Room To Breathe Project (r2b)

What Room To Breathe Project (r2b) does

Room To Breathe Project (R2B) is a 501(c)3 private foundation founded in 2015 by Jen Hamilton in San Francisco, with a mission to grow the mental health and well-being of young people in the city. The organization operates on a distinctive thesis that adult well-being drives youth outcomes, and channels philanthropic capital into a portfolio of programs and nonprofit partnerships rather than operating as a service provider or technology vendor. Its flagship initiative, Room to Be Well (R2BeWell), delivers well-being stipends and programming to educators at 16 San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) elementary schools, currently engaging 927 educators and reaching an estimated 5,500 students, with cumulative program reach of 1,886+ educators since launch.

R2B's product surface consists of curated programs rather than technology: the R2BeWell stipend program (delivered with the San Francisco Education Fund), the Greater Good in Education Well-Being Course for Educators (with UC Berkeley's Greater Good Science Center), the Selfsea web/mobile application (partner-built by Peer Health Exchange, reaching 500,000+ young people), and the Forum virtual circle-group program (with Millennium School). A "Well-Being Practice Menu" curates Bay Area-based practitioners across Mind+Body, Social+Emotional, and Flow/Engagement categories for stipend recipients. Underlying technology is intentionally minimal — the foundation's competitive position rests on programmatic design and partnerships, not proprietary software.

The business model is philanthropic grantmaking: R2B raises capital from foundation donors and disburses it as direct stipends, sub-grants to nonprofit partners, and program operating costs. There is no commercial pricing, no customer revenue, and no venture funding. The portfolio spans more than 15 active nonprofit partners — including Health Career Connection (90 behavioral-health internship slots committed across 2025-2027), Project Avary, Mission Graduates, Seneca Family of Agencies, UCSF Child Trauma Research Program, Playworks, Wu Yee, Homeless Prenatal Program, and The Primary School — covering educator well-being, youth mental health, early childhood, family services, sports equity, and behavioral-health workforce development. Geographic scope is currently limited to San Francisco.

Name

Room To Breathe Project (r2b)

Legal name

Room to Breathe Project

Website

https://r2bproject.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2015

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Room To Breathe Project (R2B) is a San Francisco 501(c)3 foundation that funds educator well-being stipends at 16 SFUSD schools and partners with 15+ nonprofits to grow youth mental health.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Nonprofit foundation services for youth mental health and well-being

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

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

Keywords

• Youth mental health
• Educator well-being stipends
• Social-emotional learning
• Nonprofit foundation grants
• School-based partnerships

Headquarters

HQ city

San Francisco

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Foundation Grants and Philanthropic Funding: R2B operates as a 501(c)3 private foundation that funds its operations and programs through grants and philanthropic contributions. The foundation invests in and partners with organizations and innovation projects to address youth mental health challenges in San Francisco.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Room to Breathe Project (R2B) is a San Francisco-based 501(c)3 private foundation that grows the mental health and well-being of young people by funding and partnering with SFUSD schools and youth-serving nonprofit organizations. Its flagship is Room to Be Well (R2BeWell), a stipend program run in partnership with the San Francisco Education Fund that pays every educator (certificated and classified staff) at partner SFUSD elementary schools to pursue a well-being practice of their own choosing for the school year, with the goal of supporting educators so they can model well-being for their students.

Product overview

Room To Breathe Project (R2B) is a 501(c)(3) private foundation focused on growing young people's mental health and well-being in San Francisco. Rather than a traditional software product, R2B offers a portfolio of programs and initiatives that invest in and partner with organizations to address youth mental health challenges. The core offering is the Room to Be Well (R2BeWell) stipend program, which provides educators with stipends for well-being practices. Additional programs include the Greater Good in Education Well-Being Course (an online educator course in partnership with UC Berkeley), the Selfsea web/mobile app (in partnership with Peer Health Exchange), and the Forum virtual circle group program. R2B also provides a curated Menu of Recommended Well-Being Practices to guide participants, spanning Mind+Body Connection, Social+Emotional Health, and Flow/Engagement categories.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Room to Be Well (R2BeWell): An initiative led by the San Francisco Education Fund and R2B Project that offers well-being programming combined with a stipend to each educator on campus at partner schools within SFUSD. The objective is to empower educators to attend to their own personal well-being so they can model well-being for young people and positively contribute to a culture of well-being within the school.

Products and services

• Room to Be Well (R2BeWell) Stipend Program A well-being stipend program that provides every educator on campus (certificated and classified staff) at 16 SFUSD elementary schools with a stipend to use toward a well-being practice of their choice for one school year, with the goal of empowering adults to attend to their own well-being so they can model well-being for young people.
• Well-Being Practice Menu A curated guide of recommended well-being practices for R2BeWell participants, organized into categories including Mind+Body Connection, Social+Emotional Health, and Flow/Engagement, featuring various Bay Area-based programs and classes.

Quantifiable outcome

• 927 educators engaging in well-being practices this school year, with 5,500 students served by these teachers
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers16 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core, supporting and minor.

• San Francisco Education FundcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B partners with the San Francisco Education Fund to lead the Room to Be Well (R2BeWell) initiative, offering well-being programming combined with stipends to educators at SFUSD partner schools.
• Health Career Connection (HCC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B partners with HCC to invest in future talent by providing behavioral health internship opportunities. The partnership has grown from 4 students in 2023 and 9 in 2024 to 90 planned opportunities across 2025, 2026, and 2027.
• Project AvarycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B supports San Francisco students aged 8-12 in their Project Avary experience, which includes online support groups, overnights, and summer camp experiences for youth of incarcerated or detained parents.
• Mission GraduatessupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B partners with Mission Graduates to expand their Wellness Coordinator model across five SFUSD campuses and build a learning community of practice for school teams integrating social-emotional learning.
• Beats Rhymes and Life (BRL)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B partners with BRL to provide young San Franciscans opportunities for hip hop therapy sessions through their Mobile Studio bus, Therapeutic Activity Groups (TAGS), and Like Skills Workshops.
• Homeless Prenatal Program (HPP)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B partners with HPP to enhance their Wellness Center, which provides courses, workshops, supplies, and community support to prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal families.
• Greater Good in Education (GGE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B partners with GGE to bring San Francisco-serving educators together in online Communities of Practice centered around well-being topics, and supports a Greater Good Schools Fellowship program.
• UCSF Child Trauma Research Program (CTRP)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B partners with UCSF CTRP to expand Child-Parent Psychotherapy (CPP) work to San Francisco's family-serving nonprofit organizations, recruiting and training postdoctoral fellows.
• PlayworkssupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B partners with Playworks to enable Beacon Teams at three SFUSD elementary schools to implement the TagTeam model, integrating play throughout the school day and after-school programming.
• Wu Yee Children's ServicessupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B partners with Wu Yee to enhance their Home Visiting Program's 22 annual in-person socializations for 110 families, encouraging community connection and lowering isolation.
• Positive Coaching Alliance (PCA)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B partners with PCA to support the SF Sports Equity Coalition's goal of 6,500 new sports opportunities for 4-12 year olds in San Francisco, supporting approximately 430 coaches.
• Real Options for City Kids (R.O.C.K.)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B partners with R.O.C.K. to support wellness specialists providing social/emotional activities, healthy play during recess and lunch, and early literacy supports across Visitacion Valley TK-8 public schools.
• Safe & SoundsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B partners with Safe & Sound to support the Community Pathway initiative, coordinating an upstream system of family support across San Francisco's Family Resource Centers.
• Transformative Educational Leadership (TEL)supportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B sponsors ten San Francisco-serving education leaders through a one-year intensive TEL Fellowship program focused on creating Beloved Communities within schools.
• Seneca Family of AgenciessupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B partners with Seneca to fund Unconditional Education (UE) Coach roles at three SFUSD elementary schools, supporting social, emotional, and behavioral needs of students.
• The Primary SchoolsupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B partnered with The Primary School to bring their Bridge to Preschool program to early childhood centers in San Francisco's Bayview area, providing social-emotional support to parents and their 2.5-5 year olds.
• Peer Health ExchangesupportingStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B partners with Peer Health Exchange to support in-school health education classes for 9th graders and their digital app called Selfsea, reaching 500,000+ young people.
• Millennium SchoolminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerR2B funded 150 SFUSD educators' membership in the Forum program for the 2020-2021 school year, an online circle group with facilitated social-emotional sharing and listening exercises.

Scale indicators10 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• San Francisco Education Fund: SF-based nonprofit supporting SFUSD schools through teacher grants, supplies, and well-being programs; co-leads the R2BeWell initiative with R2B. Directly comparable as an SFUSD-facing education nonprofit and R2B's primary operating partner.
• Health Career Connection: Nonprofit providing paid health-focused internships to first-generation and minority college students; R2B funds behavioral health internships through HCC. Comparable as a workforce-pipeline partner serving R2B's emerging mental health talent segment.
• Born This Way Foundation: Foundation co-founded by Lady Gaga focused on youth mental health and well-being; directly comparable as a privately funded foundation working on adolescent mental health stigma, peer support, and kindness/school-based programming.
• Rogers Family Foundation: Oakland-based private foundation funding public education, early literacy, and youth well-being; ED Rhonnel Sotelo previously served as CEO. Directly comparable as a private education-focused foundation with similar grantmaking model and Bay Area footprint.
• Peer Health Exchange: Nonprofit delivering health and mental health education to high schoolers and operating the Selfsea app that R2B helps fund. Comparable as a youth mental health program operator with whom R2B has a core funding partnership.
• Tipping Point Community: Bay Area nonprofit that funds and partners with organizations fighting poverty, including significant investments in education and youth mental health. Comparable as a regional foundation with overlapping portfolio and leadership lineage (R2B's founder was a Tipping Point Innovation Fellow).
• Sandy Hook Promise: National nonprofit delivering school-based programs for youth mental health, safety, and violence prevention. Comparable as a foundation that funds and partners with schools to deliver SEL and well-being curricula to K-12 students.
• The Jed Foundation: National nonprofit dedicated to protecting emotional health and preventing suicide among teens and young adults in schools and colleges. Directly comparable mission, school-based delivery model, and youth mental health focus.
• Active Minds: Nonprofit supporting adolescent and young adult mental health through school- and campus-based chapters and peer programming. Directly comparable as a youth-mental-health nonprofit working through K-12 and higher-education channels.
• Greater Good Science Center (UC Berkeley): UC Berkeley center that produces research and educator resources on well-being, including the GGIE program R2B helps distribute. Comparable as a producer of evidence-based SEL/well-being content for educators and an existing R2B partner.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/room-to-breathe-project

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Room To Breathe Project (r2b)