Teach for America
Teach For America is a national nonprofit founded in 1990 that recruits and trains recent college graduates for two-year teaching placements in underserved US schools. It currently operates 4,100 corps members, 2,100 Ignite fellows, and a 66,500+ alumni network across 40+ regions.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded1990
- HeadquartersNew York, United States
- Headcount1,001–5,000
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Teach for America does
Teach For America is a US national nonprofit founded in 1990 that recruits, trains, and places recent college graduates in two-year teaching roles at underserved K-12 schools across 40+ regions. In the 2024-2025 school year it fielded 4,100 corps members reaching nearly 300,000 students, 2,100 Ignite fellows (part-time paid virtual tutors for current college students) reaching 5,000 students, and maintained a 66,500+ alumni network spanning education, policy, business, and nonprofit sectors. Core products include the Teacher Corps program, the Ignite Fellowship, The Collective (a BIPOC alumni association with 23,000+ members), the Teacher Development and Certification Program, and digital application and interview systems built on standard web platforms.
The organization is investing in AI and machine learning across operations — ML has been used for donor engagement, candidate recruitment, and classroom outcomes analysis, and the organization is now piloting generative AI for placement optimization and synthetic-applicant interviewer training. It has been highlighted by ServiceNow as a nonprofit digital transformation pacesetter and is building a cloud-based identity repository to modernize teacher-school matching.
Teach For America is funded primarily through philanthropic contributions rather than commercial revenue. Income sources include corporate partnerships (notably a $10 million RLUSD grant from Ripple in 2026 as part of Ripple's $25M education commitment, and a multi-country Dow STEM collaboration), foundation grants (DTCare, Kauffman, Martha Holden Jennings Foundation), federal funding (US Department of Education), regional commissions (Appalachian Regional Commission), individual donors, and alumni contributions. Corps members are paid by employing school districts rather than by TFA, which provides baseline stipends of $3,000-$6,500 for summer training and need-based financial support. The organization operates as part of the AmeriCorps national service network.
Teach for America firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Teach for America
- Legal name
- Teach For America, Inc.
- Website
- https://teachforamerica.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 1990
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1,001–5,000 employees
- Short description
- Teach For America is a national nonprofit founded in 1990 that recruits and trains recent college graduates for two-year teaching placements in underserved US schools. It currently operates 4,100 corps members, 2,100 Ignite fellows, and a 66,500+ alumni network across 40+ regions.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Teach for America industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Education Nonprofit Services
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611), Exam Preparation and Tutoring (611691)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Employment Agencies (7361)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Workforce Development & Continuing Education Divisions (Noncredit) (EDAHADAG)
- akta.pro secondary industry
- Curriculum & Instruction / Instructional Design Programs (EDAHAFAE)
Keywords
Where Teach for America is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- New York
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Teach for America business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Philanthropic Grants & Donations: TFA receives significant funding through grants and donations from corporate partners (Ripple's $10M allocation from $25M commitment), individual donors, and foundations supporting educational equity initiatives.
- Donor Contributions: Ongoing fundraising from alumni network, individual supporters, and corporate sponsors who contribute to TFA's mission of developing education leaders.
- Corporate Partnership Funding: Strategic partnerships with corporations like Dow provide funding and resources for specific programs such as STEM education initiatives, enabling recruitment and training of STEM Fellows.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Corpus Member Salary Range |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Baseline Stipend |
| Other | Multi-year contract | Need-Based Financial Support |
Go-to-market motion3 records
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels6 records
Teach for America product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Teach For America recruits, selects, and trains recent college graduates through a competitive admissions process for two-year, full-time teaching placements in high-need public schools across 40+ U.S. regions. It also operates the Ignite Fellowship, a part-time, paid virtual tutoring program for current college students, and provides ongoing training, coaching, certification support, mental health services, and alumni career-pathway programming.
Product overview
Teach For America operates as a national network of leaders working to expand educational opportunity, primarily through two core programs: the Teacher Corps (a two-year full-time teaching commitment) and the Ignite Fellowship (a part-time virtual tutoring program for college students). The organization provides comprehensive teacher development and certification support through its training programs, maintains The Collective as its BIPOC alumni association, and offers digital application and interview systems for candidate recruitment. TFA leverages AI and machine learning for operations including donor identification, candidate recruitment, classroom outcome analysis, and is piloting generative AI for placement matching and interviewer training.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Ignite Fellowship: Part-time, paid virtual tutoring role for current college students
- The Collective
- Peter Jennings Award
- Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE)
Products and services
- Teacher Corps A two-year, full-time teaching and leadership program that places selected recent college graduates in underserved public schools as salaried teachers of record, with full benefits paid by the employing school or district.
- Ignite Fellowship A part-time, paid virtual tutoring fellowship for current undergraduate students, providing structured K-12 virtual tutoring experience over a 14-week cycle.
- The Collective (BIPOC Alumni Network) A national alumni association for TFA alumni who identify as BIPOC, providing leadership development, community-building, and collective-action opportunities.
Quantifiable outcome
- 4,100 corps members teaching nearly 300,000 students annually
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Teach for America
Customer profileNamed customers1 record
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles5 records
Teach for America technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
AI capability2 records
Feature3 records
Teach for America partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered regional, core and support.
- Rice Center for EducationregionalPartnership with TFA Houston to provide early childhood-third grade (EC-3) teacher certification to TFA Houston teaching corps members starting fall 2026. The 15-month program combines 315 hours of coursework with 50 hours of classroom observation and full-time teaching, with participants serving as salaried teachers of record.
- DowcoreGlobal STEM education collaboration spanning Argentina, Japan, Nigeria, Spain, and the United States. Since 2024, enabled recruitment and placement of 57 STEM Fellows and provided advanced training to 517 STEM teachers during 2024-2025 school year, directly benefiting more than 8,300 students.
- BetterHelpsupportPartnership providing 24/7 confidential mental health counseling services at no cost to corps members. Corps members can engage 1:1 with mental health counselors up to 4 times per month, including unlimited messaging.
- Leadership for Educational Equity (LEE)coreFree membership provided to corps members for civic leadership development. LEE is a nonprofit working to inspire and support civic leaders to end educational inequity through community organizing, policy advocacy, and pursuing elected office.
- Wheeler Middle School (Hawai'i)regionalTFA Hawai'i partnership credited with helping build community and support students at Wheeler Middle School, which serves a highly transient student population. Collaboration positioned as a positive model for educational support in challenging environments.
Scale indicators14 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights7 records
Teach for America competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- Peace Corps: Federal service program placing volunteers in international development roles including education. Comparable selective two-year service-year commitment, leadership-development framing, and alumni network strength.
- National Center for Teacher Residencies: Network of teacher residency programs offering year-long clinical training in high-need districts. Comparable teacher-prep mission but delivered through district-embedded residencies rather than a centralized selective corps.
- AmeriCorps: Federal national service program that funds TFA and similar service-year programs. Operates at a broader scale across all service areas, providing policy and funding umbrella for TFA's corps model.
Direct peers
- Teach For All: Global network of independent partner organizations in 60+ countries pursuing the same mission of recruiting graduates to teach in high-need schools. Most directly comparable peer — same mission, model, and selection framework, just operated across national affiliates.
- City Year: AmeriCorps-affiliated national service nonprofit placing young adults in schools to support student attendance, social-emotional learning, and academic outcomes. Comparable selective service-year model, K-12 school-based delivery, and alumni leadership pipeline.
- TNTP (The New Teacher Project): Nonprofit focused on recruiting, training, and supporting teachers in high-need schools, plus district-level policy and consulting. Closely comparable teacher workforce development mission and target customer base (high-need districts).
- KIPP Foundation: National network of college-preparatory charter schools serving underserved communities, with a strong leadership development and alumni pipeline. Comparable educational equity mission, leadership-development framing, and large alumni network.
- Relay Graduate School of Education: Graduate school focused on training teachers and school leaders for high-need schools. Competes for the same candidate pool and shares TFA's mission-driven teacher-prep orientation, but as a degree-granting institution.
- Urban Teachers: Alternative teacher certification program placing career-changers in high-need urban schools. Direct overlap on teacher-prep-for-underserved-schools model, with similarly selective admissions and alumni placement in education leadership.
Emerging players
- Match Education: Boston-based nonprofit combining a charter school with a teacher residency program. Comparable dual focus on K-12 instruction in underserved schools and teacher training pipeline, though at much smaller scale.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Teach for America social profiles
Digital presenceTeach for America financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Teach for America leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles8 records
Teach for America funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds6 records
Investors6 records
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Teach for America M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Teach for America
What does Teach for America do?
Teach For America recruits, selects, and trains recent college graduates through a competitive admissions process for two-year, full-time teaching placements in high-need public schools across 40+ U.S. regions. It also operates the Ignite Fellowship, a part-time, paid virtual tutoring program for current college students, and provides ongoing training, coaching, certification support, mental health services, and alumni career-pathway programming.
Is Teach for America a public or private company?
Teach for America is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Teach for America founded?
Teach for America was founded in 1990. It employs 1,001 to 5,000 people.
Where is Teach for America based?
Teach for America is headquartered in New York, United States, in the North America region.
How does Teach for America make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Philanthropic Grants & Donations are the primary driver. The others are donor Contributions and corporate Partnership Funding.
Who are Teach for America's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are Peace Corps, National Center for Teacher Residencies and AmeriCorps. Direct peers are Teach For All, City Year, TNTP (The New Teacher Project), KIPP Foundation, Relay Graduate School of Education and Urban Teachers. Match Education is listed as an emerging player.
Does Teach for America have an API?
No public API is recorded for Teach for America.
What industry is Teach for America in?
Teach for America's product category is Education Nonprofit Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAHADAG, Workforce Development & Continuing Education Divisions (Noncredit), with a secondary code of EDAHAFAE, Curriculum & Instruction / Instructional Design Programs. Its NAICS code is 611710 and its SIC code is 8200.