Jiu Jitsu for All.
Guardian provides completely free Brazilian Jiu Jitsu training, equipment, and mentorship to more than 1,000 underserved youth across 36 academies worldwide.
Guardian is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Donations are tax-deductible to the extent permitted by law.
100% of every donation made through the end of 2026 goes directly to Guardian programs and the children they serve.
Today, Guardian supports 36 academies across multiple countries. Our programs operate through several models depending on the needs of each community. In the United States, and in some international locations, Guardian programs are often bolted on to fully operational academies, allowing sponsored youth to participate in existing programs alongside adult mentors, coaches, and peers.
Internationally, much of our focus is on building and supporting social projects in communities where access to Jiu Jitsu would otherwise not exist. In many of these locations, Guardian is the primary funding source for the academy, and the majority, if not all, of the youth participating are sponsored.
Your donation helps pay local coaches, provide gear, mats, and equipment, build new academies and create safe, consistent places for children to learn and grow through Jiu Jitsu.
Thanks to a generous donor covering Guardian’s operating expenses, 100% of every donation made through the end of 2026 will go directly to Guardian programs and the children they serve.
You can let Guardian direct your gift where it is needed most, or choose a specific academy and community to support.
1000+ underserved youth students are currently fully sponsored within our 36 Guardian academies worldwide.
@GuardianBJJ
What we do:
We partner with existing academies to bring our scholarships to youth that need it most. This approach allows donations to maximize efficiency as those academies already have rent, utilities, mats, cleaning, and other expenses covered.
We sponsor international projects to provide training and apparel for youth. This includes building academies from the ground up, or making improvements to existing spaces such as new mats, showers, training gear, and more.
Add a Guardian Scholarship to your academy.
Our Story
Guardian was founded by Ben Kovacs and Joel Lunenfeld while working at Twitter, noticing that much of bay area philanthropy was not solving the real-world challenges facing youth. Initially, Guardian started in 2015 as a single academy in Oakland, California. The original program was a resounding success for the first 6 years of the organization, with over 1,000 kids coming through the doors to train.
In 2020, we evolved our approach and introduced the Guardian Scholarship. This initiative was designed to broaden our reach, offering support to children worldwide to engage in training. Leveraging our extensive network of friends and academy partners accumulated over the years, we started integrating scholarships within their schools, ensuring that financial barriers do not prevent children from accessing our programs. Every child deserves the chance to participate.
As we forge ahead, we are committed to expanding the availability of our scholarship, touching more cities and countries, and thus providing countless more children with the transformative benefits that jiu-jitsu has to offer.
In 2021, Calder Powers, one of Guardian’s earliest volunteers, was promoted to serve as executive director. He continues to lead the organizations content efforts, school outreach, and much more every day.
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