Here’s How It’s Doing Today

In 2019, Los Angeles-based Annie Mokatsyan read up on the statistics on poverty in South Africa. Deeply troubled by the data, and feeling compelled to act, Mokatsyan asked her mother if she could travel to Africa and volunteer for nonprofit organizations that were working to end poverty in that region. Her mother responded with a firm ‘no’, feeling Mokatsyan was too young for such travel, but that didn’t seem to damage Mokatsyan’s spirit in any way. Driven by deep love and desire to show up at this moment in history, Mokatsyan decided there must be other options out there and began to explore ways to volunteer effectively from her California home. 

Once inspired, Mokatsyan began to spread the word in her networks about volunteering for timely, global issues. She herself was finding timely, relevant ways to do so the more she connected to global nonprofits. As time went on, she found many other young people who wanted to support similar causes and felt called to ensure they had an easy, safe way to give back and generate ideas for change like she did. She didn’t want others being told ‘no’ and feeling discouraged as she had in her first attempt to support solutions to global issues. “I’ve always felt that we, as young people, teens, are overlooked for being able to make a difference. It was really amazing to see how many young people wanted to help when I started reaching out.” Clearly, Mokatsyan was fulfilling a need. With each conversation she had, it became more and more clear to her that she needed to create a platform and pathway to capture this energy. With that, Am4Teens was born.

Am4Teens is a non-profit organization combating the issue of youth involvement in global progress. By collaborating with organizations, Annie and her team find ways that allow youth to get involved in humanitarian efforts without ever leaving their homes. Rooted in her own story, Mokatsyan now supports 500 young people as they seek to get involved in global humanitarian efforts. By simply heading to the website, submitting a form, and identifying one’s passion or skills, teens from around the globe are able to easily find causes they care about and help them in the ways that serve those movement’s best. “It’s easy and we have so many amazing partners who are helping us help teens volunteer in a meaningful way. New projects are always showing up!”

Since its founding, Am4Teens has collaborated with over 20 of global nonprofits and their work has resulted in over 25,800 of volunteer hours for those causes. Mokatsyan and her team have future plans which include establishing in person projects, donating supplies (hygiene, educational resources, and clothes) to low-income communities, and allowing volunteers to learn more about what is going on around the world and support effectively without needing to worry about transportation.

Teens seeking to get involved can fill out forms on Am4Teens website and organizations who desire to engage youth talents and power in their work, can contact Mokatysan herself to design a partnership.

Reflecting on two years of this work, and launching a nonprofit at 16 years-old, Mokatsyan shares some wisdom with other passionate, impact-driven teens. “Do not give up. I almost gave up on my nonprofit after I struggled to allocate partnerships from organizations. It was difficult as a young founder to show credibility since many didn’t believe my organization was legit in terms of humanitarian efforts. I didn’t know anything about social entrepreneurship, but I didn’t let that stop me from starting my own nonprofit. I’m glad I didn’t give up because Am4teens wouldn’t be where it is at now.”