Center for Scholars & Storytellers
Banks Vadeboncoeur serves as the Founder and Executive Director of Young Voices for Change, an online publication that empowers youth to express their perspectives on social issues. Currently a Research Collaborator at the Center for Scholars & Storytellers and a Student Fellow at Riley's Way Foundation, Banks contributes to initiatives promoting kindness and the positive impact of media on youth. Additional roles include Video Editor for MediaWise, Student Staff at GripTape, Sports Writer for Ponte Vedra Neighbors Magazine, and Columnist for The Florida Times-Union. Banks is pursuing education at Ponte Vedra High School, anticipated graduation in 2025.
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Center for Scholars & Storytellers
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The Center for Scholars & Storytellers (CSS), at UCLA, collaborates with leading scientists to provide research-based insights for content creators crafting authentic and inclusive stories for children (ages 2-9) and adolescents (ages 10-25). Our focus is on entertainment content that supports young people's social and emotional health and well-being, emphasizing changing ingrained cultural narratives around the critical issues of diversity, equity, inclusion, and accessibility (DEIA), mental health, and inequality. CSS brings academic rigor and real-world entertainment expertise to every project we undertake. By partnering with more than 60 subject-matter experts, scientists, graduate students, research assistants, and academic collaborators worldwide, we help the entertainment industry reimagine and strengthen its content so that young people can thrive and grow. Our original research and valuable insights and tools have been featured in several major media sources such as ABC News, EdSource, NBC News, the New York Times, Today, and more. In just a few years, CSS has grown across all content sectors and is being used by some of the industry's most well-known names, including media companies (Disney, Paramount, Pixar), tech (YouTube, Google), gaming (Twitch, Ninja), public health (Surgeon General, LA County of Education), and consumer products (Mattel, Lego, Barbie). CSS was founded in 2019 by award-winning Dr. Yalda T. Uhls, a former senior film executive who subsequently received a Ph.D. in developmental psychology from UCLA. Dr. Uhls was recently named 1 of 9 DEI experts who are changing Hollywood. You can learn more about our work at scholarsandstorytellers.com or contact us directly here, https://www.scholarsandstorytellers.com/contact-us.