Brave Buds teaches free self-defense to children who need it most: neurodivergent kids, children with special needs, and students from low-income communities across the Bay Area. We bring classes directly to schools, libraries, and parks so cost and access are never a barrier. Every class is inclusive, structured, and designed for all learning styles. Brave Buds is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Saanvi Sharma grew up with one foot in two very different worlds. In the Bay Area, she had opportunities, safety, and a future she could shape on her own terms. In India, the girls in her extended family grew up with far fewer choices, their independence constrained by circumstances they never chose, their potential quietly set aside. Those experiences never left her.
As a Taekwondo student, she kept coming back to the same thought: confidence and safety shouldn’t depend on where you’re born, how much your family earns, or how your brain works. So in 8th grade, at 13 years old, she decided to change that.
She didn’t wait for someone older, someone with more resources, or someone with a degree. She designed a full 6-week self-defense curriculum from scratch. She recruited and personally trained a team of teen volunteers. She built partnerships with schools and community organizations across the Bay Area. And she made every single class free.
That was three years ago.
Today, Brave Buds has reached 7,000+ kids across 50+ schools and communities, partnered with four Bay Area organizations, and built a 100% teen-led team that delivers expert self-defense training to the communities that need it most. Every volunteer is a teenager. Every class is free. Every child who walks in leaves a little braver than when they arrived.
