As thought leaders and practitioners for over a decade, Beyond Differences® pioneered the creation of nationwide programs that equip middle school communities with activities and curricula for social-emotional learning.
National Programs
No One Eats Alone®
Know Your Classmates®
Be Kind Online®
Secret to our Success
Youth Leadership Development
National Teen Board
Professional Development for Teachers
Leading National Program
No One Eats Alone Day®
This national awareness day and program helps youth experience a welcoming seat at the table next to friends. The curriculum inlcudes activities to celebrate connection and friendship at school to build a culture where everyone feels like they belong.
What We Do
All of Beyond Differences® programs and curricula focus on the development of social-emotional skills for students ages 11 through 14. Our aim is to help teachers and students create welcoming cultures in classrooms, raise cultural awareness, promote diversity and inclusion, and encourage youth to embrace differences and see them as strengths
National Programs
Know Your Classmates®
This awareness day and curriculum invites welcoming and inclusion through identity exploration. These aspects of Social Emotional Learning (SEL) are foundational for understanding and celebrating differences.
Learn More Here.
Be Kind Online®
In response to the rise of social media, awareness day and curriculum is an original Social Emotional Learning program that reaches beyond the classroom walls. It gives youth tools to address the rising issues of social isolation online.
Learn More Here.
Leadership and Methodology
Youth Leadership & National Teen Board
The National Teen Board is made up of a diverse group of high school aged youth who inform and guide our work. These passionate activists use their leadership skills to create cultures of belonging, including the middle school tools and curricula that we develop. Learn More Here.
Professional Development
To empower the implementation of our programs in schools, we have developed an online community for educators. The platform offers a space to learn and share ideas for Social Emotional Learning (SEL), mental health and wellbeing and DEI best practices. Learn More Here.
Happening Now
National Teen Board Creates Connection with Activist Academy
I have been involved with Beyond Differences since 6th grade at my school and jumped at the chance to join the National Teen Board this Spring. I was excited for Activist Academy because I knew I would be able to learn from a dynamic group of young, social...
U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy Cites Beyond Differences as a Program to End Social Isolation in Youth and Build Connection
On June 23, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy sat down with Jenna Bush Hager at the Coalition to End Social Isolation’s Conversations on Belonging, Connection, & Wellbeing: A Reflection to discuss one of the nation’s pressing health concerns. Dr. Murthy...
Creating a Culture of Belonging For Everyone
Beyond Differences applauds all of the teens who lifted up a boy in Colorado this week. Today.com reported that Cody Ridder, a 12-year-old boy from Westminister, Colorado, told his mom that his 6th-grade classmates would not sign his yearbook. He was so...
(1994 – 2009)
Our Inspiration
Beyond Differences® was created in memory of Lili Rachel Smith. She endured the pain of social isolation and feeling different.
Lili is the heart and guiding light of the organization.
Our Videos
National Awareness Days
Join Beyond Differences® by celebrating three National Awareness Days that promote Social and Emotional Learning (SEL), help to end social isolation and create a culture of inclusion at your school!
Know Your Classmates® Day
Designed to explore youth identity and belonging + help students embrace diversity, and help students speak honestly about their feelings. Now includes teen created lessons on How to be An Ally, Diverse Expressions of Gender, Recognizing Bias, and Anti Racism + National Stand Up for Asian American Youth Campaign materials. (FALL)
No One Eats Alone® Day
Youth learn to make new friends at lunch beyond their existing peer groups through community-building activities that help them get to know one another and include students who are being left out. (WINTER)
Be Kind Online® Day
Focused on creating inclusive communities online and ending social isolation in digital spaces. Students learn how to stand up to hateful behaviors, positive and negative aspects of screen time, social media’s effect on emotions and how to regulate those feelings, how to build self-confidence online and how to build your future online. (SPRING)
