PLATINUM2023

By Kids Inc.

We create understanding through storytelling

aka BYkids   |   New York, NY   |  www.BYkids.org

Mission

Real-world films for kids, by kids. Talented young storytellers from around the world are paired with seasoned filmmakers to create powerful documentaries about their lives. In partnership with public television and education innovators, we share the films and their activation resources to help make global issues feel personal, relevant and actionable for millions of students. Our work serves as a catalyst for change—igniting important conversations and inspiring a new generation of social activists.

Ruling year info

2007

Founder and Executive Director

Ms. Holly Carter

Main address

330 West End Ave Ste 7A

New York, NY 10023 USA

Show more contact info

EIN

03-0609146

NTEE code info

Alliance/Advocacy Organizations (B01)

Television (A32)

Secondary/High School (B25)

IRS filing requirement

This organization is required to file an IRS Form 990 or 990-EZ.

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Communication

Blog

Programs and results

What we aim to solve

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

BYkids believes that we can understand the world's challenges -- and how to best meet them -- through the personal stories of young people. BYkids is a global movement that uses storytelling through film to inform, engage and inspire action. BYkids provides kids around the world with the training and the video cameras to make short documentaries about their lives. Renowned filmmakers mentor these young people in the art of filmmaking. Through innovative distribution platforms including public television, Discovery Education and PenPal Schools, BYkids films enable fresh perspectives on topics like poverty, displacement, juvenile justice and access to education. Thousands of people are joining our movement, seeing our films, developing and engaging with our educational curriculum. Please join us and support the production of a new series of films about living with disability, the effects of globalization, resurgent Jewish life in Germany, mental health and modern-day slavery.

Our programs

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?

FIlm Production

Yearly, BYkids packages four films with innovative educational material for wide distribution including film festivals, television broadcast on public television, video on demand, DVD distribution, school programs and web downloads.

These are stories that reflect critical global issues from a perspective rarely told in the mainstream media. BYkids is contributing to international awareness within the American public, stimulating debate through virtual and grassroots networking, and offering new solutions to global issues.

Population(s) Served
Students
Teachers
Parents

Films BYkids, is broadcast nationally to 83 million households on public television and distributed with innovative curricula to 1.6 million teachers through PBS LearningMedia.

The BYkids channel on Discovery Education distributes each film and accompanying School Guide to 45 million students and 4.5 million teachers in 140 countries and territories worldwide.

Finally, a companion course that connects students globally around the films via social media is available to all educators through PenPal Schools, an online learning community with more than 350,000 student and teacher subscribers from 150 countries.

Population(s) Served
Students
Parents
Teachers

Where we work

Videos

Our results

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.

Number of broadcast audience members

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Adults

Related Program

Education

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

83 million American households engaged with Seasons One, Two and Three of FILMS BYKIDS on Public Television on 240 channels in 155 cities. An additional 1 million saw them on CBS digital.

Number of teachers who use BYkids films and curricula to address diverse global issues with empathy.

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Children and youth, Teachers

Related Program

Education

Type of Metric

Output - describing our activities and reach

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

BYkids films and educational materials are distributed to 1.6 million teachers through PBS LearningMedia and 4.5 million teachers through the BYkids channel on Discovery Education.

Engaging in meaningful conversation around globally-relevant topics.

This metric is no longer tracked.
Totals By Year
Population(s) Served

Children and youth, Parents, Students

Related Program

Education

Type of Metric

Outcome - describing the effects on people or issues

Direction of Success

Increasing

Context Notes

Using BYkids films and innovative educational material, Discovery Education distributes to 45 million students and PenPal Schools to another .5 million students. PBS distributes to 83 million homes.

Goals & Strategy

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.

Charting impact

Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.

BYkids produces documentary films by kids about their lives with the goal of engaging audiences of other kids in conversations about topics like immigration, bullying, juvenile justice, climate change and child marriage. BYkids films are distributed through platforms including public television, Discovery Education and PenPal Schools, which provide teaching materials to make the film topics relevant and actionable.

BYkids finds globally-relevant stories to bring to a wide audience, focused on in-school engagement. BYkids pairs a master filmmaker with one kid who tells his/her story. Public television broadcasts the films nationally and provides teaching material to millions of teachers. The films and School Guides are distributed through Discovery Education to half the middle- and high- schools in American and to 150 countries through PenPal Schools. Additionally, BYkids hosts wide-ranging public events including school outreach, film festivals and public screenings and conversation at Film at Lincoln Center and the United Nations, to name a few.

Our young filmmakers create empathy and spark conversations that lead to social engagement.

Dynamic, expert and engaged board.

Partners include Discovery Education, PBS, PenPal Schools, Film at Lincoln Center, the United Nations, UNICEF, the Clinton Global Initiative.

International advisors from philanthropy, journalism and film production.

Produced three seasons of FILMS BYKIDS on PBS illuminating topics from the ravages of AIDS to Islamophobia to access to education for girls in the developing world to the Syrian refugee crisis.

BYkids aims to deliver Season 4 to broadcast on PBS to include four films about the climate crisis from Ukraine, Germany, India and Kentucky.

How we listen

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.

done We demonstrated a willingness to learn more by reviewing resources about feedback practice.
done We shared information about our current feedback practices.

  • Who are the people you serve with your mission?

    Teachers.

  • How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?

    To inform the development of new programs/projects, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve

  • What significant change resulted from feedback?

    We use our Teacher Advisors to create educational material around each of our films.

  • Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?

  • What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?

    We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback

Financials

By Kids Inc.
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Operations

The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.

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Connect with nonprofit leaders

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  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

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lock

Connect with nonprofit leaders

Subscribe

Build relationships with key people who manage and lead nonprofit organizations with GuideStar Pro. Try a low commitment monthly plan today.

  • Analyze a variety of pre-calculated financial metrics
  • Access beautifully interactive analysis and comparison tools
  • Compare nonprofit financials to similar organizations

Want to see how you can enhance your nonprofit research and unlock more insights? Learn More about GuideStar Pro.

By Kids Inc.

Board of directors
as of 02/03/2023
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Board chair

Samantha Chadwick

Holly Carter

BYkids

Susan Hoenig

Television Producer

Jonice Pahilha

J. Sisters

Graham Messick

60 Minutes

Lucy Price

Kiki Price

Melanie Grisanti

Sesame Workshop

Alan Murray

Fortune Magazine

Hilary Adams

Writer and Video Producer

Sammy Chadwick

Producer

Stephanie Apt

Final Cut

James Brasher

Development Counsel

Joyce Chopra

Film Director

Maya Kopytman

C&G Partners

Ling Li

Open Society Foundations

Brian Mateo

Bard College, Civic Engagement

Bill McCarthy

The Hamilton School at Wheeler

Diane Miller

Educational Vision & Strategy

Isabel Sheinman

Mastercard

Allyson Wiener

Philantropist

Board leadership practices

SOURCE: Self-reported by organization

GuideStar worked with BoardSource, the national leader in nonprofit board leadership and governance, to create this section.

  • Board orientation and education
    Does the board conduct a formal orientation for new board members and require all board members to sign a written agreement regarding their roles, responsibilities, and expectations? Yes
  • CEO oversight
    Has the board conducted a formal, written assessment of the chief executive within the past year ? Yes
  • Ethics and transparency
    Have the board and senior staff reviewed the conflict-of-interest policy and completed and signed disclosure statements in the past year? Yes
  • Board composition
    Does the board ensure an inclusive board member recruitment process that results in diversity of thought and leadership? Yes
  • Board performance
    Has the board conducted a formal, written self-assessment of its performance within the past three years? Yes

Organizational demographics

SOURCE: Self-reported; last updated 10/20/2022
info Candid has made improvements to the race and ethnicity options.

Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? Candid partnered with CHANGE Philanthropy on this demographic section.

Leadership

The organization's leader identifies as:

Race & ethnicity
White/Caucasian/European
Gender identity
Female, Not transgender (cisgender)
Sexual orientation
Heterosexual or straight
Disability status
Person without a disability

Race & ethnicity

Gender identity

 

Sexual orientation

Disability

No data

Equity strategies

Last updated: 10/20/2022

GuideStar partnered with Equity in the Center - an organization that works to shift mindsets, practices, and systems to increase racial equity - to create this section. Learn more

Data
  • We have long-term strategic plans and measurable goals for creating a culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.
Policies and processes
  • We use a vetting process to identify vendors and partners that share our commitment to race equity.
  • We have a promotion process that anticipates and mitigates implicit and explicit biases about people of color serving in leadership positions.
  • We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
  • We have community representation at the board level, either on the board itself or through a community advisory board.
  • We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
  • We measure and then disaggregate job satisfaction and retention data by race, function, level, and/or team.
  • We engage everyone, from the board to staff levels of the organization, in race equity work and ensure that individuals understand their roles in creating culture such that one’s race identity has no influence on how they fare within the organization.