Life Vest Inside

What Life Vest Inside does

Life Vest Inside is a US 501(c)(3) public charity founded in 2010 by Orly Wahba and headquartered in Brooklyn, NY. The organization operates a multifaceted kindness platform built around media content, educational programs, and community-driven events. Its foundational asset is the Kindness Boomerang film, which reached 100M+ people globally and established the brand; supporting products include the K-5 Kindness Curriculum (a Social Emotional Learning curriculum aligned with Common Core State Standards and Bloom's Taxonomy), the annual WorldWide Dance for Kindness flash mob event, Project Hope Exchange (a digital audio database of hope messages), the Daily Kind newsletter, and an e-commerce store selling physical merchandise (books, cards, stickers, posters, apparel). The organization serves K-5 schools, educators, individual consumers, and youth through grassroots volunteer-led activities in 30+ locations across 15+ countries.

The business model combines donations (with the stated commitment that 100% of donations go directly to operations), e-commerce merchandise sales (books at $14.99, cards at $15, posters at $40, group leader packages at $80), and tiered curriculum licensing to schools ($120-$1,890 based on organization size). The team is small at 14 employees, and the organization is led by Founder/CEO Orly Wahba, Executive Director Tory Dube, and Director of Education Lydia Criss Mays. Go-to-market is event-driven (flash mobs, viral video), community-led (volunteer ambassadors), and direct-to-consumer (e-commerce). Distribution channels include the lifevestinside.com storefront, online donation platform, direct school sales, and a volunteer network across multiple continents.

The organization is registered as an independent non-profit with EIN 27-3828685, with no parent company, private equity backing, or institutional investors identified. Strategic partnerships include the Singapore Kindness Movement, Art of Living Foundation, KIND Snacks, American Eagle Outfitters, and various 'Kindness Partners' (Getting to Better, Advance Humanity, See Beautiful). The organization has earned media coverage on TED, Today Show, NBC, CBS, and Adweek, and operates active social media channels on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram.

Name

Life Vest Inside

Legal name

Life Vest Inside

Website

https://lifevestinside.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Life Vest Inside is a Brooklyn-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that produces kindness education media, K-5 SEL curriculum, and global flash mob events, serving schools, educators, and individual supporters through donations, merchandise sales, and curriculum licensing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Emotional Learning / Nonprofit Education

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (6117)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) & Emotional Regulation Programs (EDAMAIAC)

Keywords

• Social emotional learning
• Kindness education
• SEL curriculum K-5
• Character education programs
• Nonprofit kindness initiatives

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: Grassroots non-profit funding model where 100% of donations go directly to Life Vest Inside operations and kindness initiatives. Monthly giving options available for recurring support.
2. Product Sales: E-commerce sales of kindness merchandise including books, kindness cards, stickers, apparel, flags, and pins. Net proceeds from the Kindness Boomerang book fund the organization's kindness initiatives.
3. Educational Curriculum Licensing: Sale of LVI Kindness Curriculum to schools and educational institutions with tiered pricing based on organizational size. Includes units for K-5 grades with six lessons per unit.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Life Vest Inside is a non-profit organization that inspires, empowers, and educates people of all backgrounds to lead a life of kindness through viral film content, global community events, social emotional learning curriculum for K-5 schools, and physical/digital kindness resources. Its commercial offerings include the Kindness Boomerang book, Act of Kindness cards, stickers, posters, apparel, and a standards-aligned SEL curriculum licensed to schools at $120–$1,890.

Product overview

Life Vest Inside is a non-profit organization operating as a unified kindness platform with multiple interconnected offerings. The core products include the viral Kindness Boomerang film (the foundational piece that reached 100+ million globally), paired with the annual Dance for Kindness worldwide FlashMob event. Educational offerings center on the LVI Kindness Curriculum for grades K-5, priced from $120-$1,890. The Project Hope Exchange provides a digital database of anonymous audio hope messages. Subscribers engage through The Daily Kind (daily newsletter) and Kindness Flash (monthly newsletter). The store offers physical merchandise including the 365-day Kindness Boomerang book ($14.99), Act of Kindness Cards decks ($15-$120), stickers, posters ($40), apparel, and event supplies like the DFK Flag ($50) and Group Leader Combo ($80). All products and programs share the unified mission of inspiring, empowering and educating people to lead a life of kindness.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Dance for Kindness: WorldWide FlashMob event during which groups from all across the globe unite under the banner of kindness, held annually in celebration of World Kindness Day.
• Project Hope Exchange
• The Daily Kind
• Kindness Boomerang
• Act of Kindness (AOK) Cards

Products and services

• LVI Kindness Curriculum A unique SEL (Social Emotional Learning) curriculum designed to implement themes of kindness, compassion and empathy directly into existing school curricula for grades K-5. Each unit includes six lessons building upon each other, aligned with Common Core State Standards and Bloom's Taxonomy. Priced from $120 to $1,890 based on school/organization size.
• Kindness Boomerang Book A lesson-a-day book titled 'How to Save the World (and Yourself) Through 365 Daily Acts' providing tangible steps to incorporate kindness into daily life. 100% of net proceeds fund Life Vest Inside's kindness initiatives. Price: $14.99 per copy.
• Act of Kindness (AOK) Cards Physical cards featuring acts of kindness prompts and inspiration. Available in Regular deck ($15.00), Kids version, and Deluxe bundle. Designed to encourage spontaneous acts of kindness in everyday life.
• Catching Kindness Cards Cards designed to help children catch and record acts of kindness they witness or perform. Educational engagement tool for promoting kindness reflection.
• Kindness Stickers Various stickers including 'Be Kind', 'Everyone Deserves a Little Kindness', 'Opportunities for Kindness Are All Around You', 'Kindness is the Answer', and 'Kindness Was Here'. Price: $1.00 each.
• Kindness Posters Decorative posters featuring kindness messages and artwork. Designed for schools, homes, and organizations. Price: $40.00.
• LVI Pin Life Vest Inside branded lapel pin worn by kindness advocates and ambassadors. Price: $5.00.
• Kindness Boomerang Hat Branded apparel item featuring the Kindness Boomerang branding.
• DFK Flag Dance for Kindness event flag for group leaders and participants. Price: $50.00.
• Group Leader Combo Package of materials for Dance for Kindness group leaders including organizational supplies. Price: $80.00.
• The Daily Kind Newsletter A free daily newsletter providing a 60-second kindness boost to subscribers, delivering kindness content and inspiration daily.
• Kindness Flash Newsletter A monthly newsletter focused on specific themes such as altruism, providing curated kindness content and inspiration.
• Kindness Talks Speaker request service allowing organizations to book kindness advocates to speak at events and gatherings.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 100 million people reached globally through Kindness Boomerang viral film
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered minor and core.

• American Eagle OutfittersminorGTM or Marketing PartnerAmerican Eagle Outfitters donated their Times Square billboards for the length of the WorldWide Dance for Kindness performance, providing prominent visibility for the kindness message in NYC.
• Times Square AllianceminorGTM or Marketing PartnerCollaborated with Times Square Alliance for the Dance for Kindness flash mob event in Times Square, NYC.
• KIND SnacksminorGTM or Marketing PartnerKIND Snacks provided sponsorship support for the NYC Dance for Kindness event, contributing to event logistics and participant engagement.
• Singapore Kindness MovementcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSingapore Kindness Movement partnered with Life Vest Inside for the WorldWide Dance for Kindness event, with 40 dancers aged 15-65 participating. Michelle Tay coordinated the Singapore chapter, representing a key international kindness organization.
• DeScribecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAustralian singer-songwriter DeScribe collaborated on the 'We R 1' single that debuted globally during the WorldWide Dance for Kindness event. His music accompanied the Kindness Freezemob, with thousands performing to his track across 30 cities.
• Art of Living FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPowered by Sri Sri Ravi Shankar's Art of Living Foundation, the 'Non-Violence: No Higher Calling' initiative challenged individuals to commit to acts of non-violence, with Life Vest Inside supporting the campaign's digital and social efforts.
• Phoenix Project NYCminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPhoenix Project NYC's therapeutic theater collective 'Let the Phoenix Rise' was the recipient of proceeds from the Road to Peace documentary premiere event co-hosted by Life Vest Inside.
• Getting to BettercoreGTM or Marketing PartnerStephen De Groot's Getting to Better organization is a Kindness Partner supporting Life Vest Inside. Coordinated '10 Second Act of Kindness' campaign and provided board member support for fundraising and awareness efforts.
• Advance HumanitycoreGTM or Marketing PartnerAdvance Humanity, founded by Travis Hellstrom, is a Kindness Partner providing content contributions including 'The Unofficial Peace Corps Volunteer Handbook' and support for kindness initiatives.
• See BeautifulminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSee Beautiful collaborated on the '10 Second Effort for a Kinder World' campaign, contributing products including bottles, tags, and bracelets to appreciation gift packages.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Random Acts of Kindness Foundation: Random Acts of Kindness Foundation is a non-profit that produces K-12 kindness lesson plans, Kindness in the Classroom curriculum, and school challenges. It is the closest direct peer to LVI in terms of mission, K-5 audience, and non-profit structure.
• Committee for Children (Second Step): Committee for Children publishes Second Step, the most widely adopted SEL curriculum in U.S. K-8 schools. Like Life Vest Inside, it sells standards-aligned SEL lessons to schools and districts, but at significantly larger scale and with deeper research backing.
• Choose Love Movement: Choose Love Movement is a non-profit offering no-cost SEL curricula to schools nationwide. It competes head-to-head with LVI for kindness/character education curriculum adoption and has strong Scarlett Lewis-led brand awareness.
• MindUP (Goldie Hawn Foundation): MindUP is a K-12 mindfulness and SEL curriculum distributed by the Goldie Hawn Foundation. It targets the same school buyer and SEL budget category as LVI's Kindness Curriculum, with a stronger neuroscience branding.
• Kids for Peace (The Great Kindness Challenge): Kids for Peace runs the Great Kindness Challenge, a school-based kindness program active in thousands of schools worldwide. It overlaps directly with LVI's Dance for Kindness and K-5 SEL curriculum positioning.
• Sanford Harmony: Sanford Harmony is a no-cost SEL program for K-6 classrooms. It competes with LVI for the same K-5 kindness/character education budget at schools and districts, but is funded by the Sanford Weill philanthropic umbrella rather than donations.

Broad incumbents

• Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence (RULER): RULER is an evidence-based SEL approach created at the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence. It competes with LVI in the school SEL category and benefits from academic credibility and broad institutional partnerships.
• Nearpod: Nearpod is a K-12 instructional platform with a content marketplace that includes SEL and character education resources. It is an indirect competitor to LVI as it can distribute third-party kindness/SEL content alongside core instruction.
• EVERFI: EVERFI provides digital K-12 character education and SEL curricula, often funded by corporate sponsors. It competes with LVI in the SEL curriculum category but operates as a much larger ed-tech incumbent with broader subject coverage.

Others

• Panorama Education: Panorama Education is a K-12 data and SEL platform widely used by districts to measure social-emotional competencies. It is adjacent to LVI because districts using Panorama's SEL surveys are the same buyers LVI targets for curriculum.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/lifevestinside
• Facebookfacebook.com/lifevestinside
• Instagraminstagram.com/lifevestinside
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/life-vest-inside

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles3 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 Life Vest Inside