Our Focus - @15™
When teens speak, we listen
Teens. If the future is theirs, let's hear what they have to say about it.
Best Buy is committed to supporting teens. Our future depends on them — as a company, yes, but more importantly as a county, a society, a world. Yet research reveals that teens (those wonderful, outspoken, smart, creative, energetic, bring-on-the-world people in grades 7-12) receive the least financial support. In general, philanthropic, government and non-profit spending directed at teens is far below what is invested in children (kids in preK through grade 6) and young adults (in post-secondary school).
Best Buy is out to change this — because we want to empower teens at the most critical time of their lives. Early adolescence. Everyone is well aware of how much teens need support and opportunities to learn, contribute, lead, develop life skills and relate to others. Too often we hear bad news about the challenges teens face and the problems they create.
Best Buy believes in teens. They have special power to do great things and make the world better. Our mission is to recognize and understand that power. Not direct it, but fuel it.
Teen-led social change platform
@15 is Best Buy's teen-led social change platform. That sounds lofty because it is. What it means is we're giving teens a voice —and a say in how we donate dollars. It also means that our philanthropy is not focused on an issue or two. It's focused on a person.
That person is the teen.
Watch the @15 Video to learn more.
@15 is about giving teens opportunities to Live, Learn, Love, and Lead. These are the four dimensions of our @15 mission, and they are specifically designed to create a picture of a whole person, rather than defining a particular issue.
- Learn — opportunities to have a high quality education and learn
- Live — opportunities to build life skills and thrive
- Lead — opportunities to develop leadership skills and contribute
- Love — opportunities to build healthy relationships and relate
@15 Change Exchange: Teens as philanthropists
We said we were giving teens a voice — here's an example of how: The @15 Change Exchange. It's a cool name for an even cooler program that puts teens in charge of corporate giving — $1,000,000 of corporate giving, to be exact. Teens get to decide how this money will be allocated. Not their parents or their teachers or Best Buy board members. Teens. But they have to earn it.
Here's how it works: Teen members of @15 earn points by participating in easy, fun activities on at15.com, all aimed at developing their own points of view on topics and issues of interest to them, sharing those views and listening to others. As teens earn more points, they can show them off on their individual profiles, starting a competition (a good thing) and encouraging other teens to join them.
Every three months, @15 members allocate their points to the featured non-profit(s) they choose. Best Buy tallies all the points and makes grants to those non-profits according to the will of the members. Teens.
@15 showcases this new grant-making model that puts teens in charge.
More than $175 million
Best Buy's @15 mission is an exciting evolution of our established Foundation and corporate giving programs, which have provided more than $175 million over the past decade. This commitment to our customers, our communities, and our business helps ensure that we can provide even greater opportunities for teens. We've worked closely with our employees, as well as non-profits, teachers, parents, and teens across the country to develop this focus for Best Buy corporate philanthropy.
Indeed, many of Best Buy's Community Relations programs now have an @15 focus, such as the @15 Scholarship™, the @15™ fund, and the Best Buy Teach™ Awards, explained above.
IMO! Short for "In My Opinion"
What issues matter most to teens? Ask them. Best Buy's IMO (In My Opinion) is a quarterly @15 survey where teens share their ideas (fresh, interesting, provocative) and their opinions (they've got them). And for participating, teens receive 150 Change Exchange points.
It's time teen voices were heard. Loud and clear.
