You need more than just technology to make a lasting change in this world. And that's why Neon One offers a nonprofit platform that's designed to grow with you providing software and resources that help nonprofit professionals make their connections that matter. connections with their peers, connections with their supporters, and connections with their mission. Learn how Neon One makes it easy to design amazing generosity experiences by visiting neonone.com/weareforgood.
Hey, I'm Jon.
And I'm Becky.
And this is the We Are For Good podcast.
Nonprofits are faced with more challenges to accomplish their missions and the growing pressure to do more, raise more and be more for the causes that improve our world.
We're here to learn with you from some of the best in the industry, bringing the most innovative ideas, inspirational stories, all to create an impact uprising.
So welcome to the good community. We're nonprofit professionals, philanthropists, world changers and rabid fans who are striving to bring a little more goodness into the world.
So let's get started. Becky, we're like breathing into paper bags. We're so excited.
Right now, we pretty much are going to be talking today about my three favorite things, which is kindness, being kind to others, investing in your mental health and Lady Gaga. So we are so excited and honored today. To have Alex Aide his pronouns are he him and his on the podcast today. He is the Director of Programs and impact at Born This Way Foundation. And if you don't know Born This Way Foundation, let us bring you out from behind the rock because it is one of the most incredibly dynamic foundations that is doing so much for young people to build this Kinder braver world that we all know is possible. And you might know it because it was co founded and led by Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta. And we're just geeked out about the way that this foundation has shown up with a spirit of generosity. And we're going to be diving into that today. But first I want to give you some background on Alex. He oversees all the foundation's programming, including Channel Kindness, and Teen Mental Health First Aid. We're going to be diving in those today. But before joining this team, he worked for casual Ariana Huffington, the William Morris Endeavor talent agency in Los Angeles with our really good friend Sarah Adolphson. So Hi, Sarah. And he's from West Virginia, he not only has his Bachelor of Science, he's got that JD degree from West Virginia University. So we're just so thrilled to have him on the podcast today. And I just wanted to say like this foundation is so incredible in the way that it's walking through nonprofit social impact with an open hand is something that I hope everybody will lean into today, because through their high impact chrome programming, and youth led conversations, these strategic cross sectoral partnerships, the foundation is working to make kindness cool. It's validating the emotions of young people. And it's eliminating the stigma surrounding mental health. So I think we can all get on board with the fact that we want to practice kindness towards ourselves and to our communities. And that is the arc of this conversation. So Alex Aide, welcome to the podcast. Can you tell we're excited you're here?
I can. And I really appreciate that. Thank you. That was a very kind intro. By the way. We're the experts on kindness. So I can say that.
Oh, I feel so validated. did all those things and I have to say we have been watching your foundation. From afar from way before we had the We Are For Good Podcast, because the way that you show up in this world, the way we watch you unpack kindness digitally in a social world is something that I think nonprofits can model. So before we dive into that programming, we want to get to know you you as a human being because we think your origin story probably defines a lot about where you are today. So tell us about little Alex growing up in West Virginia.
Yeah, you've done your research. My goodness. Well, thank you for the opportunity. I'm so honored to be here. I'll be candid. I'm also nervous. I am not typically the one to do a lot of interviews on our team. But I was really honored by this opportunity. And I really wanted to be here today to talk about our work. So thank you all for that. I also think it's important to say that right? A lot of us, especially in the philanthropic world, in the nonprofit space, right? We're used to just being in the background and doing the work because that's what we're passionate about. So I hope any of you out there who are reluctant speakers like me feel seeing today because, yeah, I think that's important to note we hold a lot of the stories where my nerves come from and this is You know, I hold at this point 1000s and 1000s of stories that young people have told me directly in my heart, and my work doing research. As part of this foundation, we've surveyed over 40,000 young people and, and I represent our team and all of that is living in my brain. And I want to share all of it with the world and makes me nervous because I want to do do right by everybody. So I just want to put that out there. But again, I'm so honored to be here today. So yeah, I grew up in West Virginia, a little town called Lewisburg. If anybody has ever heard of it, it's okay if not, nobody usually has.
I'm thinking mountaineers you're a mountaineer. Right? Oklahoma State University, West Virginia University. We're in the big 12. Together. I don't know how, but we are.
Yeah, you're right. Um, I grew up there went to college at WVU than went to law school, still at WVU. And you know, this is the part where I think people start to think I'm a little bit indecisive with my career, but I like to think of it as well rounded. I graduated with a business accounting degree than a law degree, I took the bar I pass, thank goodness, I have to say that because of all the work that
We found out, my husband passed the bar three days after our honeymoon, I it was like, so stressful. I'm with you, I get it.
That is such a value of all the things that like that day, I will never forget it, finding out passing the bar, like it was the biggest relief I have ever had in my life. And like, I will never forget that. Brother, oh, my gosh. But anyway, I, during law school, I got really involved in an advocacy group as part of our student groups at WVU law, which was called Outlaw. And we focused on LGBTQ plus advocacy. And I had done internships in law school focused on on that specific area, and how to like, you know, do the traditional role in that world, you know, arguing cases, or taking on cases doing research, things like that, and I liked it. But what I really got excited, is by sharing the stories that people were sharing, right, there are people behind all of these cases, and people behind all of these issues, entire communities. And that's what really was exciting to me. And that's where I felt like my talents were best spent, utilized. And I remember my, my advisor in law school was like you, you've led outlaw, this, this advocacy group, you seem to be really passionate about that. And maybe there's something there. I. So again, I graduated from law school, passed the bar, and then I took a wild turn, my best friend was moving to Los Angeles, I had always wanted to get out of West Virginia in some way and go explore. And so I followed my best friend to LA. And I kind of dove into this world where I was like, I don't really know what this thing is, I know I want to, you know, help solve problems in the world, rather than to add problems to the world. And I ended up just meeting a lot of incredible kind people who connected me to another person. And then down the line until finally I got connected to Greg proper daily, which is a social impact agency out there. And I ended up getting a fellowship with His organization. And I was like, I didn't even know something like this existed, right entire agency that's focused on supporting clients, charities, high profile, or people with high net worth, things like that, that want to do good in the world. And again, I had no idea that something like that existed. And so I kind of rode that wave, I ended up getting my first job at WME under Sarah Adolphson, in the WME Foundation, the best. And one of our clients at the time at WME was Lady Gaga. And she had just started Born This Way Foundation with her mother, Cynthia Germanotta, and Maya Enista Smith, our Executive Director, she was working alongside them as well. And there was something there, I really loved what they were building. Again, this was pretty early in the days. They've just been around a few years. But they're wonderful people and really passionate about this work. And I had it in the back of my head that at some point, I want to work for them like I want. I you know, I loved my job at web but at some point, right, I wanted to be full time and Born This Way Foundation, I was inspired by what they aim to do, and and it ultimately worked out when I moved to New York City, I got brought on full time at the foundation. And I've led our programs for a little over five years now. It's the most wonderful thing to get to be here. It's awesome, too, right? I'm sure a lot of people out there are like you work for Lady Gaga. Like that's the end of the story. That's amazing. And that is wonderful. But it really is also the team that I get to work with. Right They're the best team that I've ever had the chance to work with. And I think I don't ever take that for granted. I love it. And I love obviously the work that we do, the young people that we serve and the opportunity that we have to highlight the needs of young people and their stories to the world. So that change can happen.
Alex Aide, I'm gonna be recovering from that for a while.
He's like the nicest person in the most perfect job ever.
Like product market fit of you and life, like you. And I think the way you tone set tells you everything you need to know about you as a human being. And everything you need to know about how Born This Way shows up as an organization. And we push you know, community as everything is like our value that we are eighth core value, but it's like something that we just see. And your center that and your community is these kids with stories, and the fact that you have not gotten downtrodden by that, but I think you're even more alive because of it, and how that centering the programs that are coming out of this Foundation's work is absolutely beautiful to behold. So I want to give space to give context for those listening are like, what is Born This Way Foundation, like what is the scope of it, I want you to tell a little bit of the origin story of, of the foundation, how it came to be. And then we have to talk about your programs, too.
Yeah, so our co founders are, as you mentioned, Cynthia Germanottaand Lady Gaga. Cynthia is obviously Lady Gaga's mother. And she tells the story of how this all started, which is that when Lady Gaga, first of all growing up, she dealt with a lot of unique challenges. She was obviously someone who was immensely talented, but not entirely understood by people around her, she was often bullied. And that's so heartbreaking to think about right? for her and for anyone going through that. And that's a really common story. And when she started to, you know, perform, and then obviously, she became who she is. Now, she started meeting with 1000s and 1000s of young people out there who would either share their stories directly with Cynthia and Lady Gaga backstage, or, you know, share their stories online with them. And Cynthia and Lady Gaga were like this is, you know, they're sharing their stories with us. And Lady Gaga, at the same time was sharing her own story with the world. And so there was this, young people started to feel seen by her. And that was so important. And Cynthia was always a little bit nervous about all of this, right? Like, her daughter is out there telling her story with the world, how she was bullied, or how she was dealing with depression or anxiety or things like that. And Cynthia was always like, I'm nervous for you to do that, right. And she'll say that she's from a different generation, they didn't talk about things like that out loud. But she started to see, right, like, when Lady Gaga would talk about these things, and when fans would come up to her and share their stories to how valuable that was, how meaningful that was, and how validating that was. And so she changed, you know, the way she saw that, which was, it's not something new to be embarrassed about, it's actually something that's so, so important to keep us all here to keep us all supported, and to keep us, you know, feeling seen and heard. And so that's where the idea for Born This Way Foundation, you know came about is how can we I'm simplifying this, but how can we put that in a bottle, right? Like, not to say that you have to have the superstar share their story all the time? Like, I can't do that I wish I was Lady Gaga, I have not? How do we put that into a foundation and create programs that, you know, validate the emotions of young people, make kindness cool and eliminate the stigma of mental health? Because those are the three things that those conversations reveal doing. And so that was the answer, build that foundation, build that thing that creates programs campaigns, highlights the stories of young people, does research, does partnerships with high level, you know, organizations and companies and nonprofits. Do all of those things, put that out in the world and then see what happens almost, that's oversimplifying. And I don't mean to say like fingers crossed.
No, I think we're seeing the ripple. I think we're completely seeing the ripple of that, Alex. And I mean, I think what you've been doing for a decade, we've just started here We Are For Good in the last two years. And it is, you know, our first core value is everyone matters. And it's that simple. If you can come into a conversation if you can come into an experience understanding that every human being matters, and we deserve to create a space where everyone feels safe enough to share their authentic story. I just think about what you did at the very beginning of this conversation. You completely disarmed all of us by I talking about, you know, this imposter syndrome you had. And we all feel that because we've all been there. And I just want to compliment you all, because I think we're good storytellers. I look at your website, and I'm like, wow, you all have been the curators of authentic story. It's painful. It's joyful. You know, it's hard. It's real. And, Jon, I'm remembering this time. I know, I've shared this once on the podcast before, but I had my nervous breakdown in 2019. And I remember when I was coming through that, and Jon looked at me and said, This is going to be an incredible story for you to tell someday. And at the time, I was like, Oh, my gosh, I don't know that I could ever share that story. Like I would be too embarrassed or fragile to share that story. And over time, I felt my power in it. And because I had someone like Jon and Julie in this community, we shared it on this podcast. And I have been amazed at how much strength it actually gives me and we're watching that play out in your community right now. And so I want you to talk about this story curation, I want you to talk about Channel Kindness, because this is one of your anchor programs. And the thing that I like about it is you say every story starts with one action. So join us to tell the kind of story ever told, by learning about ways that you can share this kindness in your community. And so talk to us about what that is and how you show up to socialize that.
Thank you, Becky. And first of all, thank you for that and sharing that part of yourself.
Yeah, I'm healthier now. I'm glad I thought I went through it. So thank you. You also said
You know, how awesome you know, our online presences and the storytelling from it. And I really have to shout out our team behind that. Like, again, I work with incredible people on our team, we were you would I don't know if you'd be surprised by this. Even though we have such a global presence. We're only a team of 12. So anything that, you know, yeah, and anything that you see online is from our digital and communications team. And, you know, those sound like intense words, I guess, or mystical words to some people out there. But really, their goal in all of this is to highlight those stories of young people or stories like you just shared Becky of of things that everyone is dealing with, and, and things that they're inspired by and things that they hope to see in the world. So the Channel Kindess specifically, right, we had heard from a lot of young people that people out there, the media are really getting the wrong impression of us, they see us as apathetic, disinterested, lazy. And that's just not the case. For young people out there. Everywhere. Young people are active, engaged, you know, younger generations right now are showing that they're the most empathetic generations. They're the most interested in talking about mental health, their the stigma that our generations and above have about mental health. You know, I always say like, whenever I say those words, mental health, it's like a magic trick, because I see everybody in the room tense up, like, Oh, what are we? What are we gonna say here? That just does not exist with young people. You talked about mental health to them as they see it as like, yeah, of course, I want to take care of my mental health. If I was sick, right, I'd want lino physically sick, I'd want to take care of my body. Same thing with my mind, if I'm depressed, or I'm dealing with a challenge, I want to take care of myself. And so things like that. That's why it's so important to have to, for us to have created a platform like channel kindness, to share the stories of young people out there in their communities, you know, to share these young people who have amazing ideas to make their schools Kinder make their workplaces Kinder make their communities kinder. And so yeah, we built this incredible platform where young people everywhere are invited to share their stories for the world to see. And then over the years, we started to add new functionality to the platform because we hear I want to take action, right? I got inspired by this story. So I'm going to go out in my community and do that today. So for example, if you read a story on Channel Kindness, you'll see on the side that you can pledge to take action from wherever you are with whatever means you have. So you can pledge to you know, if you're reading a story about cleaning up a park in your community, you can pledge to take an action today whether that's supporting an organization in your community through volunteering or financially or just going out right with with a with a trash bag and some gloves and picking up trash from from your part. And it also now features and educators page because we've heard teachers say I want to bring channel kindness to my classroom and see so we said, okay, like Absolutely. Share the story. Share the the things that we've learned about channel kindness and inspiring young people to share their stories directly with your students. You can actually download a tool get to do that. And so we want to see this continue to grow. You'll also see that there's a global presence literally, on the website, there's an entire map that features all of the stories that we've had over the years. And it's so important for us to continue adding to that map. It's not it's not a scoreboard to us, right? It's not just me saying like, wow, look what we did. And what I'm actually showing here, what our team is actually showing here is that maybe you don't feel like the world is a kind place. And that's fair for a lot of reasons. But I still want you to know that there are people everywhere, who care about kindness, who care about making our communities better places, there are people out there. So I want people above all, even if you don't share your story on Channel kindness, or even if you don't pledge take action, I want you to feel seen, and I want you to feel hopeful about the world.
Okay, Alex, I mean, goodness, how do you even respond, let me tell you, where my head's at is that, you know, it can be really tempting for someone in a position of a ton of privilege or access that celebrities often get. But what I feel in this work is that there's this this large mirror reflecting back to the world, you know, and giving that privilege by putting it on fire by showing people that they're not alone. And it's coming through every piece of your program. And it's so innovative the way that you're doing that. Yeah, and I want to, I want to call out that you're activating people. And this is probably, there's one thing that Becky and I always tried to like encourage people is like, where's your call to action, like, get active. And you all baked that in and I'm really moved by your program, be the be their certificate. And I want to talk about that today, because it's baked around these golden rules that I want you to unpack with us. But it's all about love. Okay, let's move from the sidelines. If you have a friend that is going through something or a family member that's going through some mental health challenges, getting active, feeling like you have the resources and tools to take action. And so I want you to walk us through this because we love this.
That's amazing. And thank you for that. I you know, one interesting thing too about our programs that I want to note, right, is that they really focus. When you talk about mental health, you think of it a lot of people and fairly see mental health and addressing the challenges is like, oh, crisis intervention, we have to it's just about suicide, right? And yes, that is so important that we have to have resources out there for that. And we have to continue to build those. But at the same time, we also have to think a little bit about upstream, right? How do we prevent getting to that point? How do we support each other before there's a mental health challenge or saying to someone else, hey, I noticed like, you know, you're not coming to class recently, or you've been missing, you know, soccer practice for the past few weeks. And so we look at our programs as sort of a spectrum from everything from prevention, right at the top to intervention. And so one of those programs that you were just talking about is the be there certificate. And that's really where that conversation starts. And this really became apparent during the pandemic, right at the beginning of the pandemic, where people were sharing check in on your loved ones, or checking on your neighbors, like, ask them how they're doing. And that's so important. But nobody was having that second part of the conversation, which is, but what do I do? If my brother or my neighbor or whoever that you're checking in with, says, I'm not in a good place? Or I'm feeling extremely anxious? I need help, what do you do in that situation? And so I knew about this organization called jack.org. They're a Canadian organization, they're doing incredible work up there. And they had created this platform called be there. And it walks young people through how to have these conversations. And it's totally for free. It's available online within with any you know, device with an internet browser. I was so impressed by that suite, sort of during the pandemic, especially when when physical programs weren't available to young people because of lock downs. We had to get this platform this this platform out to the world. So we partnered with Jack Dorsey to highlight be there.org we quickly learned that young people are overwhelmingly interested in this, they were so excited to see that this program exists. And they were so excited to learn. But we also learned that they sort of wanted proof that they had gone through it right or they wanted that thing that shows the world that I've completed this that I've learned about this. So I called her friends a doctor or guy said hey, this is awesome. We'll highlight be there forever. But I want to work together with you on this. I want to create something that you get a little bit more of tangible validation for doing this you dive a little bit more deeper into the skills and most of all, making it available to as many people as possible especially across North America. together over the past year we created the be there certificate it. So the be there certificate is available totally free in English, French and Spanish. And it's available to you on any device that has an internet browser. What's so important to young people is that again, this is out there in the world, right? Young people are already sort of searching for how do I support a friend? Or what do I do if a friend is sharing with me that they've been feeling really sad lately, and the information is out there, right? Like you can go find certain things. But that's part of the problem there. It's fragmented, right? You're You're, you're a young person in a sea of information, trying to figure out what works best. So we felt it was really important to sort of condense a lot of these best principles into one programming platform that young people can go through, and then earn a certificate in at the end that shares with the world that I am, I am trained and be there certificate, I am knowledgeable about how to be there for someone in my life. And most of all, like, right, they're excited to do that. They're excited to put this on their LinkedIn or their resume. And that's awesome to see. Because you're saying to the world, right, I am someone who cares about people in my life and my family, in my school and my workplace. I mean, that, yes, right. Like, we're excited to put these achievements on LinkedIn. But it says so much more than just a box to check, right? It says so much about who you are. And so it's been really heartening to see young people out there, doing just that, sharing it with the world and seeing people of all, you know, of my generation, I'm 35. And above, who are doing the same thing, right? They see young people doing this, they're inspired to do that, both for themselves, but also for the young people in their lives. There's really something for everybody in all of this. So I say it's a program for young people. But it's also at the end of program for people of all ages. So if you are out there, I invite everyone to check it out. Again, it'll betherecertificate.org.
please check it out.
I can I just say the older generation, you may even need it more. Because we don't have this language around this. You know, I feel like these conversations didn't happen maybe in our childhoods growing up, because our parents and the generation before us didn't know how to talk about or didn't know is okay to talk about it. So not to take away everybody needs this, truly, I want you to have to share the five
rules. I agree. I'm going to tell you one quick thing, this is people out there are going to like roll their eyes maybe. But I'm being 100% honest and factual about this. Because think about it for a second, your generation, our generations, right? We were told growing up, be there for each other things like that. But we were never explained what that means right beyond again, just asking how you are. And in fact, sometimes the things that we offer to help each other might actually add to someone else's problems. So with the internet, being pretty widely available, whether you know, you have internet yourself on a phone, or at home or at school, this is really the first time in the history of the world, that we have the opportunity to train and equip an entire generation of young people how to be there for each other, and those lessons will last them for a lifetime. And I don't take that lightly, that is truly at, at its essence, why we're doing this, because we can't have any more generations that don't know how to talk to each other about mental health or that feel nervous about it, or that, you know, feel a stigma about it. Right? We have to put out there these these incredibly, you know, representative and well done resources so that so that we can address this problem once and for all.
I'm so glad we are taking the time to just pause and talk about that because you young pups out there in your 30s because I'm not in there. Up there, my 40s. But I this is very simple, folks. I mean, this certificate is a framework. We know exactly what that is. We understand fundamentally that when we know something when we get educated on something, we have more confidence to step into the moment that might be a little bit uncomfortable. So I really encourage everyone to check out this be their certificate because we're going to put it in our show notes. So it'll be easy access to you. This is going to increase your mental health literacy. And I want to transition to your impact report, Alex, which friends we talk the language of impact reports on this podcast all the time. This is an impact report. We are also going to link in our show notes but you have done a beautiful job of not just showing impact. But you've story told so beautifully in this impact report. I love that impact is in your title. Talk to us a little bit about the trends you saw in 2022 and what we can look For maybe in the next year to
shout out to our digital and comms team, again for this incredible report, if you, if you check it out online, Shadille Estepan, Mitu Yilma Josh Hollin. They're the stars on our team behind this. And so shout out to them. Yeah, I am so proud of everything that we've achieved. This is kind of a unique year at the foundation to because this is our 10th anniversary. So we're not only celebrating right, what we've achieved this year, we're also at the same time celebrating everything that we've achieved over the past 10 years. And then looking forward to where we're going in the next 10 years. And beyond. So this year, specifically, though, we launched that be their certificate for the world. And already over 13,000 people have gotten their certificates, over 30,000 people have signed up just to get started. And that's no small feat, by the way, right? This is about a, we're asking people to do about an hour and a half training, right. And so to get that many people out there in the world, just over the past few months, is is no small feat. We want to see it grow, though. So if you're out there, and you're interested in bringing the be their certificates, your organization or your school again, or just in your everyday life, we want to hear from you, we want to work with you. We want to stress, it's totally free like we it's available to share directly to your communities. And it was built for that. So we want to see that continue to scale over the next year. And hopefully we'll have more partnerships. We're currently working with Big Brothers Big Sisters, they've pledged to train 10,000 of their members with the B their certificate fit them, which is a university in Los Angeles, they are working to invite their freshmen to get trained and be their certificate. We want to see more of this right like it's, it's out there. And it's growing, and people are excited about it. And that means the world. But I also want to hear right directly from you all. What do you like about it? And what what can we do better because it's built to be iterative. We're currently working on more videos to feature in it that feature more communities of young people are unique issues that young people are facing. It's built to grow. So I want to hear from you. You can always by the way, share your your feedback directly with us at info at Born This Way dot foundation or on social right if you if you want to share your experience, just use the hashtag be there certificate, I've actually follow that certificate. So I will see it directly. And I'm excited to. But yeah, we've also obviously accomplished nearly 1000 stories of young people, sharing them with us on channelkindness.org. We've trained now 10s of 1000s of young people through our partnership with the National Council to create a program called Teen Mental Health First Aid that brings a curriculum to young people on how to support each other through crises and what to do if a young person or someone in your life so shares that they're in crisis. We also have a campaign called beacon 21 That I'm excited I'll hit I'll hit that we're going to expand this in the coming year beyond just 21 days. So I'll give a wink out there. I know this is
Then you'll have to come back and tell us about it and how it goes.
I absolutely will. But it invites a pledge of kindness, a kind act a day, every day for 21 days from September 1 to the 21st. And over the years, we've had I think it's 291 million pledged acts of kindness, something something hugely ridiculous. But isn't that heartening?
Like can you imagine what that is? Like just the amount of coffees bought and helping somebody out and raking the leaves? Or I don't know, maybe there at least have a falling it. But I just think about what a ripple that could create. That's incredible.
Yeah. And it's right that 21 days is not a random number. It's you might have heard the old adage that it takes 21 days to form a habit. And we took that and ran with it. So every year when we do this, right this is we equip entirely new groups of people on forming a habit of kindness that will last them beyond those 21 days. And I'm excited for everyone to see what's next on that point. But but I'm gonna stand by I'm gonna be a little coy about that, and just hinted that for now, but it's gonna be really cool. We also have a program called Police Day. It's done in partnership with an organization called Find your anchor. Have you all heard of Find Your Anchor by the way?
I don't know it.
No, not until we are doing research on this. That's the first time we heard about it. So tell us more.
Oh, gosh. So you have to check it out. Find your anchor is an organization created by Ali Borowsky. And she is someone who has dealt with suicidal thoughts and suicidal attempts in her life and when she was in treatment for these things, she realized that the resources and the things that were shared with her were often very clinical very stale, very, you know, not at all, in that way helpful to her. She's an incredible artist and graphic designer. And she, she took that problem. And she worked on something that she thought would not only help herself, but help people everywhere. So she created these physical boxes that are beautifully done, they they're filled with incredible artwork inside. But they give you reasons to stay here, right? Like when you are in that place, when you have this box, open it up, and find these cards that share reasons to stay here. Right, it could be a pet, it could be a loved one, it could be, you know, seeing a sunset, things like that, that sounds so simplified. But if you're ever a person in these moments, right? It is hard to think of these things, it is hard to see hope in the world when you are in such dark places. And so she felt it was really important to build something like this. And what's unique about it is that you can get the box totally for free, you can also donate to her organization, but she will send you the box for free. If you don't, you know, have the means to currently to buy one or anything. And you can keep it for yourself. But you can also put it somewhere where someone else might find it right, a bench in the park, your library, things like that. And there's so many of these out in the world. We're obviously super, you know, just in awe of her. And we reached out. And we said we want to work together in some way. And so what we did is we kind of took that box, right and put this same thing online for everyone to see at any point that you need it. So we created something called the police state pledge. And you can check it out, it's at police state.us. And it gives that same experience that you get in the box, but directly on your screen. And you can print it out whenever you need it. Right? Right, the reasons that you want to stay here, right, the reasons that things that give you hope, and those moments of darkness, and most of all pledge to stay here. Because we need you here. And I just again, I invite everyone to check her out check this program at it, we currently are working with the Chicago public schools to help amplify this. What's cool about this, too, is that organizations and schools are taking this campaign and using it also as an opportunity to highlight their mental health resources that are, you know, available to the young people that they serve. And so we invite people out there to do that as well. It's also Oh, one more thing, the last one I will share briefly on that topic of intervention, we also have a program called Be Kind dot find a help line. And that is, we recognize that even though we're a US based nonprofit, we recognize who our co founder, obviously, is, is a global presence. And we've learned over the years that young people everywhere, right are dealing with unique struggles. And we feel it's so important that everyone out there in the world has access to mental health resources. So we worked to create this resource that young people can sign on from whatever countries they're in and find resources that are either available directly in their country or available broadly so that they can get the help that they need.
I mean, Jon, Born This Way, Foundation has literally built an empathy and kindness army. Can we like, hop in and link arms with you guys are doing is amazing. Love it.
We need everybody in this. And absolutely, please join us seriously reach out anytime, like, again, everyone out there. We want to hear from you. It's an info at Born This Way dot foundation. Reach out to us.
Okay, Alex, you started and kind of explained this beautiful origin story that started with stories, you know, and Lady Gaga is hearing these stories. You've threaded it in. And I want I want this to be your TED Talk. I'm putting this in the world that you have an impact report that you see is iterative. Like how can we more embrace that mindset? I mean, we grew up in spending hours and weeks trying to perfect it. And you're saying, you know, we haven't done it all yet. We haven't heard everybody's voice yet. We haven't amplified every story yet. And I just think having that mindset that you're always listening is absolutely shaping y'all to be this incredibly dynamic organization that you are today. And so I mean, we have to create space for story. This is something we do every day on a podcast because we love it. And I think as you think back on your life, maybe your work at born this way. Is there a moment of philanthropy that you've seen in action that you're like, holy cow, that sucker punched me and I'm gonna hold it close.
It's the guiding principle of everything that we do, which is to hear directly from young people, right? Not assume what any young person needs to literally ask young person, what they mean, I've gone to conferences, and I always, you know, go to the groups that focus on on youth, right? And then I'll look around, and we're all talking, we're all brainstorming about, you know, what organizations can do together or what young people need. And I'll look around. And very often, I will see there is not one single young person in the room. So we're all just assuming what these young people need. And that's a critical error, right? We have to hear directly from young people through all of this. And, and we have to constantly check with young people, because what young people are, you know, facing now, or what they're utilizing now, changes constantly, right? Like, I look at TikTok TikTok was not a thing, or at least not what it is now, five years ago. So we have to address like, what young people are, are using, what they're finding helpful, or what's harming them constantly. So that's why research surveys, things like that. That's why we've surveyed over 40,000 Young people over our history, because it's constantly changing. But Jon, what, what has what has been a unique experience? Um, you know, like I said, I'm not Lady Gaga. And when I show up at places, I feel almost not embarrassed. But just, I don't ever want to disappoint people, right? People, young people here at Old Lady Gaga was Born This Way Foundation is coming to visit us today. And I'm always like, I'm not Lady Gaga, you're not going to be excited to hear from me. But there was one time in Oklahoma at an organization called Be the change in Oklahoma City. Yeah. Yeah, yeah, I, we were on tour. We were hosting service events in communities across the country during the join World Tour in 2017. And one of those stops was Oklahoma City. And we got to stop by that organization there. And again, I'm coming in and feeling like, oh, gosh, I am not again, like Lady Gaga is not here and not Lady Gaga up, they're going to be like so disappointed. And they were just so excited to have us there. And, and not because of who we are who our bosses. But one young person came up to me and said like, it means a lot that you're here to hear our stories. And that's again, like, what drives us every day. I don't take for granted the platform that we have, I don't take for granted. None of us do. Lady Gaga doesn't take for granted the platform she has in the world, right. And so that's why these stories are so important. And that's why I'm so heartened that young people want to share their stories. And they see that as an opportunity to again, make the world better for themselves and for each other. And yeah, that drives us the work that we do every single day.
Okay, I need to respond with two things. One, thank you for coming to Oklahoma City. Because I can tell you that the voices of young people specifically in the LGBTQ area are largely silenced in this state in the fact that you would come here and give them that value and agency to come and share like makes me weepy. Thank you for doing that. To Alex aid. I need to love on you for a second because I need to tell you how extraordinary you are. In the 45 minutes that we have known you you have shown up with incredible depth of compassion, with warmth, with joy with inclusivity people are going to be excited to see Alex, I don't want you to feel like you can't come into a space and be Gaga because none of us are. But you exude everything that we think about her that we think about this foundation. And so I just want you to know how incredible you are you are wrapped in this incredible team. I mean, we want to give a shout out to shoe deal to Maya to Danielle to Saloni who is on your board. I mean you are the kings and queens of listening. And I think that's what I'm going to be taking away from this conversation is how well you listen. I mean, there are images of Cynthia Germanotta on the floor. You know crisscross applesauce with young people just listening. And I think that you have such an open hand is informing and making your work bigger and bigger and bigger and the love that flows from it is going to make it one of the mightiest missions and I hope that you just keep going. So we end all of these conversations Alex with a one good thing and we just are curious. What's one good thing you could offer up to our audience? It could be a life hack. It could be a piece of advice. What do you live by?
thank you, Becky, for all of those words. My My one piece of advice for anyone out there that needs it is that you matter. It's simple. I wrote this a long time ago, when I was in a darker place to myself, but really to the world, which is that you matter to me, you matter to your friends, you matter to your loved ones. If you're struggling to find, you know, other people that you think you might matter to, then you matter to your pets, you matter to that bug that you didn't squash the other day, you matter to, you know, local people who see you and wave at you or that you visit at your local, you know, coffee shop. I just want you to know out there, and this goes directly to the people that need it the most that you matter. And I'm glad you're here in the world, and we need you.
Yeah.
That's it. I'm adopting Alex forever.
Thank you for this, I mean, thank you for your vulnerability, humility in this conversation has just been so uplifting. How can people connect with you, and then people are listening like, okay, been jotting down all these URLs, all these campaigns you'll have are so beautiful and so well executed and so inclusive. How can people just get connected with the Foundation's work and find you online to and connect with you?
So we are at BornThisWay.Foundation. We are at Born This Way Foundation on social handles. We're on Twitter, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, all the things. And if you are not, if social is not your thing, then I'll say this, do one thing that's kind to yourself today. That's really where the conversation about supporting your mental health starts, right? Say something kind to yourself today, or do something that's kind to yourself today, and then do something kind for the people in your life today. So I'll say that.
I mean, you just show up generously, every single time with love. And I think just if we're seeing anything in the We Are For Good community, it's that people want a space of belonging, a safe space of belonging and well being where they can be themselves and be so loved and held in that space. And I feel like you have done that for us today. Alex, I feel like that every time we interact with your team. So thank you so much for coming in here and expanding our hearts today. Friends, please go check out Born This Way Foundation, get connected, get your kids connected, and let's spread more kindness into the world.
Oh, Jon and Becky, thank you so much for having me. It really means the world to get to share our work and the young people the stories of young people that we serve. So thank you all.
Hey, friends, thanks so much for being here. Did you know we create a landing page for each podcast episode with helpful links, freebies and even shareable graphics? Be sure to check it out at the link in this episode's description. You probably hear it in our voices but we love connecting you with the most innovative people to help you achieve more for your mission than ever before. We'd love for you to join our good community. It's free. And you can think of it as the after party to each podcast episode. You can sign up today at weareforgood.com/hello. One more thing If you loved what you heard today, would you mind leaving us a podcast rating and review? It means the world to us in Your support helps more people find our community. Thanks friends. I'm our producer Julie Confer and our theme song is Sunray by Remy Borsboom.
