About
Powered by storytelling.
Driven by justice.
Our mission is to replace shame with knowledge, isolation with connection, and silence with dialogue. We believe storytelling is a powerful method for public health interventions.
Up to Us exists to bring bold, inclusive, and culturally relevant sexual health education to young people. Through a series of short films written by justice system-impacted youth and often paired with interactive workshops, we create space for real conversations about identity, consent, pleasure, power, and health.
When young people see themselves on screen and help guide the conversation, everything can change.
Addressing urgent topics.
One scene at a time.
Identity
We explore how gender roles, stereotypes, and self-expression shape how we see ourselves and connect with others.
Pregnancy & STIs
We break down the facts around contraception, STI prevention, and reproductive health — without shame, stigma, or judgment.
Consent
We highlight how clear, ongoing communication builds trust, safety, and respect in every kind of relationship.
Catalyzing the mission.
Supporting the process.
Under the terms of the 2016 Healthy Youth Act, the State of California requires comprehensive sexual health education for all high schoolers. However, youth in Los Angeles County juvenile detention centers and in underserved communities are not guaranteed to have access to such vital information.
Created by the UCLA Art & Global Health Center and the UCLA Prison Education Program, Up to Us was made possible through funding from the Office of Population Affairs (OPA) and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), with the goal of expanding justice system-impacted youths’ access to inclusive, engaging sexual health education. The project was developed in partnership with the Policy and Research Group (PRG) and Sentient Research, who advised us throughout our rigorous creative and community-based process — from initial concept to final implementation.
Together, we ran focus groups, held workshops, and piloted the films and workshops in real-world settings to ensure the content was both effective and culturally resonant for youth.
Our path to the screen.
And beyond.
The Up to Us journey began with a writers’ room led by screenwriter Francisco Aviles Pino and a group of formerly incarcerated and justice system-impacted youth. Their lived experiences shaped the characters and stories from the ground up, ensuring the films would reflect the realities, challenges, and resilience of the communities we aim to serve.
Next, we worked with director Chloë de Carvalho and Cut and Cue to bring the scripts to life through on-location filming in Baldwin Park, California, and on the UCLA campus — turning powerful ideas into visual storytelling.
We then partnered with community organizations that serve justice system-impacted youth to pilot the films and workshops. Their feedback helped us shape the content into a program that’s not only informative, but affirming and impactful in real-world settings.
In 2024, Up to Us joined the Breakthrough Accelerator, a 10-month program supporting youth-centered innovations in sexual and reproductive health. With funding and expert guidance, we refined our approach using human-centered design and deepened our impact through youth feedback, evaluation tools, and peer learning.
Today, with support from the Los Angeles Unified School District HIV/AIDS Prevention Unit, Up to Us is being implemented in high school health classrooms to reach a broader spectrum of youth with sex-ed that’s inclusive, creative, and grounded in lived experience.
Every step of the process — from writing to piloting to scaling — has been rooted in collaboration, care, and the belief that the best education is built with the people it’s meant to serve.
Built in partnership.
Backed by vision.
Combining the power of storytelling with a commitment to equity in education, we created Up to Us to engage justice system-impacted youth in honest, inclusive conversations about sexual health.
The UCLA Art & Global Health Center creates arts-based public health interventions. Our work blends community engagement, arts activism, and research to advocate for comprehensive sexual health education, women’s empowerment, gender equality, LGBTQ+ identity and inclusion, anti-racism, and mental health.
The UCLA Prison Education Program makes post-secondary education accessible to women and young people who are currently incarcerated, and brings UCLA faculty and students to learn alongside them, thereby challenging bias, discrimination, and injustice in a shared and collaborative learning experience.
