Valerie Grison-Alsop is an experienced advertising and television executive with an entrepreneurial itch and deep expertise in engaging teenagers. After studying teen behavior, reflecting on her own struggles as a young adult and helping her daughters through those torturous years, Valerie had an epiphany: teens are uniquely able to help each other deal with distress and reduce stigma. She founded San Francisco-based nonprofit Give Us The Floor (GUTF) in 2015 to provide teens with the peer support they need to enter adulthood with self-confidence, comfort and optimism. She was named to the first FrenchWeb Talents list, which annually honors 100 French innovators and entrepreneurs.
Today, GUTF creates peer support groups that use social media to provide constant contact in a teen-only, online community. Trained teens facilitate the confidential, supportive group chats and GUTF members help each other with common mental health and social issues such as depression, isolation, anxiety, body image, bullying and relationships.
GUTF is based on the latest science related to teen well-being, but Valerie’s decision to embrace screen time was a true stroke of genius. The innovative format leverages teen devotion to social media to create a safe community online where teens can learn how to share and listen both to each other and to their own emerging voices and identities. GUTF members who actively participate in a supportive group chat report an increased sense of connection and belonging—more than 90 percent say their group chat has helped them after the first month.