Harness

What Harness does

Harness is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit social impact organization founded in Los Angeles in 2016 by actors America Ferrera, Wilmer Valderrama, and filmmaker Ryan Piers Williams in the wake of the U.S. presidential election. The organization convenes changemakers at the intersection of social justice movements and pop culture, running curated retreats, large-scale Mainstage events, salons, and advocacy campaigns designed to break down silos between grassroots organizers, artists, and entertainment industry decision-makers. Its programs include Protect the Sacred (Indigenous civic engagement), Gender Justice Entertainment Hub, DEAR Hollywood (Latinx representation in entertainment, co-produced with Untitled Latinx Project), Poderistas (a Latina digital community previously known as She Se Puede), Harness Features, and a Content Commons of open-source commissioned art on themes including voting, racial justice, and civic engagement. The organization also produces direct campaigns such as voter mobilization for the 2021 Georgia Senate runoffs and co-produced the CBS broadcast Every Vote Counts in 2020.

The business model is grant-funded philanthropy rather than commercial revenue. Income is derived from institutional foundation grants (Ford Foundation, MacArthur Foundation, Kresge Foundation, California Endowment, Hearthland Foundation, Pop Culture Collaborative, Women's Foundation of California) and individual donations processed through the website. There is no commercial product, no pricing model, no app, and no AI/ML technology stack. Distribution is achieved through three primary channels: (1) direct enterprise partnerships with major entertainment platforms (CBS, NBC, Netflix, Paramount, Coldplay) for co-produced content and curated industry convenings, (2) live and virtual events including retreats and Mainstages, and (3) digital content distribution via the Content Commons and social media. The organization employs approximately 10 staff, is governed by a Governing Board including the three co-founders, and is advised by an Advisory Board that includes representatives from Disney, Paramount, KPS Capital Partners, and the Annenberg Inclusion Initiative.

Name

Harness

Legal name

Harness

Website

https://iwillharness.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Harness is a Los Angeles-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2016 that convenes activists, artists, and entertainment industry leaders to drive narrative change and social impact through curated retreats, Mainstage events, and issue-specific programs including Protect the Sacred, DEAR Hollywood, and Poderistas.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Impact Nonprofit Services

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Civic and Social Organizations (813410), Human Rights Organizations (813311)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Leadership, Civic Education & Service-Learning Nonprofits (BPAGADAI)

Keywords

• Social impact programs
• Nonprofit advocacy campaigns
• Narrative change initiatives
• Community convening
• Cultural organizing

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants and Institutional Funding: Harness is funded by institutional funders including Ford Foundation, California Endowment, Hearthland Foundation, Kresge Foundation, Pop Culture Collaborative, Women's Foundation of California, and MacArthur Foundation. The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that relies on grant funding and donations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Harness is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit social impact organization that connects changemakers—activists, artists, and entertainment industry leaders—through curated programs, convenings, and narrative-change campaigns. The organization designs and runs initiatives such as Retreat, Mainstage, Protect the Sacred, DEAR Hollywood, Gender Justice Entertainment Hub, Poderistas, and Harness Features to drive social and cultural change. Its work is sustained primarily by foundation grants and philanthropic funding rather than by commercial sales.

Product overview

Harness is a nonprofit social impact organization that serves as a community platform connecting changemakers in curated environments designed for deep reflection, collaboration, and shared learning. Rather than a technology product, it offers programs and initiatives including the HARNESS Retreat, HARNESS Mainstage, Protect the Sacred, DEAR Hollywood, Gender Justice Entertainment Hub, Poderistas, and Harness Features. The organization mobilizes collective power for social justice through advocacy, culture change, capacity building, inner resilience, and strategic partnerships with Hollywood leaders.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Protect the Sacred: A program of Harness focused on educating and empowering the next generation of Navajo and Indian Country leaders and allies, ensuring Native voices are centered in culture and policy.
• Gender Justice Entertainment Hub
• DEAR Hollywood
• Poderistas

Products and services

• Retreat An in-person convening program that brings together activists, artists, and entertainment industry leaders for collaborative social-impact work.
• Mainstage A flagship Harness program designed to elevate narrative-change and social-impact work on a public stage.
• Protect the Sacred A Harness initiative focused on cultural and community protection through narrative-change and organizing efforts.
• DEAR Hollywood A Harness program engaging the entertainment industry on social-impact and narrative-change priorities.
• Gender Justice Entertainment Hub A Harness hub focused on advancing gender justice through entertainment industry engagement and narrative-change work.
• Poderistas A Harness community program supporting Latino cultural power and narrative change.
• Harness Features A Harness content initiative highlighting social-impact stories and changemakers.

Quantifiable outcome

• Convened 800+ changemakers across three Mainstage events, with one event reaching 110+ million people globally and generating 130+ collaborations
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered major, minor and flagship.

• Color of ChangemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCivil rights advocacy organization partnered with Harness for the BREATHE Act art campaign, #RacialJusticeToday Week of Action, and Honor Their Lives commemorative programming.
• Culture SurgemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition partner for voter turnout in Georgia Senate runoff elections (January 2021). Commissioned 20 street art activations and TikTok micro-influencer campaigns reaching 1.3 million people.
• IllumiNativemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIndigenous-led organization partnered to pressure CNN to remove Rick Santorum as commentator and advance Native representation in media.
• Black Futures LabmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerFounded by Alicia Garza, partnered for Honor Their Lives commemorative event acknowledging Black lives lost to police violence.
• Black Visions CollectivemajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRacial justice organization partnered for May 2021 commemorative event on George Floyd anniversary and racial justice strategy.
• RUN AAPIminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAPI racial justice organization partnered for virtual Salons addressing racially motivated hate crimes, featuring speakers including America Ferrera and Sherry Cola.
• AmplifierminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerArt and social change organization partnered for AAPI Salons and visual campaigns.
• State of CaliforniamajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGovernment partner for Poderistas vaccination campaign 'Your Actions Save Lives' receiving 10 million media impressions.
• ColdplayflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerGrammy award-winning band partnered for special two-night sold-out benefit concert series at The Palladium in Hollywood, raising $500,000 for prison reform organizations.
• CBSflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor broadcast network partnered to co-produce Every Vote Counts: A Celebration of Democracy on October 29, 2020, five days before the 2020 election, reaching 7 million viewers.
• NBCflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor broadcast network invited Harness to curate activists for Showrunners Convening. Resulted in shows like This is Us featuring Sikh characters, reaching 8.4 million viewers.
• NetflixflagshipStrategic or Co-development PartnerStreaming platform partnered for cultural strategy on Gentefied series (co-created by Harness community members), narrative change panels, and Industry Power Gatherings.
• ParamountmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor entertainment company hosted narrative change panels with Harness. Tiffany Smith-Anoa'i from Paramount serves on Harness Advisory Board.
• Untitled Latinx Project (ULP)majorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-producer of DEAR Hollywood (Demanding Equal Access and Representation in Hollywood) initiative launched during Hispanic Heritage Month 2021.
• Disney / Walt Disney StudiosmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMary a Bangee from Disney's RISE team serves on Harness Governing Board. Disney was lead consultant on Disney's live-action Aladdin and Ms. Marvel through prior SILA Consulting work.
• SisterSongminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerReproductive justice organization featured in abortion access Salon with Monica Simpson, part of Harness's reproductive justice programming.
• National Domestic Workers AllianceStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor labor organization representing domestic workers, partnered with Impact Consultant Heena Shah on research work.

Scale indicators14 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Color of Change: Color of Change is the nation's largest online racial justice organization and a direct narrative-change peer: it runs media campaigns targeting entertainment and corporate partners, has organized on voting and criminal justice, and is an active Harness coalition partner (BREATHE Act art campaign, Racial Justice Week of Action, Honor Their Lives).
• IllumiNative: IllumiNative is a Native-led narrative-change organization that pressures media companies on representation, partners with Harness on Protect the Sacred programming, and shares the same bridge-between-movements-and-Hollywood model.
• Pop Culture Collaborative: Pop Culture Collaborative is a narrative-change funder and field-builder that explicitly funds pop-culture-focused movement work; it is a listed Harness institutional funder and shares the same theory of change around entertainment as a vehicle for social change.
• Define American: Define American is a narrative-change nonprofit that uses film, television, and culture to shift narratives about immigrants and identity in America — operating the same Hollywood/grassroots bridge model as Harness.
• Black Futures Lab: Founded by Alicia Garza, Black Futures Lab builds political power for Black communities through civic engagement and culture work, and is a direct Harness partner on the Honor Their Lives commemorative campaign.
• Voto Latino: Voto Latino is a civic-engagement nonprofit focused on registering and turning out young Latino voters; co-founder Wilmer Valderrama serves on its board, and the organizations share the Latinx/youth-civic-engagement constituency.
• Free Press: Free Press is a national nonprofit advocating for media justice, representation, and equitable media systems — operating in an adjacent narrative-change space where media and entertainment outcomes are the primary lever for social change.

Broad incumbents

• Movement for Black Lives: Movement for Black Lives is a broad coalition of more than 150 Black-led organizations; it is a larger, more politically active incumbent in the racial-justice space in which Harness operates several of its programs.
• Faith in Action: Faith in Action is a large, established 501(c)(3) network of 1,200+ congregations organizing on racial and economic justice; a much larger incumbent in the community-organizing space, though not focused on narrative change in entertainment.

Others

• National Domestic Workers Alliance: NDWA is a major labor/advocacy organization representing domestic workers and a direct Harness partner (Impact Consultant Heena Shah's research work); it operates in the social-justice ecosystem that Harness convenes but is not a direct narrative-change competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/iwillharness
• Facebookfacebook.com/iwillharness
• Xx.com/iwillharness
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/iwill-harness

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 records

Subsidiaries4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Harness