SafeTeen - Alternatives to Violence

What SafeTeen - Alternatives to Violence does

SafeTeen - Alternatives to Violence is a Vancouver, BC-based private nonprofit organization founded in 1976 by Anita Roberts, delivering violence prevention education programs to youth across British Columbia and internationally. Its core offering is a proprietary "Safeteen Youth Assertiveness Model" — a skill-based curriculum delivered through experiential workshops (role-plays, dialogue, demonstration) segmented by gender and age: Elementary (Grades 6-7), Secondary Levels 1 & 2 (Grades 8-12), Post-Secondary ("SAFE CAMPUS R/EVOLUTION"), Corporate workplace programs, and individual/family coaching. The organization also generates revenue through Professional Development training for educators (3-day certification programs at $4,050 in-town), parent presentations, keynote speaking, and ancillary book/music product sales (CA$23 book in English/Japanese/Chinese; CA$0.99–CA$10 Body Song).

The business model is fee-for-service workshop delivery, priced per session (e.g., $475 + GST for in-town Secondary Level 1; $1,350 for in-town Pro-D full day; $500 corporate presentations), with a District Pricing Program offering 5% discounts and monthly invoicing for district-wide contracts. A donation portal supplements fee revenue. Go-to-market is direct sales-led: schools and districts call a toll-free number or email [email protected] to book workshops; relationships are relationship-based and long-tenured (Vancouver School Board since 1983, JIBC since 1998, BCTF since 2001). Distribution is on-site facilitator delivery (in-person since September 2021) plus newly added Live Zoom formats for small-group workshops and parent presentations.

The organization employs approximately 19 people including highly trained "Agents for Change" facilitators, reaches up to 25,000 youth per year across 5 continents, and has been validated by 2014 UBC research (Dr. Shelley Hymel) and recognized with multiple awards including the 2011 Soroptimist Ruby Award. It holds no disclosed technology assets beyond a Squarespace-based website, blog, and online store — the core intellectual property is the trademarked curriculum and trained facilitator network rather than software.

Name

SafeTeen - Alternatives to Violence

Legal name

SafeTeen - Alternatives to Violence

Website

https://safeteen.ca

Company type

Private

Founded year

1976

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

SafeTeen is a Vancouver-based nonprofit delivering violence prevention and assertiveness workshops to K-12, post-secondary, corporate, and individual clients through a proprietary experiential curriculum and trained facilitator network, generating fee revenue from on-site and Zoom workshop delivery supplemented by donations and product sales.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Violence Prevention Education and Training Services

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Child and Youth Services (624110)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Justice, At-Risk Youth & Violence Prevention Nonprofits (BPAGADAM)

akta.pro secondary industries

Wraparound Student Support & Case Management Services (At-Risk K–12) (EDAJAEAJ), Trauma-Informed & Resilience-Building Programs (Early Childhood) (EDACAOAD)

Keywords

• Violence prevention training
• Youth empowerment education
• Assertiveness skills workshops
• School safety programs
• Gender violence prevention

Headquarters

HQ city

Vancouver

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Workshop Fees: Primary revenue from delivering violence prevention workshops to schools and districts. Pricing varies by program level, location (in-town vs out-of-town), and booking type (district-wide vs individual school).
2. Book and Resource Sales: Sale of Safeteen books (English, Japanese, Chinese translations at CA$23.00) and The Body Song digital download (CA$0.99) and CD (CA$10.00).
3. Professional Development Training: Training programs for educators and professionals including half-day, full-day, large group presentations, and 3-day professional development certification programs.
4. Individual Coaching Sessions: One-on-one personal empowerment sessions for adults and youth delivered in-person or via Skype/telephone.
5. Corporate Programs: Workplace violence prevention and harassment training for corporate clients including large presentations and gender-specific workshops.
6. Donations: Donations accepted through secure online portal (Squarespace commerce) to support building capacity to continue providing empowerment and safety skills through schools and communities.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

SafeTeen delivers facilitator-led, gender-specific violence prevention and assertiveness workshops to schools, school districts, post-secondary institutions, corporations, parents, and individuals based on its proprietary Safeteen Youth Assertiveness Model. Programs use experiential exercises, role-plays, and dialogue to teach concrete skills for preventing verbal, emotional, and physical violence, with supplementary revenue from a published book and The Body Song music products.

Product overview

SafeTeen - Alternatives to Violence is a violence prevention education organization offering a comprehensive suite of workshop programs across multiple delivery channels. The portfolio includes age-segmented programs (Elementary/Preteen for Grades 6-7, Secondary Level 1 & 2 for Grades 8-12, and Post-Secondary), professional development training for educators and youth workers, corporate workplace violence prevention, and private individual/family sessions. The core offering centers on experiential workshops utilizing role-plays, dialogue, and exercises to teach assertiveness skills, boundary setting, and alternatives to violence. Supporting products include the Safeteen book (available in English, Japanese, and Chinese translations) and The Body Song for children. Programs are delivered both in-person and via Zoom, with a District Pricing Program offering volume discounts for school districts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Elementary Program Violence prevention and safety empowerment workshop for pre-teens in Grades 6-7, teaching strategies to deal with verbal, emotional, sexual violence and physical threats through a dynamic and experiential teaching style.
• Secondary Program - Level 1 Violence prevention assertiveness workshop for Grades 8-12 covering social and emotional survival issues such as bullying, body image, and gender stereotypes through experiential exercises, role-plays, and dialogue.
• Secondary Program - Level 2 Advanced workshop building on Level 1 with specific focus on healthy sexual boundaries, consent, rape culture, and pornography impacts; Level 1 is a pre-requisite.
• Post-Secondary Program SAFE CAMPUS R/EVOLUTION initiative providing workshops for university and college students on gender violence prevention, assertiveness skills, and campus safety.
• Corporate Program Violence prevention training for businesses combining a Phase 1 large gender-blended presentation and a Phase 2 gender-specific workshop addressing workplace harassment prevention and healthy professional boundaries.
• Professional Development Training Training programs for educators, mental health professionals, law enforcement, youth workers, counselors, and parents on violence prevention facilitation, available as Half-Day, Full-Day, Large Group Presentation, or 3-Day certification.
• Parent Presentations Navigating Adolescence presentation equipping parents with assertiveness, refusal skills, and violence prevention strategies to pass on to their children.
• POWERyouth Workshops Workshop for youth ages 8-13 covering boundaries, bullying, body image, media influences, self-defense, and consent through theatre games, movement, creative writing, and drawing.
• Parent-Child Sessions Shared empowerment experience for parents and children aged 8-16, providing a common language and skill set to practice together and integrating the Safeteen model into family culture.
• Individual Sessions Personal empowerment coaching for adults and youth covering assertiveness, leadership, safety skills, and self-esteem, available in-person or via Skype/telephone.
• Keynote Presentations Conference keynotes on violence prevention topics such as Power Dynamics, Navigating Adolescence, Self-Care for Caregivers, Cultivating Core-Strength, and Global Snapshot on Violence Against Women.
• Safeteen: Powerful Alternatives to Violence (Book) Comprehensive book by Anita Roberts covering relationship building, boundaries, bullying, harassment prevention, and safety choices; available in English, Japanese, and Chinese translations.

Quantifiable outcome

• 2014 UBC Research: 'This single, 2.5 hour program did significantly impact students' behaviours and beliefs.' Participants proposed more assertive and less submissive responses to challenging situations following participation.

Named customers19 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• University of British Columbia (UBC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership for research validation of Safeteen program efficacy. Dr. Shelley Hymel from UBC Faculty of Education conducted research study on program impact. UBC recognizes Safeteen as 4.5-star best practices SEL resource. Collaborative relationship includes Vancouver School Board and Justice Institute of BC.
• British Columbia Teachers' Federation (BCTF)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing partnership since January 2001. BCTF promotes safe schools and violence prevention initiatives for youth as a leadership priority. Federation joined in partnership with Safeteen to further this aim.
• Justice Institute of British Columbia (JIBC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSince 1998, JIBC has offered Safeteen courses as integral part of Working with Children and Youth programming. Innovative courses created and instructed by Safeteen founder Anita Roberts offer practical skills for working with today's youth.
• Family Services of BCminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner organization supporting family and community wellness programs.
• Women Against Violence Against Women (WAVAW)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerBC-based organization working to end violence against women. Partner in violence prevention efforts.
• Power of HopeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth empowerment organization aligned with Safeteen's mission.
• Soroptimist VancouverminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerWomen's organization that awarded founder Anita Roberts the 2011 Soroptimist Ruby Award for Helping Girls and Women.
• Coquitlam School DistrictcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDistrict-level supporter providing violence prevention programming to students across the district.
• Richmond School DistrictcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDistrict-level supporter providing violence prevention programming to students.
• Surrey School DistrictcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorLarge BC school district partner for Safeteen programming.
• Delta School DistrictcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDistrict partner with long-standing support for Safeteen programs.
• West Vancouver School DistrictcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorDistrict partner providing violence prevention education.
• St. James-Assiniboia School DivisioncoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorManitoba school division partner supporting Safeteen delivery.
• Vancouver School BoardcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOriginal institutional partner who endorsed the Safeteen Program in 1983, enabling school-based delivery.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• RAD Systems (Rape Aggression Defense): RAD provides self-defense and personal empowerment programs for women, teens, and children. Direct overlap with Safeteen's female-identified assertiveness/self-protection curriculum and workshop-based delivery.
• Kidpower Teenpower Fullpower Service: Kidpower teaches people of all ages and abilities practical skills for safety, assertiveness, and violence prevention. Closest direct peer — comparable age-targeted workshops, similar experiential teaching style, and focus on empowerment over fighting back.
• Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) / Center for Sport Leadership at Boston University: MVP is a widely adopted gender-based violence prevention program originally developed for college athletics and now used in K-12 and workplaces. Comparable mission, peer-leadership model, and bystander/assertiveness framework.

Emerging players

• Erika's Lighthouse: Erika's Lighthouse delivers school-based mental health and SEL programming for adolescents, including depression awareness and emotional regulation. Adjacent K-12 SEL/empowerment space but focuses on mental health rather than violence prevention.
• Expect Respect / SAFE (Center for Child Protection): Expect Respect is a school-based violence prevention program for teens addressing sexual harassment, dating violence, and bullying. Comparable K-12 focus, comparable prevention/assertiveness orientation, smaller regional footprint.
• Right to Be (formerly Hollaback!): Right to Be provides bystander intervention and anti-harassment training for workplaces, schools, and communities. Comparable workplace and school training focus, but with more recent, less field-validated curriculum than Safeteen.
• PACER's National Bullying Prevention Center: PACER provides bullying prevention curricula, resources, and training for K-12 schools. Overlaps with Safeteen's bullying and verbal violence content but operates as a resource/curriculum publisher rather than a workshop-delivery organization.
• Kelso's Choice / Kelso's Curriculum: Kelso's Choice teaches elementary-age children conflict resolution and problem-solving skills. Niche overlap with Safeteen's elementary program on bullying/conflict topics, but smaller scope and different delivery format.

Broad incumbents

• Committee for Children (Second Step): Second Step is the dominant K-8 SEL curriculum in North American schools, covering bullying, empathy, and emotional regulation. Larger organization operating broadly in the same SEL/empowerment space as Safeteen's elementary and secondary programs.
• YWCA (Vancouver / National): YWCA delivers violence prevention, sexual assault response, and women's empowerment programs across a broader portfolio. Directly comparable mission and target population, with overlap on the WAVAW-style anti-violence work in BC.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/safeteenca

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 SafeTeen - Alternatives to Violence