Be Strong Families

What Be Strong Families does

Be Strong Families, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2012 and domiciled in Illinois that develops and disseminates the Parent Café model—a structured, peer-led conversation methodology built on the Strengthening Families Protective Factors framework (parental resilience, social connections, concrete support, knowledge of parenting and child development, and social/emotional competence of children). The organization's core "product" is a library of proprietary conversation card decks branded as "Café in a Box," offered in two flagship editions (Parent Café and Journey to Vitality) and a growing range of specialized decks addressing fathers, parents of teens, LGBTQIA+ families, addiction recovery, elders, youth, disabilities, grief, and civic values, alongside localized versions in French, Chinese, and Swahili. BSF monetizes through three streams: (1) direct e-commerce sales of decks, books, games, affirmation cards, and merchandise priced $20-$38; (2) BSF Institute training services delivered online via Zoom and in-person, having trained 12,000+ individuals worldwide; and (3) custom Café deck development at $26-32K under Work for Hire or $16K + revenue-share Collaboration models. Distribution runs through the organization's own website and a Certified Training Partner network that has scaled to 146 partner organizations across the United States and internationally, including partners in Wales (first international affiliate, 2025), Australia, Canada, Kenya, Guam, and the UK.

The company serves a diverse institutional customer base spanning early childhood organizations, child welfare agencies, K-12 school districts, healthcare systems (Elevance Health, University of Rochester Medical Center), government agencies (NJ Family Success Centers, DC Child Welfare Training Academy), and nonprofits. It claims reach to 400,000+ families annually, supported by six independent evaluations covering 32,000+ participants. Customer logos indicate strong adoption in child welfare prevention (NJ state-wide, DC academy), school districts (Skokie 69, U-46 in Illinois), and healthcare (Elevance, Golisano). Its go-to-market is community-led rather than sales-led: growth occurs through partnership expansion and trainer certification cascades rather than direct enterprise sales, with content marketing via two LinkedIn newsletters, blog content, webinars, and the annual Evanston Family Fun Fest (850+ attendees in 2025). Revenue and headcount are not publicly disclosed.

Name

Be Strong Families

Legal name

Be Strong Families, Inc.

Website

https://bestrongfamilies.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2012

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Be Strong Families is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that develops the Parent Café peer-led conversation methodology, proprietary conversation card decks, training services, and custom program design for child welfare agencies, school districts, healthcare systems, and family-serving nonprofits across the U.S. and internationally.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Family Support Services

SIC

Retail-Hobby, Toy & Game Shops (5945), Services-Amusement & Recreation Services (7900)

akta.pro primary industry

Party Games & Family Entertainment Games Retail (CRALAFAJ)

akta.pro secondary industry

Family/Party Board Games Retail (CRALALAB)

Keywords

• Family support services
• Peer-led conversation programs
• Conversation card decks
• Professional development training
• Protective factors framework

Headquarters

HQ city

Evanston

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, Technology or R&D, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: BSF sells physical and digital products including conversation card decks (Parent Café in a Box, specialized decks), books, affirmation cards, games (QUESTIONABLE), posters, magnets, mugs, and t-shirts. Products are sold through the organization's e-commerce website with standard shipping within the US.
2. Training Services: BSF offers online and in-person training through the BSF Institute, including live workshops, pre-recorded courses, and downloadable training materials. Training registration requires payment at least two weeks prior to the training start date.
3. Custom Café Deck Development: BSF creates customized Café In A Box decks for partner organizations through Work for Hire ($26-32K) or Collaboration ($16K + $16K split) arrangements. This includes content development, design, production, and printing of customized conversation card decks.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Be Strong Families designs, produces, and distributes the Parent Café program—a structured, peer-led conversation model grounded in the Strengthening Families Protective Factors framework. It sells proprietary bilingual conversation card decks (Parent Café in a Box, Journey to Vitality Café in a Box, and population-specific variants), the QUESTIONABLE conversation game, supportive materials (affirmation cards, playbook, posters, magnets), and branded merchandise via e-commerce. It also delivers paid professional development training through the BSF Institute (live online, in-person, and on-demand) and offers custom Café In A Box deck development services to partner organizations.

Product overview

Be Strong Families operates a multi-product platform centered on structured peer-led conversation programs called 'Cafés.' The core offerings include the Parent Café in a Box and Journey to Vitality Café in a Box conversation card decks, supplemented by specialized decks for specific populations (Dads, Parents of Teens, LGBTQIA+ support, addiction recovery, elders, youth). Additional products include the QUESTIONABLE conversation game, affirmation cards, playbooks, posters, magnets, and branded merchandise (mugs, t-shirts). The company offers professional development services through BSF Institute (live online workshops, on-demand trainings), custom Café deck development, and community events. All products are grounded in the Strengthening Families Protective Factors framework and the Vitality Domains model for holistic family well-being.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Parent Cafés: Structured, peer-led conversation gatherings designed to strengthen families using the Protective Factors Framework
• Vitality Cafés
• Café in a Box
• BSF Institute
• Youth Advisory Board
• Community Violence Prevention

Products and services

• Parent Café in a Box (Updated and Expanded) Flagship bilingual conversation card deck with 325 questions across 96 cards focusing on the five Protective Factors, including updated EDI content on LGBTQIA+ inclusion and racial equity. Designed for facilitators and organizations hosting Parent Cafés.
• Journey to Vitality Café in a Box

Quantifiable outcome

• 400,000 families reached annually through Parent Cafés
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments7 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

16 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Parent Advocacy Network (PAN) WalescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2025Parent advocacy network (PAN) in Wales becomes BSF's first international affiliate—and a model for what peer support can look like worldwide. This represents BSF's first international expansion of the affiliate model.
• University of Rochester Medical Center (Golisano Children's Hospital)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2024BSF trained a team from the University of Rochester Medical Center to host Parent Cafés in February 2024. Researchers led by Dr. Nathaniel D. Bayer are studying the efficacy of Parent Cafés as support groups for parents of children with medical complexities, using a peer-to-peer model with trained Café hosts and parents of children with medical complexity as participants.
• New Jersey Family Success CenterscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2022New Jersey is a national leader in child welfare prevention with 59 county-based Family Success Centers. Since 2022, BSF has partnered to embed Parent Cafés across the network. In 2024, partnership expanded significantly with BSF training and certifying 16 New Jersey-based trainers to ensure Cafés continue to grow and thrive in local communities.
• Early Childhood Innovation Network (ECIN)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021ECIN began working with BSF in 2021, bringing Parent Cafés into their service continuum as a way to deepen family engagement. By end of 2021, ECIN completed BSF's Training of Trainers process and became a Certified Trainer Partner—independently evaluating the model as part of their ongoing commitment.
• Elevance HealthcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Since 2020, BSF has partnered with Elevance Health—one of the nation's largest health insurance providers—to strengthen their workforce and support their communities. First engagement was training of trainers on the BSF Vicarious Trauma, Vicarious Resilience curriculum. Elevance is now a Café Certified Training Partner.
• Child Welfare Training Academy in Washington, D.C.coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2015Partnership began in 2015 by organizing a Child Welfare Practice Innovation Conference. Since 2017, BSF has trained D.C.'s Child Welfare Training Academy using multiple curricula covering topics such as shared parenting, parent engagement, trauma stewardship, communicating with kinship families, and building collaborative relationships between parents and caregivers.
• Vision for Children at Risk (VCR)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2013Long-time Parent, Vitality, and Community Café hosts. Most recent Café addition is #WowTalk Cafés for youth. BSF trained young adults and helped shape the new Youth Advisory Council. VCR was instrumental in building a culture of parent leadership statewide in Missouri.
• Center for Schools and CommunitiescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCertified Training Partner that provides Parent Café training in their region. Listed among Certified Training Agencies & Partners on BSF website.
• Community Partnership of the OzarkscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCertified Training Partner providing Parent Café training. Listed among Certified Training Agencies & Partners on BSF website.
• Darlington County First Steps (South Carolina)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartners with BSF to connect parents in rural Darlington County to the gun safety program. Focus on parents involved in early childhood programs, including young parents, with emphasis on reducing violence in the home. In 2024, seventeen parents participated in the Café series and Healthy Living initiative.
• Gender SpectrumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with BSF and Family Builders to create 'Home Is Where The Heart Is' Parent Café In A Box deck for parents of LGBTQIA+ children. Design team includes parents with lived experience supporting children's gender and sexual orientation journey.
• Family BuilderscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborated with BSF and Gender Spectrum to create SOGIE-focused Parent Café deck. Contributed both professional expertise and lived experience to the design process.
• Greater Tilton Family Resource Center (New Hampshire)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-created 'Recovering Together Café in a Box' deck with BSF and NET for people struggling with addiction and their families.
• NET (NorthEast Treatment Centers) PhiladelphiaminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-created 'Recovering Together Café in a Box' deck with BSF and Greater Tilton Family Resource Center for addiction recovery support.
• Zero to ThriveminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with BSF to create 'Strong Roots Parent Café In A Box' deck.
• Tilton Family Resource CenterminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with BSF and NET to create 'Recovering Together Journey to Vitality Café In A Box' deck for addiction recovery support.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Center for the Study of Social Policy (Strengthening Families): Originator of the Strengthening Families Protective Factors Framework that BSF's Parent Café model is built upon. Operates in the same family-strengthening, child-abuse-prevention space and trains similar provider audiences (states, agencies, community organizations).
• Parents as Teachers: National parent-engagement and early-childhood home-visiting organization serving families with young children. Comparable in audience (parents of young children), methodology (evidence-based family support), and institutional customers (states, school districts, health systems).
• Vroom: Early-childhood brain-development organization that translates research into parent-facing tools and tip sets. Comparable in delivering evidence-based content to parents of young children through partnerships with community organizations and funders.
• ParentPowered (Ready4K): Family-engagement platform delivering research-based text and digital content to families, frequently deployed through school districts, Head Start, and state agencies. Directly comparable in audience (parents), distribution model (institutional partnerships), and educational content approach.

Broad incumbents

• Search Institute: Long-established research and applied organization behind the Developmental Assets framework for youth and family development. Comparable as a research-anchored family/youth strengthening methodology provider, though broader in scope than BSF.
• Zero to Three: Leading national early-childhood organization producing research, training, and resources for parents and practitioners of infants and toddlers. Comparable in audience, evidence-based framing, and training-for-practitioners delivery model.
• Child Trends: Major nonprofit research organization focused on improving the lives of children and youth. Comparable as a research-driven, family-systems-oriented nonprofit serving similar institutional customers and producing evaluation evidence.
• National PTA: Largest volunteer parent-engagement organization in the US, working through school district and state affiliates. Comparable as a parent-engagement convener working with school districts and educators, though operating as a membership/volunteer model rather than BSF's methodology/training model.

Emerging players

• Bright by Text: Text-message-based parent engagement program delivering child-development tips and resources through community partnerships. Overlaps with BSF's family-strengthening content mission and serves similar institutional buyers (school districts, health systems, nonprofits) via channel partnerships.

Regional players

• Family Connection of South Carolina: South Carolina-based family-support organization implementing parent-engagement programs including Parent Cafés (the same BSF model) statewide. Directly comparable in methodology and target audiences, but operating as a regional family-services intermediary rather than the methodology's national steward.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/be-strong-families
• Xx.com/BStrongFamilies
• Facebookfacebook.com/BeStrongFamilies

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 Be Strong Families