Born This Way Foundation (sometimes abbreviated as BTWF) is a non-profit organization founded in late 2011 and launched on February 29, 2012 by American singer and activist Lady Gaga and her mother, Cynthia Germanotta. Named after the singer's 2011 album Born This Way, and the song from the album with the same name, the foundation is committed to supporting the wellness of young people and working with them to "make the world kinder and braver".
The foundation prioritizes the mental health and wellness of young people by working to promote kindness and open and honest conversations about mental health, validating the emotions of young people, and eradicating the stigma around mental health.
Furthermore, the foundation works to "connect, engage, and inspire young people — on the road, in their communities, and online". The foundation's programs focus on modeling healthy conversations about mental wellness, connecting youth with resources and services, and fostering communities that prioritize mental health.
Background
In the documentary "Inside the Outside", Lady Gaga described how she has been bullied herself during her adolescence, being thrown in a trash can while classmates looked on. The singer often shares her personal experiences with the public, and has always hoped to “establish a standard of Bravery and Kindness, as well as a community worldwide that protects and nurtures others in the face of bullying and abandonment."
In a PBS interview, Cynthia Germanotta stated that Lady Gaga was bullied at an early age and subsequently developed anxiety and depression, struggling with mental illness throughout college. As her career took off, she talked openly about her mental health challenges and the importance of kindness.
In 2016, Lady Gaga discussed the importance of kindness and compassion at the 84th Annual U.S. Conference of Mayors in Indianapolis. She joined the 14th Dalai Lama at the event to talk about building "compassionate cities" around the country. During her speech, Gaga told city representatives, "Kindness is a free currency from a well that will never dry up," and, "The most efficient way for you to act with young people is to be a calming force."
Cynthia Germanotta stated in a 2018 PBS interview that the foundation was established to support young people and promote a "kinder and braver world". Its activities focus on fostering kindness, creating supportive environments and promoting mental well-being among young people.
Executive Director Maya Enista Smith additionally stated that the foundation exists “to help eliminate the stigma surrounding mental health and equip young people to have those conversations that lead to that destigmatization.”
In October 2018, Lady Gaga was named as one of Elle's Women in Hollywood honorees. During her acceptance speech, she encouraged everyone to “work together to beckon the world towards kindness” and opened up about the PTSD she developed after she was assaulted at age 19. She additionally advocated for stronger mental health resources, stating she wanted to see mental health become a “global priority”.
Lady Gaga stated: “It is my personal dream that there would be a mental health expert teacher or therapist in every school in this nation and hopefully, one day, around the world. Let’s lift our voices. I know we are, but let’s get louder. And not just as women. But as humans.”
In November 2018, Lady Gaga accepted the SAG-AFTRA Foundation's Artists Inspiration Award, and in a 25-minute speech shared her own mental health struggles, advocated for stronger mental health resources in the industry by requesting SAG-AFTRA partner with the foundation, and encouraged people to share their mental health stories.
“When I speak about mental health, even or especially when I’m speaking about mine, it is often met with quietness, or maybe a somber line of fans waiting outside to whisper to me in the shadows about their darkest secrets,” she said in her acceptance speech. “We need to bring mental health into the light. We need to share our stories so that global mental health no longer resides and festers in the darkness.”
She additionally encouraged everyone to “live in a culture of kindness through our individual acts and take back what determines our future.”
History The organization was launched on February 29, 2012, by artist Lady Gaga and her mother Cynthia Germanotta, who said, "challenge meanness and cruelty by inspiring young people to create a support system in their respective communities." Media proprietor Oprah Winfrey, writer Deepak Chopra, and United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius spoke at the inauguration. The foundation's original funding included $1.2 million from Lady Gaga, $500,000 from the John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, and $850,000 from retailer Barneys New York.
BTWF was the beneficiary of Barneys New York's 2011 holiday campaign which also featured "Lady Gaga’s Workshop". In May 2012, Viacom announced it would be the foundation's lead media partner for the development of events, programming and "opportunities that empower young people to build a braver, kinder world." In August 2012, Lady Gaga was named by American business magazine Forbes as fourteenth on their "World's 100 Most Powerful Women" list due in part to her BTWF work.
In 2018, Born This Way Foundation was the recipient of Girls Inc.’s Champion For Girls Award and the Children Mending Heart’s “Global Changemakers” Award. That same year, co-founder of the foundation Cynthia Germanotta was invited to speak at the United Nations General Assembly on behalf of the organization to discuss mental health and launch a new “United for Global Mental Health” initiative.
Controversy In March 2014, gossip blogger Roger Friedman of Showbiz411, and formerly of Fox News, criticized the foundation's spending reflected in its federal tax reports. The reports noted spending of $348,000 on its Born Brave bus tour; approximately $1.5 million on fees related to web and social media, publicity, and legalities, and only $5,000 in grants to individuals and other organizations. "It’s unclear that anyone was really helped by the Born This Way foundation other than lawyers, consultants, publicists and travel agents," Friedman wrote.
"We do the work," Lady Gaga wrote in response. "We do not raise money and allocate the funds to other charities for them to do the work.” “A clear understanding of the differences between a grant-making organization and one that carries out its work directly would have made this a non-story," Cynthia Germanotta added in an op-ed in the Huffington Post "We are not a grant-maker that funds the work of other charities, and were never intended to be ... [But] we are having a profound impact in just a very short period of time.”
Charity Navigator in 2018 gave the charity a score of 75 out of 100, the same as its passing score for Finance and Accountability.
Programming and campaigns
Dom Pérignon Gaga collaborated with Champagne house Dom Pérignon to release a limited edition of bottles along with a sculpture designed by her. The campaign, released on April 6, 2021, was shot by Nick Knight and visualized by Nicola Formichetti, and is described as a "celebration of pushing the boundaries of creation, constant reinvention, and passionate dedication." The 110 exclusive pieces will be sold at private sales, and the profits will benefit the foundation.
Channel Kindness On September 15, 2016, Born This Way Foundation launched a new program called Channel Kindness, which is designed “to give youth a voice in a media landscape that too often ignores or misrepresents young people.” In creating this program, Born This Way Foundation recognized the absence of positive stories in today's media. Channel Kindness is designed to fill that void and provide individuals across the globe with optimism and encouragement.
From 2017–2018, the program recruited and trained 100 youth reporters ages 15–24 from across the United States to recognize and broadcast acts of kindness they saw in their everyday lives and communities. Their stories are published on ChannelKindness.org and are spread across the program's social media channels.
In 2018, BTWF announced it would expand Channel Kindness, which is now open to anyone from across the U.S. and, for the first time, around the world to share their stories on the platform.
#MultiplyYourGood In honor of World Kindness Day in 2018, Born This Way Foundation announced the launch of the #MultiplyYourGood Channel Kindness Challenge. With support from Zappos, the campaign called on individuals to celebrate their power to make a difference by volunteering or donating to a nonprofit in their community. For every act of good performed during the challenge, BTWF pledged to “multiply” it by performing an act of good for one of the organization's nonprofit partners.
The Foundation's diverse network of partners, including SoulCycle, which invited riders to take part, and Starbucks, which hosted community events on World Kindness Day 2018 in ten stores nationwide, helped amplify the campaign. The in-store activations invited guests to participate in an activity that met the needs of a local nonprofits, such as collecting donated items or writing holiday messages for homeless youth.
#Someone2Turn2 Born This Way Foundation and United for Global Mental Health announced the launch of the #Someone2Turn2 Channel Kindness Challenge to foster healthy conversations about mental wellness in honor of World Mental Health Day on Wednesday, October 10, 2018. Inspired by the work of the Friendship Bench initiative, the #Someone2Turn2 challenged the public to have a real, honest, and open discussion about mental health with the person they turn to when they need support and then share who their #Someone2Turn2 is on social media.
#BeKind21 #BeKind21 is an annual initiative that encourages people to do at least one kind activity a day for 21 days, starting on September 1 and extending to September 21. Inspired by the idea that it takes 21 days to build a habit, the campaign culminated in 2018 on the U.N. International Day of Peace and inspired over 8 million acts of kindness. As part of #BeKind21, participants could take a pledge to make kindness a habit, as the campaign stems from beliefs that kindness can heal the world and when someone gives to others, they give back to their own wellness. In its second year, Born This Way Foundation reported over 7,000 sign-ups and 1.6 million participants for the #BeKind21 campaign, partnering with over 130 organizations: schools, nonprofits, and corporations. Also in 2019, those who signed up for the campaign were encouraged to form “Kindness Teams” on which they could do kind acts as a group. The efforts of the 2019 #BeKind21 campaign resulted in over 40 million acts of kindness—up over 32 million from the year before—and it will kick off its third year on September 1, 2020.
#BeKindBeThere #BeKindBeThere is a joint initiative between Born This Way Foundation and Jack.org to highlight Jack.org's program BeThere.org. BeThere.org aims to teach young people the skills necessary to support someone else's mental health while protecting their own. BeThere.org offers five steps, or “Golden Rules,” to support someone who is struggling with their mental health. These are: (1) say what you see by breaking the ice and starting a conversation, (2) show you care by building trust and supporting someone, (3) hear them out by being a good listener and balancing the conversation, (4) know your role by setting boundaries to protect your relationship and own mental health, and (5) connect to help by accessing professional and community resources. Promoted with video conversation between the two organizations and across all social media platforms with the hashtag #BeKindBeThere, these golden rules can be found in more detail on BeThere.org.