Respect Group
Calgary-based online training provider offering bilingual bullying, abuse, harassment, and discrimination prevention programs for sport organizations, schools, municipalities, and workplaces, with 2.1M+ individuals certified across 50,000+ organizations, now operating as Respect by Headversity following the March 2026 acquisition.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2004
- HeadquartersCalgary, Canada
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Respect Group does
Respect Group Inc. is a Calgary, Alberta-based provider of online interactive training programs focused on preventing bullying, abuse, harassment, and discrimination (BAHD) in sport, workplace, and school environments. Founded in 2004 by former NHL player Sheldon Kennedy and Wayne McNeil, the company has certified more than 2.1 million individuals across over 50,000 organizations. Its product suite includes Respect in Sport (with Activity Leaders, Parent, and Officials sub-programs), Respect in the Workplace (a 90-minute Bill C-65-compliant training), Respect in School, Keeping Girls in Sport, and Stay in the Game. The platform is bilingual (English/French), mobile-compatible across desktop, Android, and iOS, and features animated scenario-based content, custom branding for each client organization, certificate portability, and administrative dashboards for tracking and recertification.
The underlying technology is a conventional interactive e-learning platform with no API or SDK exposure, no AI/ML capabilities, and integrations limited to payment processing (PayPal) and sport-specific data feeds (Hockey Canada's myhockeyuniversity.com, Coaching Association of Canada's NCCP Locker, and e-Hockey). The business model is primarily B2B organizational licensing sold via annual subscriptions on a sales-led motion, supplemented by one-time individual certification fees. Programs are sold to employers, sport governing bodies, and school boards, often as mandated compliance training, with pricing not publicly disclosed.
In March 2026, Respect Group was acquired by Headversity, a mental health platform serving workplace, sport, and school environments. The acquisition repositions the company from compliance-based harm prevention to a broader psychological safety and culture-building mission, with the brand now operating as 'Respect by Headversity.' Headversity serves 2.8 million youth and adults across the combined platform, indicating meaningful scale at the parent level. Respect Group holds 11-50 employees and is privately held with no disclosed external funding rounds.
Respect Group firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Respect Group
- Legal name
- Respect Group Inc.
- Website
- https://respectgroupinc.com
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2004
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Calgary-based online training provider offering bilingual bullying, abuse, harassment, and discrimination prevention programs for sport organizations, schools, municipalities, and workplaces, with 2.1M+ individuals certified across 50,000+ organizations, now operating as Respect by Headversity following the March 2026 acquisition.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Respect Group industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Online Compliance Training
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Health, Safety & Compliance Training (CPR/First Aid, Safeguarding, Licensing) (EDACAIAH)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Behavioral & Social-Emotional Support (ABA, PBIS, Counseling) (EDAJAKAE)
Keywords
Where Respect Group is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Calgary
- HQ country
- Canada
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Respect Group business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations, Others
Revenue model
- Training Program Licensing: Organizations pay for access to Respect in Sport, Respect in the Workplace, Respect in School, and other programs. Programs are sold as annual licenses or per-certificate fees to organizations who mandate training for their staff, coaches, parents, and members.
- Individual Certification: Individuals pay for program certification, with support for multiple payment options. Certificates can be shared across organizations requiring the same program type.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Annual | Organizational licensing (B2B) |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Respect Group product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Respect Group provides interactive, online certification training programs that educate coaches, officials, parents, employees, school leaders, and sport participants to recognize, prevent, and respond to bullying, abuse, harassment, and discrimination (BAHD). Programs are sold to organizations (sport governing bodies, employers, schools, municipalities) who license the training for their staff, members, and stakeholders. The bilingual platform delivers content via animated scenarios, expert video clips, and interactive questions, with a 90-minute workplace edition, sport-specific editions, and a school-leader edition, each producing a portable certificate.
Product overview
Respect Group (now branded as Respect by Headversity) offers a suite of interactive, online training programs for harassment and abuse prevention across sport, workplace, and school environments. The core products include Respect in Sport (with Activity Leaders, Parent, and Officials sub-programs), Respect in the Workplace, Respect in School, Keeping Girls in Sport, and Stay in the Game. The company has certified over 2.1 million individuals and serves organizations through a bilingual platform with mobile compatibility (Desktop, Android, iPhone/iPad), animated scenario-based instructional design, and administrative tools for organizational tracking. Additional programs include Safe Places for child safety training. The portfolio is delivered via a fully outsourced risk management platform with custom branding capabilities, certificate portability across organizations, and integration with the NCCP Coaching Association of Canada for coach certification tracking.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Respect in Sport: Program educating youth leaders, coaches, officials and participants to recognize, understand and respond to issues of bullying, abuse, harassment and discrimination in sport environments
- Respect in the Workplace
- Respect in School
- Keeping Girls in Sport
- Stay in the Game
Products and services
- Respect in Sport Online interactive certification training that educates youth leaders, coaches, officials, and participants ages 14 and older to recognize, understand, and respond to bullying, abuse, harassment, and discrimination in sport. Sold to sport governing bodies, clubs, and minor hockey associations who mandate training for their members. Includes Activity Leaders, Parent, and Officials sub-programs.
- Respect in the Workplace A 90-minute online interactive training program that provides organizations with a cost-effective tool to empower teams with skills to prevent bullying, abuse, harassment, and discrimination. Updated to comply with and exceed Bill C-65 requirements. Sold to employers, municipalities, and corporations for deployment to all employees.
- Respect in School Online bullying, abuse, harassment, and discrimination prevention training tool developed for school leaders including teachers, administrators, educational assistants, counselors, custodians, and other staff who interact with students. Sold to school boards and individual schools.
- Keeping Girls in Sport Coach education program that helps coaches and youth leaders understand how girls develop physically, mentally, socially, and emotionally to keep them in sport. Built in partnership with Canadian Tire Jumpstart, the Coaching Association of Canada, and the Canadian Women & Sport.
- Stay in the Game Program that educates young athletes to understand and respond to issues of abuse in sport as well as the benefits of sport, finding their voice, building confidence, safety, and sportsmanship.
- Safe Places Program originating in Swift Current, Saskatchewan, advising that anyone in a position of power, trust, or supervision over a child should first be properly trained and vetted. Sold to organizations for child safety training.
Quantifiable outcome
- Athletes in leagues with longer Respect in Sport Parent Program implementation showed better prosocial behaviors toward teammates and improved antisocial behaviors toward opponents.
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Respect Group
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments5 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Respect Group technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Integration4 records
Feature5 records
Respect Group partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, flagship and minor.
- HeadversitycoreHeadversity acquired Respect Group, combining mental health platform expertise with Respect Group's safe sport and workplace training programs. Headversity is evolving the Respect in Sport programs to expand from harm prevention to building psychologically safe environments. Allison Forsyth was appointed as Chief Sport Officer to lead this new era.
- Premier Hockey Federation (PHF)flagshipMulti-year partnership making Respect in the Workplace mandatory for all Board of Governors, front office personnel, team staff, and players. Part of PHF's commitment to fostering healthy, respectful, safe, and inclusive environment.
- RealResponsecorePHF partnership announced alongside Respect Group - provides athletic organizations with real-time reporting and feedback tools for accountability and trust building with over 200,000 athletes reached.
- National Center for Safety Initiatives (NCSI)minorPHF partnership - NCSI provides background checks for all league and team staff, trusted provider that served 2022 Winter Olympics.
- Canadian Tire JumpstartflagshipJoint partnership to develop Keeping Girls in Sport program addressing high dropout rates of girls from sport during adolescence. Jumpstart provides funding and support for the program that helps coaches and youth leaders understand barriers to girls' continued participation.
- Coaching Association of Canada (CAC)flagshipCAC partnered on Keeping Girls in Sport program and provides NCCP certification integration allowing Respect in Sport certificates to sync to coaches' Locker profiles.
- Canadian Women & SportflagshipPartnered with Respect Group on Keeping Girls in Sport program to address systemic issues in female sport participation and create the next generation of female coaches and role models.
- University of AlbertaminorFaculty of Kinesiology, Sport & Recreation conducted evaluation research on Keeping Girls in Sport program, finding 99% participant satisfaction.
- Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH)minorCAMH conducted evaluation of 'Being Trauma-Aware: Making A Difference in the Lives of Children and Youth' online course developed by Respect Group.
- PREVNetminorPREVNet (Promoting Relationships and Eliminating Violence Network) conducted evidence-based research study on Respect in School program, funded by Ontario Ministry of Education.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Respect Group competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Vector Solutions (formerly SafeSchools): Vector Solutions offers K–12 staff compliance and safety training (bullying prevention, bloodborne pathogens, mandated reporter) to school districts across North America. Directly comparable to Respect in School as an online, audit-tracked training suite sold through district licensing.
- Traliant: Traliant delivers modern, mobile-first workplace harassment, discrimination and DEI training modules to HR and compliance buyers. Closely matches Respect in the Workplace's role/scenario-based approach and B2B sales motion to mid-market and enterprise employers.
- US Center for SafeSport: The U.S. Center for SafeSport mandates abuse prevention training across the US Olympic & Paralympic Movement and oversees SafeSport Code compliance. Directly analogous to Respect in Sport's role as the designated national safe-sport training provider, though a non-profit regulator rather than a commercial vendor.
- EVERFI (now part of Discovery Education): EVERFI provides K–12 and workforce social-impact courses on harassment, inclusion, mental wellness and digital citizenship, sold to school systems and employers. Overlaps with both Respect in School and Respect in the Workplace on content and buyer profile.
- NAVEX Global: NAVEX Global sells enterprise ethics, compliance and harassment-prevention training alongside whistleblower hotline and GRC software. Comparable to Respect Group on the workplace segment, though NAVEX serves a much larger enterprise buyer with a broader risk/compliance suite.
- Inspired eLearning (a Kemba company): Inspired eLearning provides security awareness, harassment prevention, and HIPAA/workplace compliance eLearning to SMB and enterprise HR buyers. Directly competes for the same B2B harassment-training wallet as Respect in the Workplace.
- Second Nature Learning / LRN Corporation: LRN provides ethics and compliance, code-of-conduct and harassment prevention eLearning to global enterprises. Competes head-to-head for the larger employer accounts in Respect Group's workplace vertical.
Broad incumbents
- Active Network / Community Brands (sports management): Active Network / Community Brands sells sport-organization management software (registration, scheduling, background screening) to clubs and governing bodies across North America. Adjacent to Respect in Sport because it owns the club-relationship channel through which Respect Group distributes, and could disintermediate by bundling safeguarding training.
Regional players
- Canadian Red Cross (First Aid & safety training): Canadian Red Cross runs online first-aid, CPR and emergency preparedness certification that schools, workplaces and sport clubs must complete. Operates the same Canada-only compliance-training category as Respect Group but with a different subject focus (physical first-aid vs. psychosocial safety).
Others
- Resolver (risk and compliance platform): Resolver provides enterprise GRC, incident management and case-management software that buyers often pair with harassment and violence prevention training vendors. Adjacent ecosystem player that influences procurement decisions adjacent to Respect in the Workplace deals.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Respect Group social profiles
Digital presenceRespect Group compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance4 records
Respect Group financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Respect Group leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles3 records
Respect Group funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Respect Group M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Respect Group
What does Respect Group do?
Respect Group provides interactive, online certification training programs that educate coaches, officials, parents, employees, school leaders, and sport participants to recognize, prevent, and respond to bullying, abuse, harassment, and discrimination (BAHD). Programs are sold to organizations (sport governing bodies, employers, schools, municipalities) who license the training for their staff, members, and stakeholders. The bilingual platform delivers content via animated scenarios, expert video clips, and interactive questions, with a 90-minute workplace edition, sport-specific editions, and a school-leader edition, each producing a portable certificate.
Is Respect Group a public or private company?
Respect Group is a private company. It is classified as corporate owned and is currently operating.
When was Respect Group founded?
Respect Group was founded in 2004. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Respect Group based?
Respect Group is headquartered in Calgary, Canada, in the North America region.
How does Respect Group make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Training Program Licensing is the primary driver. The others are individual Certification.
Who are Respect Group's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Vector Solutions (formerly SafeSchools), Traliant, US Center for SafeSport, EVERFI (now part of Discovery Education), NAVEX Global, Inspired eLearning (a Kemba company) and Second Nature Learning / LRN Corporation. Active Network / Community Brands (sports management) is listed as a broad incumbent. Canadian Red Cross (First Aid & safety training) is listed as a regional player. Resolver (risk and compliance platform) is listed as an others.
Does Respect Group have an API?
No public API is recorded for Respect Group.
What industry is Respect Group in?
Respect Group's product category is Online Compliance Training. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDACAIAH, Health, Safety & Compliance Training (CPR/First Aid, Safeguarding, Licensing), with a secondary code of EDAJAKAE, Behavioral & Social-Emotional Support (ABA, PBIS, Counseling). Its NAICS code is 611710 and its SIC code is 8200.