We’re excited to introduce you to the always interesting and insightful Hanson Yan. We hope you’ll enjoy our conversation with Hanson below.

Alright, Hanson thanks for taking the time to share your stories and insights with us today. What was it like going from idea to execution? Can you share some of the backstory and some of the major steps or milestones?

The idea of creating a platform where everyone could share their stories was first discussed in 2022, when my co-founder Eric and I met through family connections during a trip. I had a deep desire to address the mental health challenges I faced during quarantine, while Eric, with nearly 15 years of experience running a national nonprofit, also recognized the growing need for an inclusive space where youth could empower each other. We instantly connected and decided to bring our shared vision to life—starting with cam-recorded interviews. We rented out a small, blocked-off space in a San Diego office complex and filmed our first-ever interview with Lisa, an actress featured in several Apple TV+ shows.

In the beginning, we had no established network or connections to recruit participants through the channels we have now, so we relied on family and friends. Eric and I cold-emailed parents and students, and our challenge wasn’t just finding participants but convincing both the students and their parents to actively participate in the program. This was our first real hurdle: selling the vision of TripleV—Spotlighting Young Leaders—to an audience that was uncertain at first, but over time, became interested and willing to share their stories through our interviews. Looking back, one crucial factor behind our success was persistence. Without the patience to manage the unpredictable nature of interviews, knowing applicants could drop out at any time, and the clarity we maintained when explaining our vision to those who weren’t familiar with it, TripleV wouldn’t have grown to the standing it enjoys today.

We only started gaining traction after publishing around 40 videos. As our team expanded and we received funding from private donors, TripleV was able to go beyond social media and create a centralized platform offering resources to students. This led to the launch of the Fellowship Program, which serves our TripleV Fellows—a community of students seeking mentorships, internships, and scholarship opportunities. For anyone looking for these hard-to-find opportunities, we created a database containing a diverse selection of applications. More importantly, we offered exclusive local opportunities, sourced by partnering with local businesses and organizations, that are often difficult to find or hidden from public view.

Currently, we’re working on automating and streamlining our resource database, while expanding our mentorship and internship offerings. What sets our organization apart and has contributed to our success is our innovation and willingness to integrate social media, technology, and even AI into the traditional nonprofit advocacy space. But none of this would have materialized without persistence, a quality that has been pivotal and cannot be overstated.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

As a senior at St. Margaret’s Episcopal School, I founded Triple V, a non-profit dedicated to enhancing youth mental wellness, at the age of 16. Recognizing the critical need for peer-to-peer support, I collaborated with my co-founder Eric, whom I met through a family friend. With Eric’s non-profit experience, we quickly brainstormed ideas and secured our co-working space and filmed our first interview within six months.

Triple V emerged from a desire to support students during the COVID-19 pandemic, creating a platform for young leaders to share their passions and navigate challenges together. We empower students through mentorship, internship and scholarship opportunities. Over the past year, our impact has grown significantly, expanding our programs from 300 Fellows in 2023 to 2,000 in 2024—a remarkable 900% increase. We remain committed to nurturing the changemakers of tomorrow and fostering youth leadership development and community support.

Let’s talk about resilience next – do you have a story you can share with us?

Building a team in a nonprofit can be challenging, especially given the fluid nature of the working environment. In the first six months after our founding, we grew from one employee to four as we began to find our footing and solidify our niche in tackling the large issue of mental well-being. It was during this period that we launched our Storyteller Scholarship program, recognizing that financial support is crucial to mental well-being, and it was the perfect starting point for us.

Employee retention was another significant hurdle we faced. Along our journey, we experienced the loss of several employees, and at one point, our team was reduced to just one person. However, we never gave up. We continued interviewing, hiring, and consistently communicating our vision. As a nonprofit, we weren’t selling a product; we were promoting a belief. Through persistence during our toughest times, we have now grown to a team of twelve dedicated employees and are actively working to expand our impact to over 40 schools nationwide.

How do you keep in touch with clients and foster brand loyalty?

As a nonprofit, our brand is our mission, and our clients are the communities we serve. For us, fostering brand loyalty looks like building genuine relationships with the students and communities we aim to uplift. We utilize social media to connect with our target audience—students—because it’s important to meet them where they are. In addition, our dedicated outreach team forms one-on-one relationships with any student in our fellowship community who reaches out for more tailored support and guidance. Ultimately, we believe that trust is built by consistently delivering on what we promise, and through this, we continue to strengthen our relationship with the students and communities who rely on us.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.triple3v.org/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/triple3v/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/company/triple-v-org/mycompany/
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@triplevorg

Image Credits

Boys & Girls Clubs of Greater San Diego, Association of Fundraising Professionals (AFP)