InnoYouth is a youth-led initiative raising awareness of eye diseases and expanding access to inclusive educational resources through bilingual education, community partnerships, and student-led action.
InnoYouth is a student-led community initiative based in Orange County, California, dedicated to advancing vision awareness and accessibility by connecting rare eye disease patients with researchers and building a virtuous cycle of genetic data sharing and research.
Through technology, creativity, and education, we transform raw data into human-centered stories — closing the gap in medical information and creating a bridge of hope for rare disease patients around the world.
What can we do today to help those losing their sight?
The simple, urgent question our journey began with.
We build a data-driven research ecosystem for rare eye diseases, led by youth who serve as connectors among patients, researchers, and society. We do this by:
We envision a world where data is not just numbers, but a powerful tool for vision awareness, accessibility, and action.
We dream of a virtuous cycle where personal genetic information fuels research, and the resulting knowledge brings renewed hope to patients and families.
What began with a single question is expanding into a global effort — enabling borderless collaboration and reducing disparities in vision awareness and accessibility around the world.
Despite remarkable advances in genetic medicine, patients with rare eye diseases still face overwhelming challenges.
Most patients cannot access — or make sense of — their own genetic and diagnostic data.
Patients and researchers often operate in silos, limiting collaboration and innovation.
Even when data is available, few specialists exist who can decode rare genetic variants.
These gaps delay diagnosis, hinder treatment, and leave families in uncertainty. We're here to change that — one connection, one story at a time.
Our work centers on three simple goals: raise awareness, expand access, and put students in the driver's seat.
We collaborate with eye disease organizations and professionals to create accurate, accessible, and bilingual educational content.
We help connect braille books, tactile learning materials, and inclusive educational resources with organizations that can use them.
We give students meaningful roles in research communication, storytelling, accessibility, outreach, and community service.
A closer look at the work our programs are producing right now.
InnoYouth helped put braille and tactile books — originally produced by Sensee — into the hands of students who need them. WithOn9 held these books in inventory; we made the case for donating them, then matched the donation with a receiving organization equipped to distribute the books directly to blind and low-vision students.
What's next: We're reaching out to more publishers and organizations willing to donate braille and tactile materials, so we can match more donations with the students and schools who need them.
Acknowledgment letter, photos/video, delivery date, and quantity to be added.
Created together with EyeLoveChild, our partner organization based in Korea, this series raises awareness of rare pediatric eye diseases (specific conditions to be added) through short videos and card-news content — each reviewed by medical professionals before publication, and published in both English and Korean.
What's next: Upcoming topics to be announced — we're expanding the series to cover more rare eye diseases and reach new communities.
Five steps guide every project, from first idea to finished delivery.
We look for real problems and the resources needed to solve them.
We confirm accuracy and need with experts and partners.
We connect companies, organizations, students, and experts.
We carry out deliveries, campaigns, content, and events.
We record outcomes and lessons learned, transparently.
Every project brings together a different kind of partner. Here's how we group them.
Reviews the medical and educational accuracy of our content. A patient-centered precision medicine platform founded by a legally blind tech executive and a medical scientist from Seoul National University.
Logo pending permissionDonated the braille and tactile books featured in our Braille Book Access Project, making its inventory available after being approached by InnoYouth.
Logo pending permissionReceives resources and co-runs programs with us — including the Vision Awareness Series. A rare eye disease awareness and advocacy initiative based in Korea.
Visit eyelovechild.com → Logo pending permissionPartner logos will be added once permission is granted by each organization.
Troy High School, Fullerton, California
Ashton's connection to vision loss is personal. Woo-joo Choi, the founder of Onboarding Lab and a close acquaintance, has been losing his eyesight — and watching a friend navigate that reality up close revealed a clear problem: the people and organizations with resources to help are rarely connected to the people who actually need them.
Ashton's first step was simple — reaching out directly to ask what was needed, and who might be willing to help. That process taught a lasting lesson: the resources usually already exist. They just need someone willing to make the connection.
Ashton's goal is to grow InnoYouth into exactly that — a reliable, youth-led connector that consistently identifies real needs, verifies them with experts, and brings together the companies, schools, and professionals who can meet them.
Meet the rest of the InnoYouth team — coming soon.
We keep our impact numbers honest — here's what that looks like right now.
A few highlights from our journey so far.
[Placeholder description — send the real accomplishment and I'll swap this in.]
[Placeholder description — send the real accomplishment and I'll swap this in.]
[Placeholder description — send the real accomplishment and I'll swap this in.]
Whether by volunteering your time or partnering with us on a project — every action moves research forward.
Collaborate with us on projects that directly help patients and families — such as contributing braille books, educational materials, or other resources.
Partner With Us →Join our outreach team and help us raise awareness — through design, events, storytelling, and more.
Volunteer with Us →Help us build a youth-powered ecosystem for rare disease research. Every partner, volunteer, and story moves us forward.
InnoYouth is a youth-led vision accessibility initiative that connects rare eye disease patients, researchers, and genetic data to support research and raise awareness. We drive change through the power of data and storytelling.
You can join us as a volunteer, partner with us on a project — like providing braille books or educational materials — or simply spread the word. Everyone has a role to play in making an impact.