The Liv Project
Creating tools that encourage fearless conversations to turn the tide of youth suicide.
The Liv Project
EIN: 86-1722570
as of December 2022
as of December 12, 2022
Programs and results
What we aim to solve
We aim to change the dialogue around youth mental health to eliminate the shame and stigma that typically accompanies these topics. We know that having open conversations about feelings can actually give a struggling young person a sense of relief, because it opens the door for them to able to talk about it. This allows the person to realize that they are not alone in experiencing these feelings. It also organically creates empathy and compassion for both those who are suffering and those who are worried about them.
Our programs
What are the organization's current programs, how do they measure success, and who do the programs serve?
The Liv Project Workshops
The Liv Project visits communities, schools, colleges/universities, religious organizations, mental heath organizations/hospitals/providers, suicide prevention and awareness organizations, etc. to talk about our story and to utilize the Game That Goes There (the game that we created with the help of mental health providers, young people and the experts at Children's Hospital Colorado mental Health Institute and the creatives at Humanaut). The Liv Project uses the power of creativity as the key to unlocking fearless conversations. Through story telling, creative prompts, and The Game That Goes there, we guide the attendees through creative and interactive workshops on cultivating fearless and meaningful conversations.
Where we work
External reviews

Our results
How does this organization measure their results? It's a hard question but an important one.
Evaluation documents
Download evaluation reportsNumber of individuals attending community events or trainings
This metric is no longer tracked.Totals By Year
Related Program
The Liv Project Workshops
Type of Metric
Output - describing our activities and reach
Direction of Success
Increasing
Our Sustainable Development Goals
Learn more about Sustainable Development Goals.
Goals & Strategy
Learn about the organization's key goals, strategies, capabilities, and progress.
Charting impact
Four powerful questions that require reflection about what really matters - results.
What is the organization aiming to accomplish?
2023 Program Goals
Tess Talks: 1 per month
Film Screenings: 3 per month
Workshops: 1-2 per month
The Game That Goes There®
The team is actively marketing the game on our social media platforms.
When the film is more widely available, we anticipate game sales will also organically increase.
Wish List:
• 2023-2024 Grant money to conduct our own Mental Health Summit. This would take a lot of planning, partners and event support
• 2023 -2024 Develop a song writing workshop with Philadelphia’s ill Doots
What are the organization's key strategies for making this happen?
The team has identified three film panel topics that we will offer:
• Parenting/Family: How to have fearless conversations at home.
• Clinicians: How to get comfortable having fearless conversations with clients.
• General Community: How to have fearless/open conversations with someone you are worried about or if you are struggling. The power of connection and the road to empathetic listening.
The team has identified the following target audiences for the workshops:
• Middle school and high schools (teens)
• Colleges and universities
• Mental health Summits
• Counselors, mental health professionals and support staff
• Team building
In each of these categories, the workshops can be tailored specifically for the event audience for the greatest impact. The goal is to generate openness, empathy and connection with the intention of audience members feeling comfortable talking about their feelings.
What are the organization's capabilities for doing this?
We are actively speaking with organizations/schools/religious entities/mental health organizations and communities who have approached us requesting our different programs.
We have also hired a film Impact Producer on a contracted basis to reach out to targeted organizations to bring our programs to them.
The ability for us to bring the film MY SISTER LIV to communities virtually or in-person has been developed so that the process is seamless and inviting.
What have they accomplished so far and what's next?
We started our programs in late 2021. In 2022 we accomplished the following:
1. We brought our workshops to schools, colleges and communities around the country reaching over 200 young people.
2. We conducted 19 private screenings and panel discussions of MY SISTER LIV with 539 viewers
3. We donated over 150 copies of The Game That Goes There® to communities, mental health professionals and young people around the world. We are also partnering with Colorado’s HealthOne Hospital, where they have utilized The Game that Goes There® with 9 adolescent groups and 4 adult groups for a total of 80 patients.
4. We expanded our website to include easy to use discussion guides and videos for those who are struggling with their mental health and those who know of someone who is. Additionally, we updated our robust resource page as well as created a blog and media page that Susan Caso, our Mental Health Director has developed to tackle some of the more pressing issues our young people are facing
How we listen
Seeking feedback from people served makes programs more responsive and effective. Here’s how this organization is listening.
-
Who are the people you serve with your mission?
We serve a wide area of people. We provide private screenings of our film to anyone 14 and up, including students, parents, mental health organizations, therapists, clinicians, hospitals, etc. Our workshops serve students 13 and up, teachers, clinicians, mental health summits, support staff, anyone who can benefit from open conversations that generate empathy and compassion for those who are struggling with their mental health, and those who know of someone who is struggling.
-
How is your organization collecting feedback from the people you serve?
Electronic surveys (by email, tablet, etc.),
-
How is your organization using feedback from the people you serve?
To identify and remedy poor client service experiences, To identify bright spots and enhance positive service experiences, To make fundamental changes to our programs and/or operations, To inform the development of new programs/projects, To identify where we are less inclusive or equitable across demographic groups, To strengthen relationships with the people we serve, To understand people's needs and how we can help them achieve their goals,
-
What significant change resulted from feedback?
We have recently discovered that people who attend a private screening of the film, need space to process what they have just viewed, so we have added a "Mindful Moment" to the programming. In regard to our workshops, we have learned that the attendees prefer more creative content and less listening to presenters. In regard to the game that we provide, some of the people we serve have asked for more creative ways to utilize it in a variety of settings. As a result of this, we have created a lengthy document that outlines a vast number of different ways to utilize the game in a variety of settings. We offer this document to all new hosts utilize the game. We are in the process of developing a video to provide these varied modes of play.
-
With whom is the organization sharing feedback?
The people we serve, Our staff, Our board, Our funders, Our community partners,
-
How has asking for feedback from the people you serve changed your relationship?
We believe that sharing this data helps people make informed decisions about the use of all of our programs. Our work is collaborative in nature and if we do not share this data it would be less effective for us to be provide the best programming possible.
-
Which of the following feedback practices does your organization routinely carry out?
We aim to collect feedback from as many people we serve as possible, We take steps to ensure people feel comfortable being honest with us, We look for patterns in feedback based on people’s interactions with us (e.g., site, frequency of service, etc.), We engage the people who provide feedback in looking for ways we can improve in response, We act on the feedback we receive, We tell the people who gave us feedback how we acted on their feedback,
-
What challenges does the organization face when collecting feedback?
We don't have any major challenges to collecting feedback,
Financials
Assets info
Financial data
The Liv Project
Revenue & expensesFiscal Year: 2021
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Revenue | |
---|---|
Contributions, Grants, Gifts | $68,701 |
Program Services | $2,800 |
Membership Dues | $0 |
Special Events | $11 |
Other Revenue | ($1,843) |
Total Revenue | $69,669 |
Expenses | |
---|---|
Program Services | $40,375 |
Administration | $8,507 |
Fundraising | $625 |
Payments to Affiliates | $0 |
Other Expenses | $0 |
Total Expenses | $49,506 |
The Liv Project
Balance sheetFiscal Year: 2021
SOURCE: Self-reported by organization
Assets | |
---|---|
Total Assets | $64,045 |
Liabilities | |
---|---|
Total Liabilities | $45,860 |
Fund balance (EOY) | |
---|---|
Net Assets | $18,185 |
Operations
The people, governance practices, and partners that make the organization tick.
Documents
Executive Director
Helen "Honey" Beuf
Honey is the mother of Liv, Tess and Max, and currently lives in Pennsylvania. She received a bachelors degree in Sociology from The University of Pennsylvania, later moving to Boulder, CO where she was the CFO and co-owner of a staffing firm for over 25 years before retiring in 2018. After her 19 year old daughter, Liv, died by suicide, Honey and her daughter Tess Kunik decided that they wanted to create something that would help to prevent other families and communities from feeling the brutally painful grief of suicide loss. They wanted to be unique from other suicide prevention organizations, just like Liv was in her life, to reach young people, nationally and globally. Her mission is to continue to encourage open, fearless conversations to break down the barriers of stigma and shame around mental health through the use of creative tools that turn the tide of youth suicide.
Outreach and Impact Director
Tess Kunik
Tess was born and raised in Colorado and moved to Philadelphia in 2009 where she began her journey as a Theatre Artist, Designer and teaching Artist. She attended the University of the Arts where she graduated in 2013 with a BFA in Theatre Arts. From 2015-2020 she served as teaching artist, designer and stage manager for a non-profit Theatre Education Organization and later brought theatre programming to schools in the greater Philadelphia area as their Education and Outreach Manager. Tess is passionate about collaboration and story telling and its power to inspire and start conversations. She is dedicated to cultivating confidence in those who wish to tell their own stories and is so proud of the group of young people who serve as The Voices of Liv to ensure that all of the tools created for The Liv Project reflect what they feel is the most impactful, inclusive, diverse and equitable path for their generation to turn the tide of youth suicide.
There are no officers, directors or key employees recorded for this organization
There are no highest paid employees recorded for this organization.
The Liv Project
Board of directorsas of 01/20/2023
Board of directors data
Melissa Grumhaus
Helen Beuf
The Liv project
William Campbell
There With Care
Susan Capitelli
Film Producer
Susan Caso
Boulder Family Counseling
Rob Galuzzo
Finch Productions
Melissa Grumhaaus
Tumalo Creek Partners
Alan Hicks
Finch~No Worries
Robert King
Colorado Access
W.Wilder Knight
Pryor Cashman
Paula Dupre Pesmen
There With Care
Board leadership practices
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 ? No -
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? No
Organizational demographics
Who works and leads organizations that serve our diverse communities? GuideStar partnered on this section with CHANGE Philanthropy and Equity in the Center.
Leadership
The organization's leader identifies as:
The organization's co-leader identifies as:
Race & ethnicity
Gender identity
Sexual orientation
Disability
Equity strategies
Last updated: 08/11/2022GuideStar 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
- We review compensation data across the organization (and by staff levels) to identify disparities by race.
- We seek individuals from various race backgrounds for board and executive director/CEO positions within our organization.
- We help senior leadership understand how to be inclusive leaders with learning approaches that emphasize reflection, iteration, and adaptability.
- 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.