Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards Honors imi

San Francisco, CA – imi guide, a mental health tool developed by Hopelab in partnership with CenterLink, the It Gets Better Project, and the Eidos LGBTQ+ Health Initiative at the University of Pennsylvania has been honored in Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards for 2023 in the following categories:

• Honorable Mention in Social Justice
• Finalist in Small Business (less than 100 employees)

Providing support to LGBTQ+ youth is essential for their health and well-being, especially as the impact of healthcare disparities and access to care continue to disproportionately impact sexual and gender minority youth. imi addresses the need for safe, accessible, support and breaks down important topics like stress, LGBTQ+ identity, internalized stigma, and gender identity through interactive resources, stories, and activities. Evaluated in a randomized controlled trial by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania, imi users showed significant improvement in coping skills and confidence in their ability to cope than those assigned randomly to a control group.

“We are proud to have imi guide recognized by Fast Company’s Innovation by Design Awards,” said Margaret Laws, President & CEO of Hopelab. “Resources like imi are essential tools in supporting and affirming the lives of adolescents while improving mental health outcomes. Hopelab’s investment and partnership support for founders committed to improving mental health outcomes for LGBTQ+ and BIPOC youth remains central to our mission. These recognitions highlight the impact that innovators and social impact investors can have when they come together to improve the mental well-being of young people.”

“So much innovation news these days is focused on AI,” said Brendan Vaughan, editor-in-chief of Fast Company. “This year’s Innovation by Design honorees are a reminder that it’s human ingenuity that drives invention.”

The Innovation by Design Awards honors designers and businesses solving the most crucial problems of today and anticipating the pressing issues of tomorrow. The competition, now in its 12th year, includes nearly 500 projects, products, and services from companies like Adobe, PepsiCo, Canva, and other emerging startups.

Innovation by Design entries are judged on the key ingredients of innovation: functionality, originality, beauty, sustainability, user insight, cultural impact, and business impact. The judges include renowned designers from a variety of disciplines, business leaders from some of the most innovative companies in the world, and Fast Company’s own writers and editors.

Winners and finalists are featured in the September issue of Fast Company magazine, on newsstands August 29, 2023.

To see the complete list, go to https://www.fastcompany.com/innovation-by-design/list.

About Hopelab

Hopelab is a transformative social innovation lab and impact investor working to support the mental well-being of adolescents, ages 10-25, especially BIPOC and LGBTQ+ youth. Through targeted social impact investments, youth-centered design and research support, and translational science partnerships, the organization leverages 20+ years of co-creation experience to influence systems change while centering health equity. Learn more at hopelab.org.

About Fast Company

Fast Company is the only media brand fully dedicated to the vital intersection of business, innovation, and design, engaging the most influential leaders, companies, and thinkers on the future of business. Headquartered in New York City, Fast Company is published by Mansueto Ventures LLC, along with our sister publication Inc., and can be found online at www.fastcompany.com.