joanna Williams, Senior Director of Research

Search Institute

We are fortunate to have research partners who recognize and deeply value the role of strong, developmental youth-adult relationships as a key ingredient for youths’ thriving. For example, our school partners in two states and our out-of-school partners across San Antonio, TX, are collaborating with us to build relationship-rich school and program cultures. Our learnings from these partnerships have inspired our renewed vision for supporting relational ecosystems that nurture youth thriving across communities, and we are grateful for the hope and possibilities our work together has inspired.

Photo L to R. Line 1: R. Gabriela Barajas-Gonzalez, NYU Grossman School of Medicine; Anthony Burrow, Cornell University; Adriana Galván, UCLA; Gail E. Joseph, University of Washington Line 2: Bonnie Kerker, NYU Grossman School of Medicine; Patricia Kuhl, University of Washington; Lilach Mollick, Wharton (GAIL); Catherine Monk, Columbia University Line 3: Cynthia Osborne, Vanderbilt University; Becky Pettit, University of Texas at Austin; Jack P Shonkoff, Harvard University; Joanna Williams, Search Institute