Born from tragedy in 2015, The Kindness Campaign (TKC) has helped nurture the mental health of nearly 200,000 people and growing with its programming and tools. Their “I Am Enough” journals, available on their website for $7, are the foundation of TKC, and Andra Liemandt is the mastermind and heart. We caught up with the mom, musician and innovator to learn more.
What led you to begin The Kindness Campaign? It was inspired by one child, and though we serve many, we will strive to save just one life. Several years ago I experienced a personal tragedy. A family friend took her life. What made it even more shocking was that she was just 12-years-old. I could hardly comprehend how incredibly low she must have felt that suicide seemed like the only way out.
I started looking for answers and discovered something even more shocking -- suicide was, and remains, the second leading cause of death among teenagers. I felt like I was being called to a mission, and slowly, TKC began to emerge. My daughters helped me and together we created our first journal. Today TKC has a full suite of grade-level SEL (social emotional learning) curriculum, programs, workshops, and activations. It’s been an incredible and very fulfilling journey!
It's had a lot of traction…TKC started in just one district and has grown exponentially since its founding in 2015, serving 187,177 children and adults with in-depth, hands-on curriculum and programming. And, through partnerships with our Kind Companies and nationwide organizations such as AMC Theatres, Nordstrom, Bumble, Girl Scouts of America and SXSW, thousands more have been impacted by TKC across the country. Our signature activation, the Magic Mirror, has even traveled the nation, from Top of the Rock in NYC to Lady Gaga concerts right here in Austin.
We’re also proud to work with private and parochial schools as a trusted SEL provider and in 2021 alone TKC raised enough funds to gift 60 Title 1 elementary schools with “Kind Kits,” impacting 35,338 children in the 2021-22 school year.
What have you learned from TKC? How much time do you have? Ha! But, seriously...mental and emotional health is a daily practice, that’s been my biggest lesson. I’ve learned that no matter what life stage you’re in, you can improve your mental and emotional health. Whether it’s through journaling, therapy, meditation, there are a lot of tools out there these days. At the end of the day, we all want to live a more purposeful, joyful and meaningful life. And the way to get there is to prioritize your mental and emotional health.
What do you have coming up that you’re excited about?
We have three huge products rolling out at TKC:
1. KindMusic: A beginner-friendly songwriting platform for all ages, complete with a hands-on or digital workshop and your choice of music package. It emphasizes emotional health and helps turn feelings into music and allows participants to write their own song lyrics. This hour-long workshop also helps put musicians back to work. Every time a KindMusic workshop is completed, TKC hires a musician to professionally record and produce the lyrics, turning them into a real song.
2. KindGym: Geared towards teens and older, KindGym is a year-long program that teaches skills for improved emotional wellbeing, utilizing daily activities, teams, and group support. Facilitated by mental health coaches associated with TKC, participants select an emotional muscle to work on, such as joy, trust, fear, etc. Then, they’re led through day-to-day “workouts” via a mobile app.
3. KindHouse: This is our latest curriculum offering for young learners! The KindHouse is a digital program that supports students with engaging and gamified skill-building. Inside the game, students encounter TKC's KindHouse, a virtual space where they take on various challenges connected to TKC's four core pillars: self-image, emotional awareness, empathy and community. Students are incentivized to create new habits for emotional regulation and walk away with positive problem-solving skills. We’re currently piloting it with fourth graders across Texas.
Anything you’d like to add? We’re preparing for our annual gala, Art of Kindness 2022! More than ever, we need support to bring these tools to schools, students, educators - and truly, anyone who wants to improve their emotional health. Art of Kindness is our prime opportunity to generate this support, and we’d love our entire Austin community to be involved.
Learn more at: https://tkckindness.org/
