The challenge for funders is not a lack of need; it is deciding where a finite amount of funding and attention can be most catalytic within an issue that touches every age group, is shaped by large-scale systems and cultural currents, and does not have a neatly bounded “loneliness field” of stakeholders.
Innovations are underdeveloped and experimental, without clear understanding of long-term results. At the same time, the conditions that shape connection keep accelerating. Technology-mediated social life, hybrid work, less participation in groups, and changes in everyday social habits are altering how people meet, sustain relationships, and build a sense of belonging.
Not every effort that brings people together meaningfully reduces loneliness. In practice, many programs can point to social activity, attendance, or engagement and claim impact—without addressing whether participants feel less isolated, more supported, or more connected over time. Similarly, approaches that frame loneliness mainly as a mental health issue can help some individuals, but on their own they are unlikely to change the overall trend.
We believe Battery Powered’s greatest opportunity for impact lies in work that treats loneliness not as a secondary issue, but as a central problem to be understood and addressed; that addresses the conditions producing loneliness, not only the experience of it; and that focuses on the people most affected right now.
We will therefore concentrate on two complementary areas for investment that are both urgent and timely. First, we will invest in new pathways for lasting connection: next-generation places, institutions, technologies, and everyday practices that make it easier for people to form and sustain real relationships in the course of ordinary life. Second, we will address the acute rise of loneliness among adolescents and young adults—the demographics reporting the highest levels, with trend lines that continue to worsen.
These approaches reinforce each other. Work with young people can reduce loneliness now and help them build relationship skills and habits that carry into adulthood. Work on new ways of connecting helps ensure those skills and habits have somewhere to take root—creating more chances for ongoing connection not only for young people, but for everyone.
Across both areas, Battery Powered will prioritize efforts that go beyond “more interaction” and instead increase the likelihood of repeated, meaningful, reciprocal connection—the kind that produces belonging, support, and a culture of contribution and care.