--- --- # Imagining Tomorrow, Today: Inside the Inaugural Every Child Thrives Festival ## Video: TIME x WKKF - Thrivefest [Watch (HLS stream): TIME x WKKF - Thrivefest](https://cdn.jwplayer.com/manifests/bZ3RJzoY.m3u8) (1:12)  _Published 2026-07-20. TIME x WKKF - Thrivefest_ ### **A Legacy Evolves** For nearly a century, the W.K. Kellogg Foundation has invested in one enduring idea: that every child deserves the opportunity to thrive. That commitment traces back to founder Will Keith Kellogg himself, whose vision was rooted in supporting "the health, happiness and well-being of all children,” explains La June Montgomery Tabron, President and CEO of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation. As the foundation approaches its 100th anniversary, that mission is taking on a new form through the inaugural Every Child Thrives Festival, which was held June 23–25, 2026 at the Obama Presidential Center in Chicago, Illinois. Bringing together youth leaders, families, educators, artists, advocates, and changemakers from around the world, the festival is designed to reimagine what becomes possible when young people are placed at the center of conversations about the future.  ### **Creating a Space to Be Seen** For Tabron, the Every Child Thrives Festival is more than an event. It is an intentional effort to create a space where young people feel heard and valued. "This festival for me is a space, first of all, to see young people," she says. "For them to know that their voices matter and their instructions for us adults, will be listened to and respected." That philosophy shaped every aspect of the festival. Rather than simply attend, young people helped build it. Members of the Every Child Thrives Youth Advisory Council worked alongside organizers to help shape everything from set design, to programming to the experiences. The result is a gathering built around collaboration and trust. "This isn't a hierarchical space," says Tabron. "It's a space for knowledge and innovation and creativity, and where everyone feels like they are here to contribute."  ### **When Young People Lead, New Possibilities Emerge** Growing up in a low-income community, Amanda dos Santos, an economics student from Brazil, saw first hand how barriers to education, healthcare, and opportunity shaped the lives of young people around her. As a teenager, she turned to grassroots organizing as a way to create change. "When I started college, it was an experience that made me go, 'Wow,'" she says. "I made my dream come true. That’s when I realized I had found my voice, and it’s still echoing today." Dos Santos continues to work to expand opportunities for Black youth in Brazil and sees the festival as proof of what becomes possible when young people are invited into rooms where decisions are being made. "When I saw that I was invited, it meant believing in tomorrow anew without losing my past. Nothing is separate, everything is connected,” she says. “Everything is communal and it’s about being heard.” For Tabron, empowering young people starts with recognizing something many institutions overlook. "They're already leaders," she says. "What really matters is giving them that space and that agency and stepping out of their way."  ### **The Questions Adults Need to Hear** Youth leadership introduces new ideas and ways of thinking while also challenging the status quo. For Youth Advisory Council member Sheldon Hamilton, Director of X Studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico, one of the greatest strengths young people bring is their willingness to challenge assumptions. "A lot of adults get themselves into this idea that this is just the way we've always done things," he says. "Youth are really good at pushing the boundaries on that and questioning it." Often, the question is surprisingly simple. _"_Why not?_"_ Hamilton says. It's a mindset he sees every day while working with teenagers. "There are no limits, no caps on their imagination," he says. "They bring that fresh perspective to every conversation." Shreyaa Venkat, founder and CEO of NEST4US, agrees. She believes young people possess a unique ability to transform concern into action. "Young people are very good at grounding things in the present," she says. "They notice something in the community and think, 'What can I do right now?'" Whether the issue is hunger, mental health, climate change, or social connection, young people are often eager to move from awareness to action. "They channel that energy into something actionable,_"_ Venkat says.  ### **From Surviving to Thriving** The festival's name poses an important question: What does it actually mean to thrive? For Hamilton, the answer begins with meeting basic needs and ensuring young people feel supported. Recalling a student who struggled in school while coping with family instability and just having shoes several sizes too small, Hamilton says the experience reinforced a simple truth. "I can't expect someone to come in and want to be a really good engineer if their basic needs aren't being met." His definition of thriving is simple. "To be seen,_"_ he says. Venkat views thriving through a similarly holistic lens. "Health is not just physical," she says. "It's mental, emotional, spiritual." Basic needs matter, but true thriving requires belonging. "You're not just included in a space. You're genuinely present and part of a community." Dos Santos brings yet another perspective. For her, thriving is deeply connected to community and collective progress. "For me, thriving means returning to my community with knowledge," she says. "It means to understand that my culture is ancestral and my knowledge is communal. Together, their perspectives reveal that thriving is the result of creating conditions where every young person can pursue their right to full lives and fulfilled dreams.  ### **Imagining Tomorrow, Today** The festival’s theme, _Imagine Tomorrow, Today,_ serves as a reminder to look beyond today's challenges and toward new possibilities. "Leaders from all over the world are understandably focused on the most pressing challenges," Tabron says. "We need a space to reflect and to imagine a new way." As conversations unfolded across the festival, one message emerged again and again: the answers are already in the room. The challenge is whether the adults and institutions are willing to listen. Because when young people are trusted not just as participants but as leaders, Tabron believes the possibilities are endless. "The world is possible. Change is possible." [](https://www.wkkf.org/) [Learn More](https://www.wkkf.org/) Imagining Tomorrow, Today: Inside the Inaugural Every Child Thrives Festival ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/w-k-kellogg-foundation/imagining-tomorrow-today-inside-the-inaugural-every-child-thrives-festival/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/branded-content/w-k-kellogg-foundation/imagining-tomorrow-today-inside-the-inaugural-every-child-thrives-festival/"},"headline":"Imagining Tomorrow, Today: Inside the Inaugural Every Child Thrives Festival","datePublished":"2026-07-20T17:53:27.964Z","dateModified":"2026-07-20T17:51:36.492Z","description":"Discover how the inaugural Every Child Thrives Festival, hosted by the W.K. Kellogg Foundation, brought together youth leaders, educators, artists, and advocates to reimagine the future. 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