To help mark Start with Hello Week, integration of Beyond Differences into Sandy Hook Promise will ensure more students and teachers nationwide receive training to create positive, safer school cultures.

NEWTOWN, Conn., Sept. 17, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- As students and educators across the country head back to school and celebrate Start with Hello Week, today Sandy Hook Promise announced national social-emotional learning (SEL) nonprofit Beyond Differences will become part of Sandy Hook Promise's suite of programs. The integration brings together two youth-centered, national organizations with aligned missions and complementary strengths – a win-win for youth across the country.

Beyond Differences is a national organization committed to inspiring students nationwide to end social isolation and create cultures of belonging for everyone. As the first organization in the U.S. to identify social isolation as a public health crisis for youth, Beyond Differences created groundbreaking programs with student-led activities and lessons to foster connection. Today, their programs reach millions of students in diverse communities in all 50 states.  

Sandy Hook Promise co-founders and co-CEOs Nicole Hockley and Mark Barden will continue to lead Sandy Hook Promise; Beyond Differences executive director Laura Talmus is stepping back from the day-to-day role of running the nonprofit.

Sandy Hook Promise and Beyond Differences share similar histories that make the organizations well-suited for integration. Co-founders Laura Talmus and Ace Smith created Beyond Differences to honor the memory of their daughter, Lili Rachel Smith, who was born with a rare craniofacial syndrome and faced social isolation challenges in middle school. Just as Sandy Hook Promise co-founders Mark Barden and Nicole Hockley have done, Laura and Ace transformed their tragedy into a powerful national movement for acceptance, inclusion, and belonging. Beyond Differences' landmark No One Eats Alone^® campaign was one of the first national action days in which Sandy Hook Promise participated after its founding, and the campaign helped inspire the Start with Hello program.

"As we celebrate the ninth Start with Hello Week, we are thrilled that Beyond Differences is coming under the Sandy Hook Promise umbrella," said Nicole Hockley, co-founder and co-CEO of Sandy Hook Promise and mother of Dylan who was killed in the Sandy Hook Elementary School tragedy. "We are so grateful to Laura, Ace, and the Beyond Differences Board of Directors for trusting us with the next chapter of Beyond Differences. This integration will ensure that we can continue to put youth at the center of our work as we strive for a future where children are free from school shootings and other acts of violence."

"Beyond Differences is honored to have its programs, staff, and National Teen Board integrated with Sandy Hook Promise.  It is the perfect partnership, based on years of collaboration and mutual admiration between our two organizations, to help Beyond Differences rise to an ever bigger national stage," said Laura Talmus, executive director and co-founder of Beyond Differences. "We started Beyond Differences as a tribute to our daughter, Lili Rachel Smith, who was socially isolated in middle school because she looked different due to Apert Syndrome. We are so proud of how we've grown, and we know Beyond Differences is in excellent hands with Nicole and the exceptional team at Sandy Hook Promise.  This will allow our programs to reach more schools and help more children feel safe, accepted, respected, and valued at school."

Through the integration, Sandy Hook Promise will incorporate Beyond Differences' no-cost, school-based programs into Sandy Hook Promise offerings, available to all schools, districts, states, and youth organizations. Schools that use Beyond Differences programs can continue to implement BD's valuable resources, and in addition will have access to Sandy Hook Promise's Know The Signs violence prevention programs, including Start with Hello, Say Something, and SAVE Promise Clubs. The integration is expected to be fully complete by June 30, 2025. 

Celebrating Start With Hello Week

This week marks the beginning of Sandy Hook Promise's week-long national call to action, Start with Hello Week. Throughout the week (September 16-20, 2024) nearly 5,000 SAVE (Students Against Violence Everywhere) Promise Clubs in elementary, middle, and high schools nationwide will participate in events to cultivate a sense of belonging among students and create safer school environments. Start with Hello is part of Sandy Hook Promise's Know the Signs programming, a set of proven prevention educational resources that take a comprehensive, evidence-informed, and sustainable approach to end school shootings and other forms of violence.

Start with Hello Week is free to participate in. Students, educators and school administrators can register online and find resources including a planning guide for schools and students, as well as lesson plans and activities. To learn more about bringing Start with Hello programming to your school visit: https://tinyurl.com/kxtw73z6.

For more information about Sandy Hook Promise, visit SandyHookPromise.org.

About Sandy Hook Promise
Sandy Hook Promise (SHP) envisions a future where all children are free from school shootings and other acts of violence. As a national nonprofit organization, SHP's mission is to educate and empower youth and adults to prevent violence in schools, homes, and communities. Creators of the life-saving, evidence-informed "Know the Signs" prevention programs, SHP teaches the warning signs of someone who may be in crisis, socially isolated, or at-risk of hurting themselves or others and how to get help. SHP also advances school safety, youth mental health, and responsible gun ownership at the state and federal levels through nonpartisan policy and partnerships. SHP is led by several family members whose loved ones were killed in the tragic mass shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School on December 14, 2012.

About Beyond Differences
Nonprofit Beyond Differences' mission is to inspire students nationwide to end social isolation in middle schools and create a culture of belonging for everyone. Founded in 2010, Beyond Differences is a youth-led social justice movement empowering students to become activists and change the culture in their schools. Beyond Differences provides Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) tools to disrupt social isolation and change the world, starting with how students treat each other at school and online. Programs include Know Your Classmates^®, No One Eats Alone^®, and Be Kind Online^®. All curriculum and activity kits are provided free for schools. Currently, more than 10,000 schools use Beyond Differences programs and materials.

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SOURCE Sandy Hook Promise