The duchess joined Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara to kick off the 160-year-old program for girls’ new collaboration with responsible tech nonprofit #HalfTheStory.

Last week, a group of tweens got the surprise of a lifetime when Meghan Markle joined them for a screen-free afternoon of games, friendship bracelets, coloring—and some frank talk about social media. On October 2, the duchess visited Girls Inc. of Greater Santa Barbara to help out with a new digital-wellness program called Social Media U. Now, Girls Inc., the national mentorship and leadership organization, is announcing a partnership with responsible-tech advocacy group #HalfTheStory to bring the program to students nationwide.

Financial support for the new effort is coming from Meghan and Prince Harry’s Archewell Foundation, the Oprah Winfrey Charitable Foundation, and Melinda French Gates’s Pivotal Ventures. To celebrate the partnership, Meghan was joined by Girls Inc. CEO Stephanie J. Hull and Larissa May, the founder of #HalfTheStory, to take part by sharing their own experiences.

“We did an activity where we talked through a bunch of scenarios, and Meghan talked about being one of the most bullied people in the world,” May tells Vanity Fair. “We had girls wave these little emoji signs and talk about how each one of these scenarios would have impacted them emotionally.”

Larissa May, the Duchess of Sussex, and Dr. Stephanie J. Hull.

 Photo by Eric Charbonneau.

Over the last four years, Meghan and Harry have been leveraging their own experiences with online harassment and misinformation into action. In August, the couple launched the Parents’ Network, a resource for parents whose children have experienced harm on social media. May first got to know Meghan in 2023 when #HalfTheStory was chosen as one of the initial members of the Archewell-supported Responsible Technology Youth Power Fund.

The Social Media U curriculum that Meghan helped test out last week with middle school–age kids was designed with the help of its teen advisory board. “We really wanted to make sure that the teens at #HalfTheStory were able to give their input on the type of experience that we would create. Ultimately, we thought the best way to do that was to create a space of vulnerability,” May says, adding that it was even more powerful with the duchess in the room. “With Stephanie and Meghan, we talked about what it really means to grow up in this digital age.”

The programming is designed to help girls socialize without screens, while also encouraging them to use technology for positive connection and creativity. “We asked the girls, like, ‘What does it look like to visualize your dream digital world, where you are empowered rather than disempowered?’” May says. “There was an amazing girl named Charlie who talked about how she connected with her parents through technology by listening to ’80s and ’90s music on Spotify, and how she channels that into creativity.”

The duchess, Hull, and May participate in a trust circle with the participants of Social Media U.

 Photo by Eric Charbonneau.

Girls Inc. is a network of 75 organizations across the US and Canada, which reaches about 114,000 girls annually with their programming and leadership training. “Girls Inc is in its 160th year and it has always evolved to meet girls where they are,” Hull says. “So today we are talking about the digital world as the place where we need to really address the safety and the well-being of girls.”

May says she respects Meghan and Harry’s previous work to center the voice of young people in the future of technology. “I know a lot of young women who work on their social media because it brings joy and inspiration,” she adds. “Tech isn’t going anywhere. It’s more like food than a drug, because it is a social determinant of public health, economic empowerment, and academic empowerment.”