®Founding partner ยท Jamestown, NC
Mary Perry Ragsdale YMCA
The Ragsdale Y is building the Champion role and ANCHOR into its own staff onboarding, so every new hire arrives into a place where connection is already how things are done.
Connection culture design for youth-serving organizations
Every adult sturdy. Every child seen. Every organization transformational.
500 Fist Bumps™ partners with youth-serving organizations to make consistent, caring connection between adults and children the norm, so every child is known by name and supported through hard moments by the adults around them.
Not the one who decides? Send this to your director.
Before you scroll
Think of an adult outside your family who made you feel seen growing up.
Hold them in mind for a moment. Who was it?
Who visitors remember
Thank you. You are one of the first people to answer, so we will share what visitors remember once more responses come in.
Thank you. That adult is exactly who we want every child to meet.
That adult gave you something researchers can measure. Adults who recall high levels of positive childhood experiences, including at least two non-parent adults who took a real interest in them, have 72% lower odds of depression or poor mental health than adults who recall few.
Your organization is full of adults who could be that person. We work with your leadership so every child meets one, every day.
Book a 30-minute callBethell et al., 2019, JAMA Pediatrics
What we build
Your people already care. We help that care reach every child, every day.
Coaches, educators, youth workers, mentors, and front-desk staff hold a deep commitment to the children they serve. In most organizations that commitment shows up in some adults, in some moments, so a child's experience depends on which adult they happen to meet that day. 500 Fist Bumps partners with your leadership to make caring connection the shared norm of your organization, so every adult shows up as a consistent, caring presence for every child.
For the children you serve
A predictable adult who sees them in every interaction, at drop-off, on the field, and at pickup.
For your staff
A shared language for connection and regular evidence that what they do every day matters.
For your organization
A mission families can feel when they walk in, plus stories and data you own and can share with funders.
The ANCHOR™ behaviors
Six behaviors every adult in your organization can practice today.
Acknowledge, Name, and Connect are the connection behaviors. Height, Open, and Repair are the co-regulation behaviors, which help a child settle their nervous system and feel safe. Choose a letter to see each one in practice.
The evidence
Grounded in developmental science and measured with care.
The protective power of caring adults is one of the most established findings in child development. Our work draws on positive childhood experiences research, attachment science, positive community norms, and the study of how organizational culture forms and holds.
72%
lower odds of depression or poor mental health in adulthood
Adults who recalled high levels of positive childhood experiences, compared with those who recalled few. Having at least two non-parent adults who took a real interest in you is one of those experiences, and it is the one ANCHOR is built to produce.
Bethell, Jones, Gombojav, Linkenbach, and Sege, 2019, JAMA Pediatrics
How ANCHOR builds the four HOPE building blocks
Relationships
Consistent, caring connection with the adults around a child, built through Acknowledge, Name, Connect, and Repair.
Environment
Settings where children feel safe and welcome because every adult follows the same norm.
Engagement
Belonging that grows as children take part in a community, including teens who practice ANCHOR themselves.
Emotional growth
Co-regulation from steady adults, which builds a child's own capacity to manage big feelings.
We measure the conditions children experience
Our measures track connection, belonging, felt safety, and the shared staff norm that holds them in place. Surveys ask staff what their colleagues do, which reads the norm across the organization and keeps any individual from being scored.
Research partnerships with UNC Greensboro
Our IRB-approved research includes a Spring 2025 study of campus recreation intramurals with 268 students. Our co-founders bring decades of public health research, including federally funded evaluation work.
On the wall
When connection becomes who you are, you say so out loud.
The Mary Perry Ragsdale YMCA designed this poster and hangs it in its hallways, where every child, family, and staff member sees it on the way in. A public commitment like this is part of becoming a 500 Fist Bumps organization: the promise moves off the mission statement and onto the wall.
“Every practice, every kid is seen.”
Where it is happening
Organizations that have made connection part of who they are.
Mentoring
Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Piedmont
Working toward every Big using ANCHOR with their Little, across roughly 350 matches, many in school-based programs.
National youth sports
YMCA National Gymnastics Championship
We helped design the event experience and spoke to more than 3,000 athletes, coaches, and families, and we are exploring a partnership with YMCA of the USA's youth sports work.
Five more youth-serving organizations in High Point have committed and are ready to begin.
How it works
Culture change begins with the people who lead your organization.
Our early work with volunteer coaches showed us how quickly a single training fades once the trainers leave. Staff take their cues from what leaders model, protect, and expect, so we design the work with your leadership and build the structure that keeps it alive inside your organization long after kickoff.
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01
Leadership co-design
A working session with your CEO or executive director and key decision-makers. You leave with decisions that take effect right away and a designated Champion.
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02
Launch from the top
Your leaders and Champion introduce ANCHOR to staff and volunteers as a defining expectation of working there, supported by micro-lessons short enough for a single break.
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03
Your Champion keeps it going
The Champion gathers stories, holds a standing place in leadership meetings, and meets regularly with our co-founders and a growing network of Champions from other organizations.
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04
Measure, reflect, deepen
Brief staff surveys, stories, and observation show whether the norm is shifting. Champion and organizational certification is in development.
Impact
Your transformation, measured from the first month.
We keep track of impact from the start of every partnership. You get findings your leaders can act on right away, and over time, the evidence and stories that show how your organization has changed.
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1
Measure
Brief surveys of your staff and volunteers, before and after, asking how often they use each ANCHOR behavior and how often they believe their colleagues do.
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2
Interpret
We show you where your people are already strong, where they can grow, and where they underestimate one another, on one page written for the people who run your organization.
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3
Act
Together we choose a few specific changes, then measure again to see whether they worked.
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4
Tell the story
Survey results and the moments your Champion gathers build, year over year, into an account of how your culture has changed, ready for your board, families, and funders.
Our team
Researchers and coaches who stay in the work with you.
Mike and Stephen lead every partner kickoff, take every discovery call, and stay involved through implementation. Together they bring four decades of youth coaching, behavioral research, public health, and clinical mental health practice.
Board of directors
Marlee Rindal
Executive Director, Mary Perry Ragsdale YMCA
Bill Steffen, PhD
Associate Professor of Exercise Science, Wingate University; Core Educator, United Soccer Coaches
Ruby Brown-Herring
Founder, RBH Wellness Solutions
Robert Black
Founder, Generation Next Project
Questions leaders ask
What you will want to know first.
How much staff time does this take?
Less than most trainings. Your leadership team spends one working session of two to three hours with us. Staff and volunteers complete six micro-lessons, each short enough for a single break. Your Champion meets with us every two weeks at first, then monthly as the work settles in.
What does it cost?
Partnerships are fee-based, and we work alongside you to fund them. We help partners pursue foundation and mental health funding, either with 500 Fist Bumps as the grant recipient or as a provider written into your own budget. We will talk through the options on your call.
Does this replace the training we already do?
ANCHOR sits alongside the trainings and curricula you already use. Those build what individual staff know and can do; connection culture shapes the organization they practice it in, so every child meets a consistent, caring adult.
How do you know it is working?
We gather stories through your Champion, run brief staff surveys at the start, middle, and end of implementation, and add observation where it fits. Surveys ask what colleagues do, which measures the shared norm and keeps any individual from being scored. You receive an impact report to share with your board and funders.
What kinds of organizations do you work with?
YMCAs, mentoring programs, youth sports, afterschool programs, and other organizations where adults spend time with children. Our core focus is children ages six to eleven, and the work extends to teens, who practice ANCHOR themselves.
We are not in North Carolina. Can we still partner?
Yes. Your leadership and Champion lead the work locally, and our co-founders stay alongside you throughout, in person or by video.
Free discovery call
Start with a 30-minute conversation.
Tell us about your organization and the children you serve. We will share how connection culture could take shape in your setting, and you will leave knowing whether a partnership makes sense.
- A video call with one of our co-founders
- Built for CEOs, executive directors, and program leaders
- No cost and no commitment
Prefer email? [email protected]
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