Hollaback!

What Hollaback! does

Hollaback! — now operating as Right To Be — is a Brooklyn-headquartered 501(c)-style nonprofit founded in 2005 with 11-50 employees, focused on building a world free of harassment through bystander intervention training, storytelling, and community organizing. The organization trains individuals and organizations to recognize, respond to, and intervene in harassment using a proprietary pedagogical framework called the 5Ds of Bystander Intervention (Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, Direct), codified across 25+ training topics and a published book, "I've Got Your Back," by Emily May and Jorge Arteaga. Its technology footprint centers on a web-based storytelling platform (stories.righttobe.org) and the Hate and Hope Tracker, which together have aggregated 32,000+ stories of harassment, plus dedicated sites for the Allies Solidarity Network and Expert Voices Together. Free public trainings are self-serve via the website and promoted through a multi-channel marketing presence (newsletter, Instagram, Facebook, LinkedIn, TikTok, YouTube), while customized workplace trainings are sold directly to organizational clients; supplementary revenue streams include donations (including a matching gifts program), branded merchandise via Big Cartel, and book sales. Named organizational clients/partners include L'Oréal Paris (co-branded "Stand Up Against Street Harassment" campaign), NASA Jet Propulsion Lab (private training), and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund (joint training with Asian Americans Advancing Justice). Leadership is anchored by Emily May as President and Co-Founder; no parent company, institutional investors, or subsidiaries are evidenced.

Name

Hollaback!

Website

https://ihollaback.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2005

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Right To Be (formerly Hollaback!) is a Brooklyn-based nonprofit that trains individuals and organizations to intervene in harassment using its proprietary 5Ds framework, delivers free public trainings alongside fee-based workplace programs, and operates a 32,000+-story storytelling platform for harassment survivors.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Anti-Harassment Training and Advocacy Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Other Individual and Family Services (624190), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Child and Youth Services (62411), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYBPAGAFAB

Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations

Business & Public Services/Nonprofit, NGO & Social Services/Civil Rights, Advocacy & Public Policy Organizations

SECONDARYEDAJAIAG

Student Wellness & Prevention Programs (Substance Use, Sexual Health, Bullying)

Education/K–12 / Primary & Secondary Education/K–12 Student Health, Safety & Wellbeing Services (Counseling, Mental Health, SEL, Safeguarding)

SECONDARYEDAJAIAK

Family & Community Support Services (Case Management, Referrals)

Education/K–12 / Primary & Secondary Education/K–12 Student Health, Safety & Wellbeing Services (Counseling, Mental Health, SEL, Safeguarding)

Keywords

• Anti-harassment training
• Bystander intervention
• Workplace DEI training
• Community safety education
• Harassment prevention programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Private Organizational Training: Right To Be offers fee-based private training experiences for workplaces and organizations, which can be customized in collaboration with the training team. This is a primary revenue stream for the nonprofit.
2. Donations and Philanthropy: The organization solicits donations from the public and corporate partners. A matching gifts program is also referenced. Free trainings are made possible by the generosity of the community.
3. Merchandise Sales: Right To Be operates an online merchandise store (righttobe.bigcartel.com) selling branded goods to supporters.
4. Book Sales: The organization published 'I've Got Your Back: The Indispensable Guide to Stopping Harassment When You See It' by Emily May and Jorge Arteaga, available for order through the website.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Right To Be (formerly Hollaback!) is a nonprofit movement that trains individuals and organizations to respond to, intervene in, and heal from harassment, using its proprietary 5Ds of Bystander Intervention methodology (Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, Direct). It delivers this through free public trainings on over 25 topics, customized fee-based private workplace trainings, a safe storytelling platform for survivors, and the Hate and Hope Tracker that has collected 32,000+ harassment stories.

Product overview

Right To Be (formerly Hollaback!) operates as a unified anti-harassment platform offering a comprehensive suite of products and services centered on bystander intervention training, storytelling, and community support. The core product portfolio consists of free and private training programs teaching the 5Ds methodology (Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, Direct), a storytelling platform for sharing and supporting harassment victims, and the Hate and Hope Tracker for story collection. Supplementary offerings include the Expert Voices Together program for journalists, 5Ds For Youth training, the Allies Solidarity Network, a published book on bystander intervention, collaborative campaigns, and an extensive library of resources and guides. The organization provides training on over 25 anti-harassment topics with a reported 98.8% attendee efficacy rate.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Free Training Programs Free, publicly accessible anti-harassment training experiences on over 25 topics (bystander intervention, conflict de-escalation, implicit bias, online harassment, public harassment, workplace harassment, resilience training, etc.), funded by community donations and corporate partnerships, delivered via monthly online and in-person sessions.
• Private Training Experience Customizable, fee-based private workplace anti-harassment training programs developed in collaboration with Right To Be's training team for organizations seeking to build employee intervention capability and a harassment-free culture.
• Storytelling Platform A safe digital platform (stories.righttobe.org) where individuals who have experienced harassment can share their stories for affirmation and peer support, and where others can read and offer support to storytellers.
• Hate and Hope Tracker A crowdsourced story-collection platform that has gathered over 32,000 stories of harassment, allowing individuals to share their experiences, view others' stories, and document the scope of harassment in public spaces.
• I've Got Your Back (Book) A published book by Emily May and Jorge Arteaga that walks readers through the 5Ds of bystander intervention (Distract, Delegate, Document, Delay, Direct), with chapters on applying the framework in public, online, and workplace harassment contexts.
• 5Ds For Youth A youth-focused training program that teaches the 5Ds bystander intervention methodology to young people for use in schools and communities.
• Allies Solidarity Network A free nonprofit network connecting allies and supporters in the anti-harassment movement, providing grassroots engagement and peer community.
• Collaborative Campaigns Partnership-based anti-harassment campaigns co-developed and co-branded with corporate and nonprofit partners (most prominently L'Oréal Paris' "Stand Up Against Street Harassment") that enable scale and amplify impact.

Quantifiable outcome

• 98.8% of attendees leave training feeling they have at least one actionable response to witnessed harassment
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers2 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• L'Oréal PariscoreGTM or Marketing PartnerL'Oréal Paris co-sponsors the 'Stand Up Against Street Harassment' training program with Right To Be (formerly Hollaback!). This is a branded collaborative campaign where L'Oréal Paris provides support as a corporate partner, enabling free public bystander intervention training. The partnership appears on the Right To Be website with co-branding.
• NAACP Legal Defense FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe NAACP Legal Defense Fund participated in a joint training program with Right To Be and AAJC (Asian Americans Advancing Justice). President and Director-Council Sherrilyn Ifil expressed appreciation for the training, noting it provided real strategies for intervention and addressed fundamental human obligations to one another.
• Asian Americans Advancing Justice (AAJC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAAJC collaborated with Right To Be (formerly Hollaback!) and the NAACP Legal Defense Fund on anti-harassment training initiatives, focusing on bystander intervention strategies for communities targeted by hate and harassment.
• Expert Voices TogetherminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerExpert Voices Together is an initiative providing support for journalists and researchers facing online abuse. While separate in operation (expertvoicestogether.org), it is referenced as a Right To Be program serving a specialized audience experiencing online harassment.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• RAINN (Rape, Abuse & Incest National Network): Largest US anti-sexual-violence nonprofit, operating a national hotline and prevention education programs. Comparable to Right To Be in addressing harassment-related trauma and delivering prevention education, with substantially larger scale and institutional reach.
• NAVEX Global: Large enterprise ethics, risk, and compliance platform including harassment prevention and bystander training modules. Comparable to Right To Be in serving the same enterprise compliance buyer for harassment training, but as part of a much broader governance/risk/compliance suite.
• Anti-Defamation League (ADL): Large, established nonprofit fighting antisemitism and all forms of hate, with extensive education and training programs including workplace anti-bias training. Comparable to Right To Be in offering bystander and hate-prevention training to enterprises, but with much broader scope and scale.
• LRN Corporation: Provider of ethics and compliance training and advisory for global enterprises, including harassment prevention modules. Comparable to Right To Be in the enterprise anti-harassment training category, but bundled inside a much broader ethics-and-culture portfolio.
• Catalyst: Global nonprofit driving workplace inclusion and equity for women, with research, advisory, and training offerings. Comparable to Right To Be in the workplace harassment/D&I buyer segment, with a broader research-and-advisory positioning rather than bystander training specialization.

Direct peers

• Callisto: Nonprofit building a college-focused sexual assault reporting and matching platform, with educational programming. Comparable to Right To Be in combining a survivor-facing storytelling/reporting platform with prevention training for institutions.
• Vault Platform: SaaS workplace misconduct and harassment reporting/prevention platform sold to enterprises. Comparable to Right To Be's Private Training Experience in serving the same enterprise buyer addressing workplace harassment, but with a software-led delivery model.
• Traliant: Online compliance and harassment-prevention training provider for mid-market and enterprise customers. Directly comparable to Right To Be's Private Training Experience in delivering customizable anti-harassment courses to workplaces, but with a for-profit SaaS model.
• Stop Street Harassment: Nonprofit organization focused on documenting, addressing, and preventing street harassment. Highly comparable to Hollaback!/Right To Be's original mission on public-space harassment, with overlapping research and policy goals.

Emerging players

• GLAAD: Nonprofit LGBTQ+ advocacy organization with media programs and some training/education initiatives. Comparable to Right To Be in supporting targeted communities (e.g., Right To Be's bystander training to support LGBTQIA+ communities) but with an advocacy-led rather than training-led focus.

Market position

Strengths1 record

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks7 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@righttobeorg
• Facebookfacebook.com/ihollaback
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hollaback
• Instagraminstagram.com/righttobeorg
• TikToktiktok.com/@righttobe_org
• Xx.com/iHollaback

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Hollaback!