In episode 55 of the Disruptors for GOOD podcast, I speak with Lauren Paul and Molly Thompson, founders of the Kind Campaign on how girl-against-girl bullying in the digital age emotional affects young women and girls in America.

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Kind Campaign is the leading nonprofit ending the trend of girl-against-girl bullying. Founded by Lauren Paul and Molly Thompson, Kind Campaign offers in school assemblies, educational school curriculums, clubs, online resources, and a supportive community all dedicated to bringing awareness and healing to the negative long-lasting effects of bullying.

Since embarking on their first tour in 2009 when they captured the impact of the assemblies in their widely acclaimed documentary Finding Kind, Lauren and Molly have personally attended and curated hundreds of anti-bullying in-school assemblies spanning from across the US to internationally, continuously expanding their movement to spread kindness to girls across the globe.

Just recently, Kind Campaign started a weekly social media Kind Community Activation to virtually promote kindness to family, friends, and strangers during these uncertain times such as sharing their digital Kind Cards for followers to share with a family, friend, or a stranger, as well as sharing a digital prompt for their followers to share how they are feeling during this tricky time.

Full Interview

Host (Grant):

What’s up, everybody! This is Grant from Causeartist. Welcome to another episode of the Disruptors for Good podcast. Today, I’m chatting with Lauren Paul and Molly Thompson, founders of the Kind Campaign. It’s a leading nonprofit working to combat girl-on-girl bullying by offering school assemblies, educational programs, and resources. The campaign has created a supportive community dedicated to bringing awareness and healing to the long-term effects of bullying.

The Kind Campaign began at Pepperdine University in 2009 when Lauren and Molly shared their personal experiences with bullying. These stories eventually led to the creation of a documentary called Finding Kind, which involved traveling across the U.S. to film girls and women discussing their experiences with bullying. This documentary became a platform for opening up about a subject that had often been ignored.

Since then, the Kind Campaign has spoken at thousands of schools in the U.S., Europe, and other parts of the world. They share powerful stories of girls who faced intense bullying, particularly in the social media age, which has made bullying even more pervasive. Despite the sadness of many stories, there’s also an inspiring side, as girls have moved from dark places, including suicide ideation, to finding hope through the campaign’s assemblies.

Lauren and Molly have been doing this for over a decade, and I’m excited to hear their thoughts on the journey, their mission, and how they’ve navigated it all. Thank you both for being here!

[04:07]

Lauren:

Molly and I both had experiences with bullying growing up, which I think everyone, regardless of age or gender, goes through at some point. Middle school was a turning point for me, where I experienced deep loneliness, being ostracized, and getting ganged up on by a group of girls. That bullying led to severe depression and an eating disorder, and eventually, I even attempted suicide in seventh grade.

When we speak in schools, I share this openly because I believe it’s important to talk about the reality of these experiences. The message we try to convey is not just about how actions affect others, but also to encourage students who are struggling to reach out for help. My experience deeply shaped me, and meeting Molly at Pepperdine allowed us to channel those feelings into something bigger. We were both in film school and, after working on a documentary project, realized that film could be a powerful way to shed light on the issue of bullying.

At that time, 11 years ago, bullying wasn’t something people openly talked about in schools. There were no programs or real conversations about it, so we weren’t sure if people would even want to open up. But as we started filming interviews, it became clear that this was something girls and women were eager to talk about and wanted to change.

[09:26]

Molly:

Like Lauren, I also had a significant experience with bullying during high school. I was lucky because one of the girls who had instigated the bullying later apologized, which had a profound impact on me. It allowed me to have a much better senior year, and now I share that story with girls during our assemblies. I want them to understand that their words and actions have meaning, and they can choose to change the environment in their schools.

After we graduated from Pepperdine, we hit the road to film the documentary. We spent nearly two months traveling, with our moms and a cinematographer in tow. It’s amazing to think about how different the conversation was back then. We’d reach out to schools, and they’d be more than happy to have us come in and talk, even though Kind Campaign was brand new.

Our assembly program, which started with that road trip, has now grown to include Kind Clubs in schools all over the world. We also have a volunteer program, Kind Ambassadors, which allows people to bring Kind Campaign into their communities.

[12:49]

Host (Grant):

Let’s talk about how the two of you met at Pepperdine. Was bullying something you connected over immediately?

Lauren:

Surprisingly, no. We didn’t even meet until our senior year. We had mutual friends and were in some of the same classes. It wasn’t until the summer before our senior year, when I was working on another documentary, that the idea of creating something around bullying came up. When I brought up the topic to Molly over lunch, we realized we had both been through similar experiences, and it just clicked from there.

[20:15]

Host (Grant):

Were you surprised by how open the girls at your first assembly were? It seems like a tough topic to tackle, especially with younger students.

Molly:

We weren’t sure what to expect, but we knew from talking to girls before the road trip that there was a desire to talk about it. We set up something called the “Truth Booth” during our assemblies, where girls could share their stories privately on camera. Watching that footage was heartbreaking at times, but it also gave us hope. We saw that girls were ready to address this issue and create change.

[27:17]

Host (Grant):

With social media becoming such a big part of kids’ lives, how have you seen its role in bullying evolve over the years?

Lauren:

When we started in 2009, cyberbullying was just beginning to be talked about. Facebook was around, but Instagram didn’t even exist yet. Over the years, social media has become a space where so much of a girl’s self-worth is tied to her online presence. The stress of maintaining an image, getting likes, and avoiding harassment has created a deeper well of anxiety. Now, bullying follows girls home on their phones, and that can make it even more personal and invasive.

Molly:

I remember one assembly where a girl came up to us afterward and shared that her “friends” only talked to her if she got enough likes or followers on social media. It was heartbreaking to see how much that affected her emotionally. It’s so important to remind girls that they are more than their online personas.

[49:12]

Host (Grant):

How do you measure success after all these years? Is it just numbers or something more?

Lauren:

For the longest time, our measure of success was what we saw and felt in the room—the tears, the apologies, the thanks from students and faculty. But we knew that wasn’t enough for everyone, so we worked with a data company to gather statistics on the impact of our assemblies. The results were amazing. Two out of three girls wrote apologies, and 96% left feeling inspired to be kinder. But for us, the true measure of success is the personal stories, like Rachel’s.

Molly:

Rachel’s story really stays with us. After one assembly, she left a comment saying she had woken up that morning planning to commit suicide, but after the assembly, she found hope. We’ve stayed in touch with her, and she’s gone on to graduate high school and do amazing things. Stories like hers are why we do what we do.

[58:58]

Host (Grant):

What’s next for Kind Campaign? Where do you see things going in the next 5-10 years, especially with the challenges of the pandemic?

Lauren:

The pandemic has definitely shifted things for us. We’re currently working on a virtual assembly experience that schools can use, even if students are learning remotely. We also started a “Kind Community Series” on social media to keep the conversation going and give people a way to connect, even during these difficult times. Our goal is to keep spreading our message and evolving with the world, so we can continue to support girls and create change.

Host (Grant):

Thank you both for sharing your story and for the incredible work you’ve done over the past decade. I’m excited to see how Kind Campaign continues to grow and impact lives around the world.

Lauren & Molly:

Thank you so much!​