The Next Wave Podcast

"Well-being is often packaged as a neat box, as a clear destination, rather than the meandering, complex journey it is. For Prameela Boorada, Headstream Fellow, and today’s guest, wellness and youth well-being is a fluid, ever-expanding concept, and her exploration of these notions has garnered far more questions than answers. In this incredible episode, we hear more about this flexible understanding of wellness. It is important to understand both the light and dark sides of the processes that go into well-being. With love comes accountability, with vulnerability comes discomfort and empowerment, and with growth comes unlearning and resilience. Digital spaces need to speak to both sides, not simply the light. We also delve into some of the major assumptions Prameela has confronted through the fellowship. From ideas around capitalization to the negligibility of intention if there’s a desirable outcome, Prameela has opened herself to continual unlearning. Her insights display a profound understanding of co-creation and collaborative design thinking rather than a top-down approach. Along with this, we also unpack why we’re even having to justify diversity as a driver of creation, the iterations of Prameela’s project, and the importance of getting comfortable in the discomfort. We are so grateful not only that Prameela was on the show but also that she is such an extraordinary part of the Headstream community."

·  How and why Prameela’s definition of well-being has expanded and evolved over time.
·  Youth well-being is comprised of processes that have dark and light sides built in.
·  Find out why digital spaces have to account for the dark side of youth well-being.
·  Why there cannot be a one-size-fits-all digital platform to address youth wellness.

·  Three of Prameela’s assumptions that were challenged during this fellowship.
·  The gap that exists between activists and advocates and product developers.
·  Trickle-down social impact: Why minority communities become edge use cases.
·  How Prameela’s experience with Headstream showed her a different form of capitalization.
·  If humanity’s diversity isn’t acknowledged, it’s impossible to strive for authentic connection.

·  An overview of Prameela’s project and some of the changes it underwent.
·  How Prameela’s project explored the idea of human connection in digital spaces.
·  Why Prameela was relieved that her findings pointed to the ‘messiness’ of well-being.
·  Challenging assumptions and unlearning are supposed to be messy.
·  How the stories she heard during the project, shifted Prameela’s notion of well-being.