History of By Kids for Kids

Company History
CEO Norm Goldstein founded the company on the premise that young people have never been given the opportunity to be innovative and commercial, and that they have much to offer the world. He saw this first hand when his daughter Cassidy turned a plastic holder for cut roses into a device to hold broken crayons. This useful and innovative idea resulted not only in a United States patent being issued for her invention (The Crayon Holder) when she was 14, but also a commercial product that has been sold on store shelves around the nation including those at Walmart stores.

This experience prompted Norm and Cassidy to research the topic of young inventors. They came up with a large list – people like Philo Farnsworth the 14 year old inventor of the television, or Abbey Fleck, who was 8 when she thought up the Makin’ Bacon Holder. The list goes on and on and includes the helicopter, the sewing machine and Braille writing for the blind to name a few.

Norm decided to set up a company that could harness the creative ideas of young people, along with ways for both these young innovators and the commercial world to learn and profit.

And, the result was the birth of By Kids For Kids in 2003.

Read More About Us and Our Awards

About Us

By Kids For Kids (BKFK) is a marketing and media relations firm that empowers kid-driven innovation. We are a trusted intermediary between kids and corporations. Our approach is simple: We use our proprietary kid driven promotional methodology to channel kid innovation resulting in increased brand awareness.

BKFK has earned the trust and respect of America’s largest corporations and foundations including:

Corporations

• Best Buy
• Staples
• Intel
• Xerox
• Rubbermaid
• Electronic Arts (EA)
• CosmoGirl
• Tommy Hilfiger
• The Weather Channel
• Mattel
• The New York Stock Exchange

Foundations

• The Pearson Education Foundation
• The Kauffman Foundation
• The Intel Foundation
• Best Buy Foundation
• Martinson Foundation
• NYSE Foundation

Founded due to the extraordinary inventive spirit of 11 year old Cassidy Goldstein and her Crayon Holder, BKFK has taken this inventive spirit and developed an entirely new marketing approach – an approach which harnesses kid driven innovation to help corporations increase product awareness.

Our approach utilizes three separate channels to increase brand awareness:

• Competitions
• Education
• Kid Driven Consulting

This marketing approach has been successfully implemented by numerous corporations, foundations and educational societies, and has enabled corporations to look at reaching new markets in an entirely different light. BKFK has reviewed over 100,000 inventions, social innovations, or entrepreneurial business ideas from kids in areas as diverse as green initiatives, fashion design, video games and engineering challenges. Millions of students have been reached through online and classroom curriculum, and hundreds of millions of corporate media impressions have been generated due to our events.

Led by a board of advisors with tremendous knowledge of the “Kid Market,” BKFK has developed an approach that directly meets the needs of corporations.

BKFK understands that kids should play an integral role in the development of kid-oriented products. We also understand that kids are incredibly innovative but rarely have the opportunity, knowledge, or know how to bring their inventions to market. BKFK’s proprietary and nationally endorsed approach facilitates the development of a kid’s idea from invention to commercialization by using the above three channels that benefit both kids and corporations.

Please contact us for more information about our programs and how they can help your organization.

Awards

With teachers and administrators using our program in 30 countries, our work has been recognized by global organizations, Fortune 100 companies, and the United States Government.

BKFK.com was voted as one of the Top 100 Educational Websites of 2007 at Homeschool.com.

BKFK's Norm Goldstein Received the 2006 ET 3 Education Technology Think Tank TEC Champion Leadership Award during Congressional Black Caucus.

BKFK was honored with Congressional Award For Empowering Youth through Exemplary Public-Private Partnership.

We have received Congressional Recognition via the 2005 ET3 TEC Championship Award.

CEO Norm Goldstein has been named a Purpose Prize fellow. The Purpose Prize is an award for exceptional individuals who are defying expectations by channeling their creativity and talent to address critical social problems at the local, regional, or national level.

Cassidy Goldstein, a BKFK Inventor, was named Youth Inventor of the Year by Intellectual Property Owners Education Foundation.

BKFK, Xerox have been awarded The Connecticut Economic Development Association and the Connecticut Economic Resource Center's "Eddy" Award for developing "Inventive Thinking" programs for Connecticut children. Each year the "Eddy" goes to outstanding economic development professionals, companies, projects and programs that exemplify the Team Connecticut spirit and positively impact the Connecticut economy.

The World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO), a United Nations agency dedicated to ensuring the recognition and protection of the rights of inventors and authors worldwide, lists only 6 web sites including M.I.T. as online sources for information on inventive thinking. BKFK is one of those sites.