Model and Strategy
AES delivers neuroscience-based prevention education at a moment when it can have lasting impact—during adolescence, when patterns of stress, connection, and behavior are still forming. It brings this work directly into the settings where young people already are, from schools to community organizations and juvenile justice programs, reaching youth who are often least likely to access consistent preventive support.
Rather than relying on fear-based messaging, AES translates complex brain science into accessible, practical insights, helping young people understand how stress and reward systems shape behavior, and how social connection plays a protective role. Its model builds in layers over time. It begins with foundational knowledge, delivered through interactive curricula that explain how the brain responds to loneliness and stress.
From there, programs create space for reflection and peer dialogue, allowing participants to recognize shared experiences of isolation and normalize help-seeking. As engagement deepens, youth are introduced to practical tools—what AES calls a “Connection Toolkit”—to identify trusted relationships, community anchors, and ways to navigate disconnection.
AES’s newest initiative, Connected and Thriving: The Neuroscience of Belonging and Meaningful Relationships, extends this work by explicitly positioning loneliness as a biological and behavioral risk factor. The module combines brain science with guided discussion and applied skill-building, helping participants understand the difference between being alone and feeling lonely, and how chronic isolation shapes emotional regulation and decision-making.
By embedding prevention within the systems young people already navigate, AES reaches those most at risk earlier, before patterns of isolation and substance use become entrenched. Over time, this approach strengthens young people’s ability to understand their own experiences, seek support, and build connections that support long-term wellbeing.
Impact
Since its founding, AES has grown from a single curriculum into a multi-program prevention model reaching more than 24,000 students across 27 middle and high schools in the Bay Area, with consistent year-over-year expansion.
Its impact is driven not only by scale, but by measurable changes in knowledge, attitudes, and behavioral intentions. Through structured pre- and post-program assessments, AES consistently observes increases in students’ understanding of how substances affect the brain, greater awareness of risk factors such as stress and isolation, and stronger recognition of protective strategies including connection and help-seeking.
AES’s reach extends beyond traditional classrooms through partnerships with juvenile justice programs and community-based organizations, allowing it to engage youth at elevated risk of substance use and social isolation. These settings are particularly important for reaching young people who may experience higher levels of trauma, disconnection, or instability, and who are less likely to encounter preventive education through school alone.
In targeted interventions, such as alternative-to-suspension programs, schools report reductions in repeat substance-related incidents, suggesting that increased understanding translates into real-world behavior change.
The introduction of the Connected and Thriving module represents a shift toward more upstream impact. By addressing loneliness directly as a driver of vulnerability, AES is working to strengthen the underlying conditions that shape adolescent health. Early indicators focus on increased likelihood of help-seeking, improved understanding of connection as a protective factor, and measurable gains in belonging.
Over time, this approach positions AES to influence not only individual decision-making, but the broader environments in which young people navigate stress, identity, and connection—embedding prevention earlier, and more durably, in the systems that shape adolescent development.
Leadership
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Daniel Dadoun
Executive Director
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Christopher Field
Director of Programs