Hi, I’m Larz.
For over a decade, I’ve been building the digital wellness category and we’re now at a place where human survival depends on what we do next. If you’re aligned with my mission, let’s work together to create a future that’s bright with less blue light.
Listen to Larz on Ted Daily Talks
• • •
Listen to Larz on Ted Daily Talks • • •
I was a sophomore at Vanderbilt — building an audience, building a brand, building something that looked, from the outside, like a life. But behind the screen, I was drowning in darkness. What we see online is “only #halfthestory.” I know, because I almost lost my life because of it.
So with $250, I took a dorm room dream and started #HalfTheStory — built on one belief: young people don’t need to be protected from technology, they need to be empowered within it. #HalfTheStory turned into a seven-figure NGO with teens at the heart of it.
After building the program I needed as a young person, I’m now building Ginko — a first of its kind product that helps families navigate the future by guiding them with tools and research instead of fear. I'm on a mission to build a category-defining ecosystem that spans media, nonprofit initiatives and products that help humans thrive. My personal north star is to help every young person outperform their circumstances and make digital wellness accessible to every person on the planet.
#HalfTheStory
#HalfTheStory
Larz believes teens deserve a seat at the table whenever decisions about technology are being made so the people most affected by tech have a voice in shaping it.
In 2008, Larz founded #HalfTheStory, a platform that puts the power in teenagers' hands to build boundaries within the digital world. Together, they’ve shaped policies like phone-free schools and transformed passive doom scrolling into informed interactions and analogue activities. Where the world responded with phone fear, Larz responded with teen-led digital wellness initiatives.
As a science-backed non-profit, Larz continued to develop #HalfTheStory in partnership with state officials, Fortune 500 companies and educational institutions. #HalfTheStory has grown to reach over 51,000 students and youth leaders have been trained across 56 U.S. cities and 9 countries. This movement has national education partnerships with Girls Inc. and Discovery Education, and its funders include ICONIQ Impact Collaborative, Pinterest, Pivotal Ventures, a Melinda French Gates organization, The Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation, Archwell Philanthropies, and The Born This Way Foundation.
Ginko
Kids are growing up behind screens and falling behind in real life. Parents see it coming and are fearful, but they don't know what to do about it.
Larz realized parents don't actually fear screens. They fear raising a kid who can't function without one. The problem is, every tool on the market is built to solve for fear instead of solving the problem. Ginko turns screen time into a springboard for the real world — taking your kids from screen obsessed kids into well rounded humans.
By helping parents better understand both their children and the rapidly changing digital landscape, Ginko helps families build healthier digital habits, stronger communication and deeper connection. Developed with Co-founder Family Systems Addiction Psychiatrist Dr. Raghu Appasani, Ginko is the only HIPAA-compliant digital wellness platform for families.
Collab with Larz
-
Larz is regularly invited into conversations with some of the world's most influential leaders to help inform decisions in technology and policy that shape our kids' future. Here’s who she’s been working with lately:
-
From Aspen Ideas to TEDNext. School Boardrooms to the United Nations. From the Middle East to Paris. Larz speaks across generations, borders and worldviews. She has the unique ability to connect with multiple audiences without losing a single one.
With a decade of professional experience and research, Larz translates science into storytelling that people can understand and inspires them to act.
-
Larz helps organizations navigate the future of digital well-being. Through corporate workshops, she helps companies understand the needs and expectations of the next generation, integrate digital wellness into the workplace and design tools that are safe for the future.
-
Larz enters into partnerships that are grounded in shared values and co-created with intention. She is a founder who uses technology as a tool and focuses on living a life that includes digital but isn’t the only highlight. Larz is open to social and IRL brand partnerships with companies that align with her values.
Media
Larz May is the leading voice in digital wellness and has been featured in the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, Good Morning America, the TODAY Show, Forbes, Vanity Fair, and has made podcast appearances on TED Talks Daily, After Bedtime with Big Little Feelings, Before Breakfast, This Helps with Marlon Morgan, and more.
Press Inquires: press@larzmay.com
Coverage
How Larissa May Is Turning Phone-Free Schools Into a Youth-Led Culture Shift
The Woman Rallying Teens to Change Social Media
Larissa May — Featured Video
Meghan Markle, Melinda French Gates, Oprah Girls Inc. & #HalfTheStory Program Interview
Recognition
California AI & Innovation Council — Appointed (December 2025) to support statewide initiatives advancing responsible AI in government
Entreprenista 100 Changemaker of the Year — 2025
Mozilla Foundation — Rise25 Honoree — 2024
Business Insider — Rising Stars Award — 2020
Institutional Support
Iconiq Capital — Collaboration on global youth mental health initiative and coalition of 25+ organizations
Born This Way Foundation — 2024 Kindness in Community Fund recipient (co-founded by Lady Gaga)
Pivotal Ventures — Founded by Melinda French Gates; support for initiatives advancing systems change and equity
Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation — Support for youth wellbeing and storytelling initiatives
Archewell Foundation — Support for youth-focused programming and digital wellbeing initiatives
