Always-weird, often-wonderful singer Lady Gaga recently announced the creation of a new project aimed at empowering youth. Her new group, the Born This Way Foundation, is the result of a period of reflection after the suicide of a young fan of hers, whose final tweet thanked her. On Twitter, she revealed she spent several days “reflecting, crying, and yelling. I have so much anger. It is hard to feel love when cruelty takes someone’s life.”
Now, she’s putting that energy to good use: with the help of the John D. & Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, the California Endowment and Harvard University, her new project will attempt to reduce youth depression, bullying, and suicide. The Foundation launches in 2012; stay tuned for more information.