Born This Way Foundation

@btwfoundation.bsky.social

99 Followers 4 Following

Led by @ladygaga + @momgerm, we're on a mission to empower and inspire young people to build a kinder, braver world that supports their mental health.

Video of Born This Way Foundation Youth Advisory Board member London interviewing Mila Jam at Rainbow Pride of West Virginia's 30th Annual Pride Festival + Parade.
GIF celebrating 100,000 Be There Certificates earned.
Compilation of people showing off their Be There Certificates during our #GenBeThere campaign.
Clips of team Born This Way Foundation posing with their Be There Certificates and activating our community around our #GenBeThere campaign. The video uses a trending audio that says “Every night at dinner, I’ll be there. Every birthday party, I’ll be there. Every Christmas, I’ll be there.”
Young person speaking in front of a coral colored backdrop about what #GenBeThere means to them and the importance of different generations supporting one another through kindness, community, and connection.
Photo featuring members of team Born This Way Foundation posing with their Be There Certificates during #GenBeThere: A Night of Connection, Community, and Action.
Photos from #GenBeThere: A Night of Connection, Community, and Action at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center featuring young speakers, performers, supportive adults, and community partners gathering in conversation, celebration, and connection.
Photos from #GenBeThere: A Night of Connection, Community, and Action at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center featuring young speakers, performers, supportive adults, and community partners gathering in conversation, celebration, and connection.
Photos from #GenBeThere: A Night of Connection, Community, and Action at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center featuring young speakers, performers, supportive adults, and community partners gathering in conversation, celebration, and connection.
Photos from #GenBeThere: A Night of Connection, Community, and Action at Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg Center featuring young speakers, performers, supportive adults, and community partners gathering in conversation, celebration, and connection.
A montage video featuring young people from Our Minds Matter sharing personal reflections on why they’re inviting others to join #GenBeThere and earn their Be There Certificate.
Born This Way Foundation Youth Advisory Board member Montse speaks directly to the camera about grief, loss, and the importance of support. She shares that healing came not from answers, but from people who stayed, listened, and showed kindness, encouraging viewers to be there for others and ask for help when needed.
Kim and her dad, Yee, reflect on navigating Kim’s bipolar diagnosis and hospitalizations together. They share how difficult the experience was emotionally, and how honest communication helped strengthen their relationship and support for one another.
Video of Ian speaking into a microphone in front of a coral Generation Be There backdrop. Ian shares that being part of Generation Be There means growing in love, compassion, and community, and reflects on how having 100,000 people trained through the Be There Certificate creates a sense of connection, support, and reassurance that someone will always be there to lean on.
Video of Born This Way Foundation Youth Advisory Board member Maya speaking directly to the camera about a time someone made her feel supported simply by listening without judgment or advice. Maya reflects on how being heard reminded her she wasn’t alone and shares that sometimes being there for someone starts with taking the time to truly listen. The video ends with a #GenBeThere call to action encouraging viewers to earn their free Be There Certificate.
Show us your Be There Certificate so we celebrate you!
Introducing the 2026 Awardees Young Futures Award Powered by Hopelab The Young Futures Awards recognizes young leaders and adult champions helping young people find more agency, safety, belonging, and possibility in a tech-filled world.
Video of Wali and his mom, Fariha, reflecting on their relationship and journey toward deeper understanding through honest conversation, active listening, and support. The video ends with a call to action to join #GenBeThere by earning your Be There Certificate at certificate.bethere.org/GenerationBeThere.
GIF featuring Be There’s 5 Golden Rules which are: 1. Say What You See 2. Show You Care 3. Hear Them Out 4. Know Your Role 5. Connect to Help
Video of Sam Demma speaking into a microphone in front of a coral backdrop with the Generation Be There logo above him, sharing how joining #GenBeThere and learning mental health support skills through the Be There Certificate can help people show up for each other and make a meaningful difference.
Youth Advisory Board members speak in a montage, inviting viewers to join Generation Be There and learn free, evidence-based mental health support skills through the Be There Certificate.
Born This Way Foundation Youth Advisory Board member, Alexa, shares how small, everyday actions can make a big difference for the planet, reflecting on caring for Earth alongside her dog Kobe and encouraging others to take simple steps that support a healthier future.
Born This Way Foundation Youth Advisory Board member, Montserrat, shares how practicing mindfulness in nature helps deepen her appreciation for the planet, encouraging others to notice its beauty and feel inspired to protect it.
Alexandra, a Born This Way Foundation Youth Advisory Board member, shares her visit to a local community garden with her dog Reina, highlighting how the space supports community connection, food access, and native planting, while enjoying nature, meeting people, and encouraging others to explore outdoor spaces.
Kathy Halamka of Unity Farm Sanctuary shares a message encouraging kindness toward yourself, others, animals, and the planet.
Video of our Youth Advisory Board member London sharing about the importance of using reusable water bottles in honor of Earth Month.
Born This Way Foundation Youth Advisory Board member Dylan speaks to camera about reducing environmental impact by buying less and being mindful of the businesses they support. Dylan cuts beeswax, melts it with coconut oil and shea butter in short microwave intervals, then carefully pours the mixture into a small tube. The video ends with the finished lip balm and a reminder that simple DIY alternatives can help reduce waste.
Animated GIF featuring our #BeKind365 logo, text that reads "Earth Month," a pink/purple colored gradient background, floating blocks, shooting stars, and nature sounds.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Trans Up Front Illinois in the United States. The video shares their mission to create safer and more inclusive communities by centering trans voices and supporting and empowering transgender and gender-diverse young people through access to affirming care, resources, education, and community support across Illinois. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to increase capacity to meet urgent community needs by expanding care navigation, resource coordination, and affirming support for young people and their support systems, ensuring access to care without financial barriers.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Spill The Tea Cafe in the United States. The video shares their mission to destigmatize mental health for young people in Hawaii by creating a safe space where they can feel seen, valued, heard, and supported throughout their mental health journeys. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to expand access to care by offering free drop-in support services, same-week therapy scholarships, and barrier-free care coordination, ensuring that no young person is turned away due to cost, access, or language barriers.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, ProjectQ in the United States. The video shares their mission to create cycles of success for LGBTQ+ youth, especially those who have experienced foster care, homelessness, or housing insecurity, by providing affirming resources and pathways to sustainable careers. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to expand their Foster Care to Behind The Chair program, supporting young people in moving from receiving services in their community salon to becoming licensed barbers and stylists, through scholarships, mentorship, and job placement that help build long term stability and independence.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, The Alliance for LGBTQ Youth in the United States. The video shares their mission to nurture, serve, and empower LGBTQ youth, their families, and communities through a focus on mental health, advocacy, and youth leadership. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to improve the quality of life for LGBTQ youth in Miami-Dade County by providing affirming therapeutic services, creating spaces of joy and belonging, and continuing to advocate for equal rights and equitable treatment for young people and their families.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Oogachaga in Singapore. The video shares their mission to support and affirm LGBTQ individuals, couples, families, and communities through counseling and community-based services. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to provide support programs and professional counseling services for LGBTQ youth ages 16 to 29, helping young people access affirming care, build resilience, and feel supported in their identities and experiences.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Beat the Streets Canada in Canada. The video shares their mission to advance the education of low income children and youth through sport, life skills, and employment-focused programs, with a vision of helping every young person reach their full potential. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to expand their girlsCAN initiative by delivering accessible, trauma-informed sport programming that supports Indigenous girls' mental health, emotional well being, and sense of belonging, helping young people build confidence, connection, and resilience through movement, mentorship, and community support.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Brent Centre for Young People in the United Kingdom. The video shares their mission to support young people facing psychological and emotional challenges by providing psychotherapeutic care tailored to their individual needs. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to reach more young people in crisis and expand access to the therapy and support needed to help them navigate challenges and grow into healthy and happy adults.
Photo of young people. Text reads “MEET THE ATTIC YOUTH CENTER”
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Northern Mosaic Network in Canada. The video shares their mission to create a safer and more equitable territory for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth, their families, and their allies. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to create a safe and welcoming environment where young people can show up as their authentic selves by providing free and accessible programming, gender-affirming care, and judgment-free support from staff.
Photo featuring a group of young people at Lambert House. Text reads “MEET LAMBERT HOUSE LGBTQ+ YOUTH CENTER”
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, QUEERSPACE Collective in the United States. The video shares their mission to create space for 2SLGBTQIA+ youth to feel safe, supported, and empowered to be their true selves. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to support programs including intergenerational mentorship, youth workshops, and a newly opened youth center in Minneapolis, while also expanding their reach through a virtual mentorship app to connect with young people in rural communities across the Midwest and nationwide.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Youth Pride, Inc. in the United States. The video shares their mission to meet the unique and ongoing needs of LGBTQIA2S+ youth and young adults in Rhode Island through direct service, support, advocacy, and education. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to expand support for queer youth by operating a drop in center, offering free mental health counseling, providing access to a basic needs pantry and gender affirming clothing, and delivering case management support to help young people navigate their needs and build stability.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Hopebound in the United States. The video shares their mission to ensure that young people from historically marginalized communities have access to high quality, culturally responsive mental health care without barriers, while working to transform the mental health field to better reflect and affirm the communities it serves. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to provide low cost and high touch therapy options for young people, including accessible teletherapy and in-person individual and small group sessions in community-based settings, helping young people build trust, see themselves reflected in their care, and feel supported as they heal.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Project LETS in the United States. The video shares their mission to envision, teach, and provide peer-led community mental health care that centers self determination and consent, while challenging traditional, medicalized approaches to mental health. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to empower young people to reimagine mental health care by building cohorts of youth trained as peer supporters, equipping them to provide holistic, culturally relevant, and community based support, and advancing approaches to healing rooted in liberation, connection, and care.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, KELY Support Group in Hong Kong. The video shares their mission to equip young people with the skills, knowledge, and peer support needed to help them thrive, addressing challenges related to mental health, substance use, and positive youth development. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to build the Youth Mental Health Connectors Community by training and mobilizing 100 young people as certified peer supporters, equipping them with evidence-based skills in socio-emotional learning, self-care, and safe digital engagement, and empowering them to lead youth forums that create safe spaces for mental health conversations and resource sharing.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Khululeka Grief Support in South Africa. The video shares their vision of a future where children, adolescents, and their caregivers have access to compassionate, trauma-informed support to help them heal from grief and loss, build resilience, and live with hope. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to expand and deepen their support groups within HIV and GBV prevention programs and in vulnerable schools and communities, strengthening emotional wellbeing and providing culturally sensitive care that fosters healing, connection, and growth.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Rainbow Project Sioux Falls in the United States. The video shares their mission to provide community-based programming that supports mental wellness, belonging, and empowerment for LGBTQ2S+ youth and other marginalized young people in Sioux Falls. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to expand inclusive programming, increase access to safe and affirming spaces, and strengthen community connections that support the wellbeing of young people.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Center on Halsted in the United States. The video shares their mission to advance community and secure the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ people across Chicagoland and the Midwest. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to support their annual Trans Youth and Family Action Summit, bringing together trans youth and their families for a day of workshops, education, community building, and connection in a supportive and affirming space.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Gender Empowerment in Hong Kong. The video shares their mission to support trans individuals through different stages of their gender transition by providing access to information, resources, and community support, while working to reduce stigma and strengthen social inclusion. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to improve mental health for trans youth by creating programs that address stress and challenges, build resilience, and connect young people with professionals and community organizations for additional support.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Our Minds Matter in the United States. The video shares their mission to create a world where no teen dies by suicide by supporting teen led mental health clubs in schools and community spaces. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to expand their reach to support more than 4,000 teens each year, empowering young people to strengthen their own wellbeing, grow as leaders, and provide meaningful peer support, while leading campaigns that share coping skills, reduce stigma, and reach over 100,000 teens across their communities.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Café Momentum in the United States. The video shares their commitment to creating spaces where young people feel seen, supported, and surrounded by a community that believes in their potential. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to expand opportunities for youth to build confidence, develop workplace and academic skills, and access mental health support, while fostering a compassionate community that leads with grace, offers unconditional support, and helps young people heal, grow, and reclaim their futures.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, I Am Human Foundation in the United States. The video shares their belief that every young person deserves to feel seen, heard, and supported, especially those who are marginalized or overlooked. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to expand access to inclusive and affirming mental health resources for youth of all gender identities and sexualities by offering complimentary support programs, peer connection spaces, and education centered on empathy, dignity, and belonging, while strengthening community partnerships and reducing barriers to care.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Lefika La Phodiso in South Africa. The video shares their mission to increase empathy through the arts. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to reach more young people by expanding peer-to-peer mental health training and support, helping build understanding, connection, and care within communities.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, The Ryan Bartel Foundation in the United States. The video shares their mission to prevent youth suicide by promoting connection, coping skills, and resilience. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to expand their four experiential mental wellness programs to reach more schools and communities, while growing their FORT training program to empower more ambassadors to foster belonging and connection among young people.
From left to right, Dr. Terika McCall, Dr. Katie Edwards, Jayla Stokesberry, and Dr. Claudia-Santi F. Fernandes stand on stage at SXSWEDU, smiling following their panel, Pride + Resilience: LGBTQ+ Young People in Online Spaces.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, COR in the United States. The video shares their mission to disrupt race and poverty based inequities by supporting students, families, schools, and communities. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to expand the reach of their all women team to provide more students and families with barrier free access to basic needs resources, essential life skills prevention training, and mental and behavioral health support.
Video introducing our Kindness in Community Fund grant recipient, Prague Pride in the Czech Republic. The video shares their mission to create a respectful and safe environment where LGBT+ people can truly be themselves, including through their Sbarvouven counseling service that supports young people during their coming out journeys. Through their Kindness in Community Fund grant, they aim to reduce isolation and mental health risks for queer youth in underserved regions by expanding their network of trained mentors and increasing access to their digital counseling platform.