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OUR IMPACT

Born This Way Foundation has worked for 12+ years to empower and inspire young people to build a kinder, braver world that supports their mental wellness. Keep scrolling to learn more about the impact of our work.

Find past impact reports for 2022, 2021, and 2020.

Find past 990 documents here for 2022, 2021, and 2020.

Find past audited financial statements for 2023, 2022, and 2021.

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Snapshots of Kindness

2022

January

Released findings from the survey “Peer Counseling in College Mental Health” in partnership with The Mary Christie Institute.

May

Released findings from the survey “Kindness in the Workplace in partnership with Indeed.

July

Fully funded 232 classroom projects in 209 schools reaching students from majority low-income households through our partnership with DonorsChoose.

August

Expanded the Kindness in Community Fund, investing in nonprofit, youth mental health organizations across the country in conjunction with The Chromatica Ball Summer Stadium Tour.

2021

January

Launched billboards with #PleaseStayPledge messaging, sharing urgent suicide prevention tools.

May

Released 'Kindness Is Action' survey identifying how young people define kindness and its impact on mental wellness.

May

Fully funded 1,238 classroom projects focused on mental health in 793 schools through partnership with DonorsChoose.

May

Welcomed a new Advisory Board cohort of 29 young people from across the globe to inform the work of the Foundation and serve as ambassadors.

June

Further supported LGBTQIA+ youth by contributing to and amplifying organizations that serve them and creating live-event activations.

September

Launched fourth annual #BeKind21 campaign, recruiting over 400 partners, 6.8 million participants, and 143 million pledged acts of kindness.

November

Released 'Youth Mental Health in Las Vegas,' a survey noting changes in prioritization, access, and preference of resources among young people.

December

Updated ChannelKindness.org to include action steps and resources with stories, a 'For Educators' page, and an interactive map of kind acts and stories.

December

Teamed up with corporate partners to meet unmet needs of nonprofits across the country for second annual Channel Kindness Holiday campaign.

2020

February

Kicked off the Channel Kindness Awards to support youth-led projects.

April

Established the Kindness in Community Fund to support local nonprofits and Black-led organizations.

April

Created #TeaWithMrsG video series to provide online resources and encouragement during the pandemic.

May

Produced #BTWFTalks to promote mental health awareness across communities, generations, and sectors.

May

Launched #BeKindBeThere with Jack.org to support youth mental health education.

July

Initiated the #KindlyMask campaign to raise awareness on the importance of wearing a mask as an act of kindness.

September

Organized the third annual #BeKind21 campaign.

September

Published CHANNEL KINDNESS: Stories of Kindness and Community.

October

Developed the #PleaseStayPledge with Find Your Anchor to offer support and resources.

2019

January

Las Vegas Youth Mental Health survey results helped explore youth perception of mental health and access to key mental health services in Las Vegas.

January

Launched an in-venue presence at the Park MGM, coinciding with Lady Gaga’s residency, to invite concertgoers to engage with interactive kindness experiences.

March

Published “Youth Mental Health in America: Understanding Resource Availability and Preferences” survey.

March

teen Mental Health First Aid expanded to eight additional schools across the United States.

April

Presented at Milken Institute’s 2019 Global Conference focused on evidence-based approaches that help build mental and emotional resilience in youth.

May

Together with California’s Mental Health Services Oversight + Accountability Commission, we surveyed over 400 young people in California on mental health and access to resources.

May

Cynthia appointed World Health Organization Goodwill Ambassador for Mental Health.

June

teen Mental Health First Aid expanded to 20 additional high schools around the country.

June

With The Starbucks Foundation, we launched our #BornThisWayFoundationxStarbucks campaign, raising over $200K to support mental health programs and LGBTQ+ youth wellness.

August

Funded more than 160 DonorsChoose.org classroom projects in response to the shootings in California, Ohio, and Texas.

August

For our second annual #BeKind21 campaign, we partnered with over 130 organizations and generated over 41M pledged acts of kindness and over 300M social media impressions.

September

teen Mental Health First Aid expanded to 35 additional high schools around the country.

October

Presented at the Nevada Suicide Prevention Conference and led a “Youth Voice on Mental Health” panel focused on suicide prevention.

2018

January

Released “Digital Communities: Youth Mental Health and Online Behavior” survey.

March

Through DonorsChoose.org, fully funded 673 mental and emotional wellness projects at 405 schools.

May

Generated over 1,000 sign-ups for the National Council for Behavioral Health’s Mental Health First Aid training through the #BeKindBeTheDifference campaign.

August

Kicked off our inaugural #BeKind21 campaign, generating over 8M pledged acts of kindness and over 17M social impressions.

September

Presented at United Nations General Assembly in New York City.

October

Together with United For Global Mental Health, launched the #Someone2Turn2 campaign to promote healthy conversations about mental wellness, reaching over 5M social media impressions.

November

Teamed up with Starbucks to support and amplify the work of local nonprofit organizations for World Kindness Day.

December

Launched the #MultiplyYourGood campaign by offering to match every kind act and generating over 150M social media impressions.

2017

January

Coinciding with Lady Gaga’s Super Bowl Half Time performance, launched the #KickOffForKindness campaign, inviting individuals to host kick-off parties focused on engaging in acts of kindness.

July

Released “Kind Communities: A Bridge To Youth Wellness” survey to better understand the perception of mental health among young people.

August

Launched the #KindFor30 campaign to encourage our community to perform an act of kindness each day.

August

December: Engaged with over 40k community members in 30 cities during Lady Gaga’s Joanne World Tour, including 8 youth-led service projects and over 150k people trained in Mental Health First Aid.

2016

January

Launched Hack Harassment to provide safer, more inclusive online experiences in partnership with Intel, Vox Media, and Re/code.

February

Announced #KindMonsters, launching a year-long campaign to promote kindness and acceptance with Mattel’s Monster High.

July

Announced the #CityofKindness movement, asking 300 mayors to join us in creating a kinder, braver world. Lady Gaga joined the Dalai Lama and the Random Acts of Kindness Foundation to discuss the power of kindness and compassion.

August

Launched a Research Advisory Board led by Dr. Sue Swearer of the University of Nebraska.

September

Launched Channel Kindness.

November

Hosted the #KindMonstersEDU event and worked with hundreds of Los Angeles middle school students and teachers.

December

Partnered with TODAY and NBC Universal’s to curate the #ShareKindness Experience at 30 Rockefeller Center - a curated journey of kind acts supporting the campaign’s goal of inspiring one million acts of kindness throughout that month.

2015

April

Partnered with Tony Bennett’s foundation, Exploring The Arts, to highlight the work of exceptional local youth-oriented nonprofits across the country.

August

Welcomed the 2nd Youth Advisory Board.

September

Hosted a conversation on ending campus assault alongside the release of Lady Gaga’s song ‘Til It Happens To You.

October

Hosted the Emotion Revolution Summit at Yale University, welcoming teens from across the country to discuss the importance of emotions, unveiling the results of an online survey of 22,000 high school students, and starting the #IAmNotJust campaign, which received 1 billion impressions.

2014

April

Partnered with Mental Health Creating Community Solutions on the #TextTalkAct campaign.

August

Invited 50 young people to the Born Brave Retreat to uplift youth voices, support youth activism, and inspire leadership skills.

August

Born Brave Study findings presented at #APA2014, the largest annual gathering of school psychologists to improve student success.

2013

February

Born Brave Research study launched, in partnership with University of Nebraska, Lincoln

June

Partnered with President Barack Obama and Vice President Joe Biden's Empowerment Initiative to encourage “a national conversation to increase understanding and awareness about mental health.”

2012

February

Born This Way Foundation launches at Harvard University.

July

Inaugural Advisory Board announced, composed of 26 young people from across the country.