Our Youth at Work Association

What Our Youth at Work Association does

Our Youth at Work Association, doing business as MySafeWork, is a Canadian not-for-profit organization and registered charity founded in 1999 and headquartered in Paris, Ontario. The organization was established by Rob Ellis following the workplace death of his 18-year-old son David, who was killed on his second day on the job with limited training and no supervision. Its mission is to prevent workplace injuries, fatalities, and harassment, with particular focus on vulnerable workers including young employees, women, minorities, and people with disabilities.

MySafeWork delivers its mission through four core programs: the Courageous annual broadcast, which reaches thousands of high school students across North America with real stories and practical lessons about workplace rights; the Take the Pledge public commitment platform, where individuals commit to five principles including refusing unsafe work and reporting accidents; safety culture presentations delivered to businesses by leadership; and a Share Your Story feature that aggregates worker testimonials of unsafe conditions. There is no proprietary technology platform — the products are content-and-community programs built on a standard Wix-hosted website with social media presence on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

The business model is that of a registered charity: all programs are offered free of charge, and revenue (undisclosed in the source data) comes from charitable donations. The organization operates with a lean team of 1-10 employees — only Rob Ellis (Founder & President) and Jessica DiSabatino (Vice President) are publicly identified — supplemented by international keynote speaking engagements and partnerships with companies seeking to establish safety cultures. Customer segments span high school students and educational institutions (primary), businesses and employers seeking safety culture consulting, parents and families, and the general public engaging through the pledge and story-sharing platforms.

Name

Our Youth at Work Association

Legal name

MySafeWork

Website

https://mysafework.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1999

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

MySafeWork is a Canadian registered charity founded in 1999 that delivers workplace safety advocacy, the Courageous broadcast for high school students, safety culture presentations to businesses, and a public pledge and story-sharing platform to reduce workplace injuries, fatalities, and harassment.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Paris

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Operations, Marketing or Sales, Personnel, Others

Revenue model

1. Charitable Donations: As a registered charity, the organization likely relies on charitable donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations. No specific donation structure or amounts mentioned.

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Our Youth at Work Association (MySafeWork) is a registered Canadian charity that provides workplace safety education, advocacy, and awareness programming targeted at young workers and the organizations that employ or educate them. Its core offerings include an annual Courageous broadcast, a youth safety pledge campaign, and corporate presentations on workplace safety delivered free of charge to participants.

Product overview

MySafeWork operates as a not-for-profit organization offering a portfolio of workplace safety advocacy programs. The core offerings include Courageous, an annual broadcast targeting high school students; the Take the Pledge commitment platform with five guiding principles; safety culture Presentations for businesses; and the Share Your Story feature enabling workers to share experiences. These programs work together to create a social movement against unsafe work through education, empowerment, and public engagement.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Courageous: MySafeWork's annual broadcast that uses real stories and practical lessons to empower young people to take a stand against unsafe work. The program reaches thousands of high school students across North America annually.

Products and services

• Courageous Annual Broadcast
• Youth Safety Pledge Campaign
• Corporate Workplace Safety Presentations

Quantifiable outcome

• Thousands of students reached annually through Courageous broadcast
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Companies with International PartnershipsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRob Ellis has developed international partnerships with companies dedicated to becoming champion employers. These partnerships involve working with industry leaders to promote positive change and cultural shift regarding health, safety, and wellness for all workers. Specific company names are not disclosed.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Safe Kids Worldwide: U.S. nonprofit focused on preventing injuries to children and adolescents, including youth-at-work safety curricula - comparable in delivering safety education to young audiences through schools, though broader than workplace safety alone.

Broad incumbents

• National Safety Council: U.S.-based nonprofit with a broad workplace and roadway safety mission, including educational programming and advocacy that overlap with MySafeWork's youth and worker-safety focus, but operating at far greater scale and scope.
• Canadian Centre for Occupational Health and Safety (CCOHS): Canadian government-funded national body that delivers workplace safety information, training resources, and youth-focused materials - directly comparable mission to MySafeWork but with public-sector scale and mandate.
• RoSPA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents): UK-based charity running safety education, training, and advocacy programs covering workplace and broader safety - comparable mission of safety education through campaigns and curriculum.
• International Labour Organization (ILO): United Nations agency setting global labour standards and running global campaigns on workplace safety - comparable in mission to end workplace injuries and fatalities, but operates at a multilateral/governmental scale.
• American Society of Safety Professionals (ASSP): Large U.S. professional association for occupational safety practitioners, offering training, certifications, and advocacy - comparable to MySafeWork's safety-culture training for businesses, but focused on safety professionals rather than workers/youth.

Direct peers

• Workplace Safety & Prevention Services (WSPS): Ontario-based workplace safety association providing training, consulting, and safety-culture programming to employers - directly comparable to MySafeWork's corporate safety-culture presentation offering in the same Canadian market.
• National Council for Occupational Safety and Health (National COSH): U.S.-based coalition of worker-safety advocacy groups running campaigns against unsafe work conditions - directly comparable advocacy and worker-empowerment orientation to MySafeWork's pledge campaign.
• Threads of Life: Canadian nonprofit supporting families after workplace fatalities, using storytelling and speaker programs to drive prevention - the closest peer to MySafeWork's founder-storytelling model and youth engagement approach.

Regional players

• Workers Health & Safety Centre (Canada): Ontario-based nonprofit training centre focused on empowering workers with health and safety knowledge - directly comparable classroom-based worker education mission to MySafeWork's Courageous program.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/mysafework
• Facebookfacebook.com/mysafework
• Instagraminstagram.com/mysafework
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mysafework

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Our Youth at Work Association