Born This Way Foundation's impact report summarizes the organization's work in 2020 to promote youth mental health and kindness. Some key accomplishments include reaching over 113 million people through the #BeKind21 campaign, publishing a bestselling book called "Channel Kindness" featuring youth stories, and expanding teen Mental Health First Aid training to over 9,000 students across the US despite challenges from the COVID-19 pandemic. The report also details the foundation's ongoing research on youth mental health issues and how it uses findings to guide programs that meet young people's needs.

1. Impact
Report

2. 1
MAKING KINDNESS
COOL
DEAR FRIENDS,
IN KINDNESS,
Since the inception of Born This Way Foundation, we’ve learned – in times both joyful and difficult – there is
no moment more important or urgent than right now to channel kindness. The young people we work with
demonstrate this every day and continue to inspire us with their resilience, bravery, and transformative acts
of kindness. We’re following this aspirational generation’s lead to meet unmet needs in the world and make it
kinder, braver, and more just for us all.
As we look toward the future, we’re excited to share with you not only the measurable impact of our work but
also stories from the young people that guide our every move. We continue to experience exponential growth
– in the size of our team, the breadth of our research, and the reach of our programs and campaigns – and
we couldn’t be more honored or humbled to share and celebrate these milestones with you.
The world needs our kindness now more than ever, and we’ve been working daily to make kindness cool.
In three short years, our #BeKind21 campaign has blossomed from one elementary school classroom into
a worldwide movement empowering millions of participants to pledge to integrate actionable kindness into
their everyday lives.
We’ve collected stories of kindness and community from around the world on our ChannelKindness.org
platform, which has been paramount in validating the emotions of young people everywhere. We know
when someone bravely shares their story, it helps others to feel less alone and emboldens them to do the
same. We were thrilled to further celebrate these stories in our new (and first!) book, CHANNEL KINDNESS:
Stories of Kindness and Community. The moment we told our authors that they had become New York Times
Bestselling authors will be forever etched on our hearts.
At a time when young people find that home, school, and work have blended together online in an already
increasingly digital age, we understand the importance of meeting them there. By hosting conversations that
bring together young people from various communities to speak openly and honestly with healthcare
professionals and advocates about their experiences, we’re continuing to eliminate the stigma around
mental health. Additionally, we’ve equipped young people to support themselves and their peers by
implementing teen Mental Health First Aid in schools across America and promoting digital mental health
tools. We’ll continue to use our research to identify innovative ways to reach young people and better equip
them to not only survive, but thrive.
We know we have more work to do, and we cannot do it alone. We’ll continue to engage with our community
of partners, as well as our donors, all of whom have been instrumental in our growth. Most importantly, now
and always, we will continue to listen to young people, and let their voices guide all we do. Their stories and
experiences are at the heart of Born This Way Foundation, and we’re honored to do this work for and with
them.
Cynthia Germanotta and Maya Smith
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INDEX
RESEARCH
TEEN MENTAL HEALTH
FIRST AID
CHANNEL KINDNESS
LAS VEGAS
#BEKIND21
#PLEASESTAYPLEDGE
#BEKINDBETHERE
#TEAWITHMRSG +
BTWF TALKS
SNAPSHOTS OF
KINDNESS
DIGITAL IMPACT
SURVEY
MISSION + VISION
MEET THE TEAMPAGE 4
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NOTABLE PRESS
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THANK YOU
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MISSION + VISION
Born This Way Foundation was founded in 2012 by Lady Gaga and Cynthia Germanotta and we’re
committed to supporting the mental health of young people by working with them to build a
kinder, braver, and more just world. We work to promote the mental health and wellness of youth by:
MAKING KINDNESS COOL
ELIMINATING THE
STIGMA THAT SURROUNDS
MENTAL HEALTH
VALIDATING THE
EMOTIONS OF YOUNG
PEOPLE
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MEET THE TEAM
Cynthia Germanotta
President, Co-Founder,
+ Board Member
Maya Smith
Executive Director
Alex Aide
Director of Programs
Mitu Yilma
Digital Director
Susan Horrell
Director of Partnerships
Shadille Estepan
Communications + Outreach
Manager
Aysha Mahmood
Editor + Program Associate
Risa Vierra
Development Associate
Josh Meredith
Executive Assistant
Joshua Hollin
Digital Associate
Taylor M. Parker
Program Associate
Lady Gaga
Co-Founder + Board Member
Sean F. Cassidy
Board Member
Charles B. Ortner
Board Member
Alexander Roque
Board Member
Tamika L. Tremaglio
Board Member
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2020
February
Launched the Channel Kindness
Awards to support youth-led
campaigns aimed at encouraging
kindness.
May
Together with Jack.org we
launched #BeKindBeThere to
support youth mental health
education. We drove more than
320K people to these lifesaving
resources.
April
Cynthia’s #TeaWithMrsG video
series was created to offer
resources and support on
how to support your mental
health and show kindness – to
yourself and others.
October
As a response to research on how the
pandemic is impacting mental health,
we launched #PleaseStayPledge with
Find Your Anchor.
July
Our third annual #BeKind21
campaign was an epic success,
with over 113M acts of kindness
pledged by 5.2M participants.
May
We launched #BTWFTalks, a
series of virtual conversations to
uplift mental health awareness
across communities, generations,
and sectors.
September
We published our first book
CHANNEL KINDNESS: Stories of
Kindness and Community, which
ranked second on The New York
Times Best Seller List, and has
been translated into Russian,
German, Spanish, and Italian.
June
Our #KindlyMask campaign
sought to raise awareness on the
importance of wearing a mask as
an act of kindness. The campaign
reached more than 70M social
media impressions.
In the face of global challenges in 2020, people across the world were asked to step up in big
and small ways to help support one another. We were proud to work with hundreds of partners,
community members, and donors that helped us meet the needs of our communities this year.
April
Established the Kindness In
Community Fund as a rapid
response funding vehicle to
support organizations working on
the mental health implications of the
pandemic and to invest in Black-led
community organizations.
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SNAPSHOTS OF KINDNESS
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We partnered with Chegg.org to commission a survey on how high school and college
students are coping with the effects of the pandemic. Additional partners include the
American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, The Jed Foundation, and The Ad Council. Read
the full study here and see below for key findings:
• More than half of all students (56%) said they were “moderately,” “very,” or “extremely”
worried about their mental health.
• Half of all students reported experiencing anxiety, one third reported experiencing
depression, and almost a quarter said they knew of someone with suicidal thoughts since
the beginning of the pandemic.
COVID-19 AND MENTAL HEALTH: HOW AMERICA’S HIGH
SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS ARE COPING DURING THE
PANDEMIC
RESEARCH
YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH IN AMERICA: UNDERSTANDING
RESOURCE AVAILABILITY AND PREFERENCES
We released the results of the Youth Mental Health in America: Understanding Resource
Availability and Preferences study, which surveyed over 2,000 young people ages 13-24 in
the United States to better understand how youth view their own mental wellness, their access
to key mental health resources, and the effectiveness on how the resources are presented.
We found that nearly 9-in-10 young people say mental health is a priority, but only 4-in-
10 rate their own mental health highly. Concurrently, approximately 1-in-3 young people say
they lack reliable access to resources and cite knowing where to go and cost as their key
barriers to mental health resources.
Click here to read the full report.
We also partnered with California’s Mental Health Services Oversight and
Accountability Commission (MHSOAC) to conduct the California Youth Mental Health
Wellness qualitative research study that surveyed over 400 young people across
the state of California and found similar results as our 2019 Youth Mental Health In
America: Understanding Resource Availability and Preferences study.
Click here to read the full report.
We work with young people and youth advocates across sectors to document their experiences
and understand the facts that impact their mental health and wellbeing. We’re proud to have worked
with partners including Benenson Strategy Group, University of Nebraska-Lincoln and more
recently, Chegg.org to ensure that we ground our programming in the latest scientific evidence.
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We released the results of our Mental Health Online Diaries: Understanding Child-Parent/
Guardian Relationships study, which surveyed 20 young people between the ages 13-24
and 20 of their parents. Through a series of online ethnographic diary interviews, we caught
a glimpse into the family dynamics of mental health to better understand what makes for
supportive environments and relationships. We learned that hard conversations don’t
happen when young people fear being judged, and young people understand mental
health is fluid, requiring the consistent choice to prioritize it.
Click here to read the full report.
MENTAL HEALTH ONLINE DIARIES: UNDERSTANDING
CHILD-PARENT/GUARDIAN RELATIONSHIPS
We released the results of our Digital Communities: Youth Mental Health and Online
Behavior study, which surveyed over 3,000 young people between the ages 13-24 and
over 1,000 parents to explore how a young person’s mental wellness is impacted by their
online behavior. The survey sought to better understand how youth – including those who
identify as LGBTQ+ – perceive their digital communities and how they use online resources
to better understand and manage their mental health. We found that a significant
plurality of young people say that their online community is a source of comfort,
especially young men and LGBTQ+ youth.
Click here to read the full report.
DIGITAL COMMUNITIES: YOUTH MENTAL HEALTH +
ONLINE BEHAVIOR
KIND COMMUNITIES: A BRIDGE TO YOUTH MENTAL
WELLNESS
We released the results of our Kind Communities: A Bridge to Youth Mental Wellness
study, which surveyed over 3,000 young people between the ages 13-24 in high
school, college, and the workplace, and over 1,000 parents. The study aimed to better
understand the factors that impact youth mental wellness and guide conversations with
parents, educators, policymakers, and young people. We learned that young people who
describe living in kind environments and having access to tangible resources are
more likely to report higher mental health index scores. Young people also expressed
interest in learning the skills to support their own wellness – and assist a friend who
might be in crisis.
Click here to read the full report.
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CHANNEL
KINDNESS
Channel Kindness.org is a safe space for young people to tell their stories of kindness, resilience,
and community. By highlighting the people and organizations that are doing good in their
communities, Channel Kindness’ audience is inspired to create a kinder and braver world, one story
at a time. Since its launch in 2016, we have trained hundreds of storytellers to use their unique skills
to recognize and report on the heroic and every day acts of kindness in their lives. More than 6M
people have seen these inspirational stories, and the audience of writers grows every day!
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CHANNEL KINDNESS TOUR
We hit the road with our co-founder, Lady Gaga, and visited over 30 cities across the
US and Canada, hosted pop up activations, youth led-events, community gatherings that
engaged with more than 40K people and directly supported over 65 nonprofits from
those cities.
CHANNEL KINDNESS AWARDS
In conjunction with the Channel Kindness Tour, we launched the Channel Kindness
Awards with our friends at PeaceFirst. The awards invited young people between the
ages of 13 – 24 to submit their creative proposals for a service project aimed at
infusing their schools and communities with kindness. Each winner received a small
grant to fund their project and direct support from Born This Way Foundation and
PeaceFirst to organize community events in Tacoma, Chicago, Boston, Indianapolis,
St. Louis, Atlanta, Dallas, and Salt Lake City.
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CHANNEL KINDNESS BOOK
We believe in the healing power of storytelling. It’s to that end that we started
ChannelKindness.org, and we’re proud to introduce to the world, CHANNEL
KINDNESS: Stories of Kindness and Community. This labor of love is a collection of
inspirational stories written by young people as well as a story and personal notes of
empowerment from our co-founder Lady Gaga. Within its pages, you’ll meet young
changemakers who found their inner strength, prevailed in the face of bullies, started
their own social movements, and decided to break through the mental health stigma.
Since its publication, CHANNEL KINDNESS has been translated into Russian, German,
Spanish, and Italian and is a New York Times Best Seller. Additionally, the book and its
authors have been featured in Oprah Magazine, PopSugar, Rolling Stone, iHeartRadio,
NowThis, and Fierce Reads.
“CHANNEL KINDNESS is an embodiment of the everyday acts of
kindness that uplift communities and instill a sense of hope in each of us.
If it inspires one act of kindness, then we’ve accomplished our mission.
We can’t do it alone, and here is a book that shows we aren’t.”
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TEEN MENTAL HEALTH
FIRST AID
Teen Mental Health First Aid (tMHFA) is an evidence-based training program that teaches teens in
grades 10-12 how to identify, understand, and respond to signs of mental health and substance use
challenges or crises among their friends. The training gives teens the skills to have supportive
conversations with their friends and get a responsible and trusted adult to take over as necessary.
In 2019, we partnered with the National Council for Behavioral Health to pilot tMHFA in the United
States. The pilot program began with eight high schools in the spring and expanded to 75 sites in the
fall of that year.
During the pilot, the National Council for Behavioral Health team trained 251 Instructors in the tMHFA
program, preparing them to teach teens across the country. While many sites during this pilot phase
were unable to complete the training due to COVID-19 safety restrictions, these 83 sites trained over
9k teens before schools were forced to shut down, preparing young people to help their friends who
may be struggling. Since then, we have accepted an additional 120 new sites.
Please see the following page for preliminary results from an ongoing evaluation study conducted
by researchers from Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and quotes from
students and instructors.
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After taking tMHFA:
“The impact of this program was immediate and far-reaching for these students.
The feedback was focused on how most of the Valley High School seniors wished
they had this training earlier to help them better cope with the stress and pressure
of high school. It was a revelation to the trainers to learn that these young adults were
self-aware enough to realize that tMHFA wasn’t just beneficial for their future, they
recognized moments in their past that they could have used the training as well.”
– Andrew Magness, teen Mental Health First Aid Instructor
“We trained almost 550 10th graders in tMHFA. From the last day of
training at the end of April to the last day of school in early June, nine
students who were having a mental health crisis were referred to a trusted
adult by 10th graders who had been trained in tMHFA. School counselors
conducted nine suicide screenings within that amount of time and nine students
were linked with additional resources to help them moving forward. tMHFA is a
gamechanger.”
– Kenneth Christopher, teen Mental Health First Aid Instructor
99% of instructors believe the training made a positive impact on their students.
35% more students felt confident to help a friend in need.
37% less students said they would avoid talking about suicide with a friend.
35% more students felt comfortable asking a friend if they are thinking about suicide.
98% of instructors reported feeling that the tMHFA training was relevant to their students.
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Since our founding, we’ve had the unbelievable invitation to bring the foundation’s work
alongside our co-founder Lady Gaga’s world tours to build our community and engage
more people in our programs. When she kicked off her residency at the Park Theater
at Park MGM in Las Vegas, we set up a residency of our own and have had the
opportunity to meet and partner with nonprofit leaders, educators, and youth leaders
across the city.
In addition to our in-venue kindness activation, we have: trained an entire school
in tMHFA at Valley High School, hosted over twenty service projects,
donated thousands of items to local youth-focused nonprofits, signed up
the entire City of Las Vegas to participate in #BeKind21, and launched the
Channel Kindness Awards: Las Vegas, highlighting and supporting local
young people with innovative ideas that promote mental wellness for their
community.
LAS VEGAS
PROGRAMMING
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#BEKIND21
Our annual #BeKind21 campaign continues to exceed our highest expectations and cultivate
kindness on a global scale. #BeKind21 calls on participants to build a habit by pledging to share an
act of kindness each day from September 1st to September 21st. Our research shows that young
people who describe their environments as kind are more likely to be mentally healthy, and this
campaign helps to foster those environments, encourage wellness, and strengthen community
connection.
Since its launch in 2018, we’ve recruited over 7M participants and over 160M pledged acts of
kindness with the help of hundreds of partners (including city governments, grassroots
organizations, schools, individuals, companies, and more!) promoting the campaign to their
communities and hosting events that give connection, examples of kindness, and resources.
In 2020, our community found unique and creative ways to express kindness to a world that
urgently needs it. They encouraged each other to #KindlyMask, register to vote, and advocate
for a world where all are loved, included, and respected.
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“#BeKind21 definitely helped me and still does. I struggle to
be kind to myself so the main goal of this year’s #BeKind21 was
definitely for me to be more gentle with myself. It encouraged
me to get some time for myself and not feel guilty about it.”
“My experience following the work of and later
interning for BTWF has given me countless skills in
approaching topics under the umbrella of mental health.
Through challenges like #BeKind21, I have gained the
strength to use my voice online, share my story, and begin
to break the stigma.”
“The #BeKind21 Challenge helped me to connect in
such a great way with my kids, who are 12 and 15. They
really made a difference in a lot of people’s lives during
those 3 weeks and it has carried over to today.”
“It has shown me that kindness can draw the life and vives
that you want towards you, through the #BeKind21 and the
stories shared via social media and emails. It has given me the
answer to who I want to be and how to get there.”
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#BEKINDBETHERE
During Mental Health Awareness Month, we partnered with Jack.org, a Canadian charity training
young leaders to revolutionize mental health, to launch the #BeKindBeThere initiative. The initiative
reinforces the importance of equipping young people with the knowledge and confidence they
need to recognize when someone is struggling, lean into tough conversations, and maintain their
own mental health while showing they care.
This initiative directs young people to Jack.org’s Be There resource (BeThere.org), which was
designed in consultation with mental health professionals and thousands of young people to help
site visitors learn how to recognize when someone might be struggling with their mental health and
learn the skills needed to safely support them. Since our launch, we’ve reached over 320K people
in the U.S. and Canada. 95% of users found Be There to be a useful mental health resource and
78% felt better prepared to safely support someone struggling with their mental health.
Learn more at BeThere.org.
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#PLEASESTAYPLEDGE
In response to a 2020 report from the CDC stating one-in-four young adults between the ages of
18 and 24 say they’ve seriously considered suicide in the previous month, we partnered with our
friends at Find Your Anchor to create the #PleaseStayPledge, a vital resource and pledge
encouraging anyone who visits the site to find resources for support, evidence-based self-care
tips, soul-filling acts, and suggestions for anchors to keep you here.
Site visitors from around the world have pledged to stay and have learned an anchor is something
you can hold on to for another day or minute — whether that’s stopping for 30 seconds to breathe
deeply and refocus, taking a social media break, seeking professional mental health support, or
even checking out adorable pictures of pets on social media.
Our partners at Zynga, in honor of World Mental Health Day, further amplified this resource by
making “STAY” the Words With Friends word of the day and shared PleaseStay.us as a resource to
their over 6M users.
Learn more at PleaseStay.us.
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#TEAWITHMRSG
#TeawithMrsG is a video series created in
response to COVID-19 where Cynthia uses
Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook to talk
about many of the mental health challenges
communities are facing due to the crisis in
addition to using the platform for conversations
with young people, experts, and other notable
voices. As of April 2020, #TeaWithMrsG has
been viewed by over 1.3M people.
BTWF TALKS/
BTWF Talks/ are virtual discussions hosted across
our social media platforms with the mission of
centering and highlighting perspectives that are
too often left out of conversations around
mental wellness. These virtual discussions seek to
affirm, inform, represent, and validate the
emotions of everyone who tunes in while
providing resources for support. We have hosted
20 conversations this year alone, with more than
230K people tuning in.
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DIGITAL IMPACT SURVEY
67%
of survey participants say Born This
Way Foundation’s Get Help page help
them find life-saving mental health resources.
In an increasingly digital age, it has become even more important to support young people
wherever they are. For many, that is online. As our work is always informed by their input, we
reached out to our community to learn more about what Born This Way Foundation means to
them and how our online platforms and digital offerings are – and could do so, even more –
helping them survive, and thrive.
of survey participants feel that #TeawithMrsG
provides them with a feeling of safety,
comfort, and/or hope during challenging times.83%
of survey participants believe BTWF Talks/
empower them to talk openly and honestly
about mental health.84%
of survey participants feel that Channel
Kindness social media inspired them
to be kinder to others.88%
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“I run a small blog about mental health and I’ve used the get help
page in order to help others through my page by linking them to
your (Born This Way Foundation) resources and encouraging them to
get help.”
“I work with a student-led nonprofit rooted in kindness, dedicated to
mental health advocacy, so the message of Born This Way Foundation
is beyond inspiring, and inspires me to continue the work I do as well.”
COMMUNITY COMMENTS
“Every single #TeawithMrsG has been so uplifting and
heartwarming. It just puts a smile on your face even on your dark
days. I’m so grateful for Mrs. G for doing them.”
“As a teacher, the Foundation has helped me with resources that I have used to care for
myself and to help my students as well. I can also say that during these extremely difficult times
because of COVID-19,... I started to rely more on the Channel Kindness resources and daily
postings of self-care and mental health assistance on Instagram.”
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“BTWF Talks/ inspired me to
go back to therapy.”
“The #BeKind21 pledge came at good time for me. Covid isolation was really getting
me down at the time, and I was feeling really depressed. The #BeKind21 pledge gave me
something positive to hold on my mind and help fight negative thoughts throughout the
day. It also helped me focus on others and not just myself.”

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NOTABLE PRESS
Our work has been highlighted in thousands of articles worldwide in 2020. From our community
campaigns, research with partners, and thought leadership on subjects like youth mental health and
kindness, we have been featured in some of the biggest media outlets globally ranging from The
New York Times, The Washington Post, The Guardian, Forbes, and Billboard to The TODAY Show,
Good Morning America, and CBS.
Some highlights include:
“Lady Gaga raises awareness of young
activists’ voices in her new book,
“Channel Kindness: Stories of Kindness
and Community.” The global superstar
teamed up with her mother Cynthia
Germanotta to share the collection of
stories from young leaders who have
prevailed in the face of adversity and
found the strength to share their stories.”
“While it is easy to assume that mental
health issues are triggered by the
challenges of adulthood, the reality is
that half emerge by the age of 14—and
three quarters by age 24. In fact, one in
five teenagers in the United States age
13 to 18 live with a mental health condition.”
“Suicide is the most extreme and visible
symptom of the larger mental health
emergency we are so far failing to
adequately address. Stigma, fear and lack
of understanding compound the suffering
of those affected and prevent the bold
action that is so desperately needed and
so long overdue.”
“The goal of our new program is simple; to
channel kindness. The stories of kindness,
compassion and bravery will be told on a
new platform, www.ChannelKindness.org,
and shared across the Foundation’s social
channels and by our partners.”
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THANK YOU FROM
OUR TEAM
First and foremost, thank you to each and every young person that is reading this report and to the
thousands of more whose stories have helped shape it. We hope you see your experiences, your
successes and your hopes reflected here. It is for you - and with you - that we do this work.
Our success is a result of the generous support of so many. We thank all of our friends, supporters,
and community members, with a special recognition to our Kindness Circle members and our
incredible Board of Directors. We also want to recognize all of our partners for believing in and
joining us in this mission of building a kinder, braver world.
To our partners, our advisors, our youth community, our online and IRL friends and everyone
else whose kindness and compassion have touched our lives and this world, we have such deep
gratitude for you.
Thank you for the opportunity to do this work, in this moment, for the world and each of you.
Lady Gaga (she/her), Co-Founder; Cynthia Germanotta (she/her), President and Co-Founder;
Maya Smith (she/her), Executive Director; Alex Aide (he/him), Director of Programs; Mitu Yilma
(she/her), Digital Director; Susan Horrell (she/her), Director of Partnerships; Shadille Estepan
(she/her), Communications and Outreach Manager; Aysha Mahmood (she/her), Editor +
Program Associate; Risa Vierra (she/her), Development Associate; Josh Meredith (he/him),
Executive Assistant; Joshua Hollin (he/him), Digital Associate; Taylor Parker (they/them), Program
Associate; Emma Carroll (she/her), Program Intern
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