A new initiative in the College of Human Ecology (CHE) that launched in April 2025 to study the burgeoning field of purpose has received a $3 million grant from the John Templeton Foundation.
The Purpose Science and Innovation Exchange (PSiX), located in the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research (BCTR) at CHE, will use the grant to jump-start its efforts to understand how young people develop and experience a sense of purpose - that is, something that youth are looking forward to and working toward.
"Research conducted with adults has connected a sense of purpose with a host of benefits, including better physical and mental health, more social connections and better resiliency," said Anthony Burrow, PSiX director and the Ferris Family Associate Professor of Life Course Studies in the Department of Psychology at CHE. "Now, there is a need to carefully investigate these benefits in younger populations."
The funding will allow PSiX to commence its first research effort, the National Youth Purpose Survey. The first and largest survey of its kind, it will measure how youth across the country think and feel about purpose. It will be co-designed with researchers, youth and youth-serving organizations. Slated to launch in early 2026, it will engage at least 2,000 youth aged 15 -25. The results, expected in late 2026, will offer critical insights into how purpose corresponds with well-being, help identify new thematic research ideas, and inform policies that can help support youth thriving, Burrow said.
"Involving those who will benefit from research in its creation is a hallmark of translational research," said Burrow, who is also director of the BCTR. "Inviting young people to co-design this survey ensures that we are asking the right questions and allows us to model the kind of meaningful participation that we know helps young people thrive."
A portion of the Templeton Foundation funding will be allocated to PSiX's sister organization, Purpose Commons, a national nonprofit dedicated to translating research on sense of purpose into direct engagement with youth. Purpose Commons will use the funding to expand the reach of the Contribution Project, which Burrow launched at Cornell in 2019, with seed funding from an Engaged Scholar Prize from what is now the Einhorn Center for Community Engagement. Contributors receive $400 to make any kind of contribution they wish. Initially available to 50 undergraduates at Cornell, it has expanded to include other SUNY institutions and other cohorts, led by youth-serving organizations, across the country. Purpose Commons will also develop a network of youth and the organizations that serve them that will help translate purpose research into practice, providing additional data and insight into the connections between purpose and contribution.
"This generates our ability to engage authentically and meaningfully with our community partners to create a long-lasting change that reaches beyond the research itself," said TeRay Esquibel, Purpose Commons executive director. "The questions we ask and the insights we get from the Contribution Project and the National Youth Purpose Survey from those communities will unlock purpose in a way that makes a difference for all of us."
The funding will also help support PSiX's Lab of Labs, a collaborative, geographically distributed and dynamic network of youth development and purpose science researchers. The Lab of Lab's flexible structure allows PSiX to recruit researchers with specific expertise as new research questions emerge, including those that emanate from organizations that serve young people, Purpose Commons and youth.
"Applying this distributed network approach to the deep study of youth purpose is the innovation," said Burrow. "By leveraging the perspectives and expertise of scholars across different institutions and disciplines, we can accelerate our understanding of how young people develop purpose from multiple angles simultaneously."
PSiX plans to share results from the survey and other research with stakeholders; co-create purpose-related content with youth and organizations that serve them; and hold periodic events that convene researchers, youth, organizations that serve young people, funders and leaders in youth development and purpose science.
"This funding comes at such a critical moment, allowing PSiX and Cornell to be at the forefront of purpose science research," said Rachel Dunifon, the Rebecca Q. and James C. Morgan Dean of the College of Human Ecology. "The knowledge PSiX discovers about what youth seek to accomplish will give us insight into the world that lies ahead."
Juan Vazquez-Leddon is the communications director for the Bronfenbrenner Center for Translational Research.
