In December 2016, Born This Way Foundation partnered with The Today Show to create the interactive Share Kindness Experience at 30 Rock! Research is core to our mission, so having the ability to use the fun and festive event as an opportunity to collect data was something we could not pass up!

Thousands of visitors came through the space during its three week run and we heard from hundreds who took the time to take a condensed version of our Born Brave Experience Survey. Participants ranged in age – from 13 to 75! – and represented a variety of sexual orientations and ethnicities. The survey included 13 questions and was designed to allow participants to self-report how kind they view themselves to be.

Even during the hustle and bustle of the holiday season, over 90% of the participants reported that they would consider themselves to be a kind person. And even in New York City – a place not often associated with friendliness – over 85% said that they would treat others kindly, regardless of who that person was!

Over 25,000 people walked through the doors of Share Kindness and our team was able to meet so many incredible families and individuals who shared their stories with us.

I remember one family who had traveled from Florida for their annual New York holiday trip. They were a mother and father traveling with their daughter and had the pleasure of speaking with them for over an hour. They explained to me that they take this trip every year to New York City, but almost did not come this year because they lost their son over the summer. They went on to say that he had been a huge Lady Gaga fan and followed the work of the Foundation since it began. They booked the trip last minute and when they arrived at 30 Rock to see the Share Kindness Experience they knew it was a sign that they were supposed to be there.

Having the opportunity to meet them and hear their story has been one of my most cherished memories from my time thus far at Born this Way Foundation.

With the help of amazing individuals like this, we were able to collect over 3,700 decorated lunch bags for Kids Food Basket and over 3,400 cards for men and women serving overseas in the military for the American Red Cross.

Our BTWF Team loved being a part of Share Kindness and having the opportunity to incorporate some of our research into the experience was amazing. We can’t wait to share all of the exciting things we learned from the latest round of our Born Brave Experiences Survey!

In the meantime to learn more about the research our team is doing you can head to Research page.

Kindly Yours,

Sam