Committee for Children

What Committee for Children does

Committee for Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1979, headquartered in Tukwila, Washington, with a secondary legal office in Seattle. The organization develops and distributes research-based social-emotional learning (SEL) and child protection curricula to K-12 public and private school districts, early learning programs, families and caregivers, and international partner organizations. Its flagship offering, Second Step® (a registered trademark), is an evidence-based SEL curriculum spanning Early Learning through Grade 12, organized as a platform with integrated modules covering human skills instruction (empathy, resilience, responsible decision-making), bullying prevention, and child protection. Additional offerings include the Hot Chocolate Talk child abuse prevention program and the newly launched Second Step Digital Well-Being Specialized Unit (May 2026), which addresses safe and responsible student engagement with technology.

The underlying technology consists of a web-based digital curriculum learning platform delivered through SecondStep.org and cfchildren.org, featuring interactive content, user accounts gated by activation keys, and integration with educational institution systems. The organization operates with 101-250 employees and reaches 26.9 million children annually across all 50 US states and more than 70 countries through a combination of direct sales, self-service platform access, and an international partner network of researchers and organizations.

Committee for Children generates revenue primarily through licensing its Second Step programs to school districts and schools on an annual subscription basis, supplemented by professional services and ongoing customer support. The go-to-market motion combines enterprise field sales to district decision-makers, a self-service digital delivery channel for authorized users, and channel/reseller partnerships for international distribution. The organization also operates a dedicated policy and advocacy function that works with state and federal lawmakers on SEL and child protection legislation, reinforcing regulatory tailwinds for district adoption. The organization has stated a goal of reaching 100 million children annually by 2030.

Name

Committee for Children

Legal name

Committee for Children

Website

https://cfchildren.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1979

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Committee for Children is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1979 that licenses the Second Step® evidence-based social-emotional learning and child protection curriculum platform to K-12 school districts and international partners across 70+ countries, reaching 26.9 million children annually.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Social-Emotional Learning Software

NAICS

Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) & Emotional Regulation Programs (EDAMAIAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Student Safety, Wellbeing & SEL Technology (Monitoring, Reporting) (EDAJAMAJ), School-Based SEL Curriculum & Instructional Programs (EDAKAMAA)

Keywords

• Social-emotional learning
• Child protection curricula
• Bullying prevention programs
• K-12 SEL curricula
• Evidence-based education

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Software

Cost components

Personnel, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Operations

Revenue model

1. Program Licensing: Committee for Children generates revenue through licensing its Second Step programs to school districts, schools, and authorized education customers. Users must register for accounts using activation keys provided by CFC to access the digital curriculum platform. License agreements govern the use of programs.
2. Professional Services and Support: The organization provides customer support, implementation assistance, and ongoing product notifications to licensed education customers. This includes account management and support services for authorized users.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Committee for Children develops and licenses the Second Step® family of research-based social-emotional learning (SEL) curricula, delivered through a web-based digital curriculum learning platform to K-12 schools and districts. The portfolio includes integrated modules covering human skills, bullying prevention, child protection, and digital well-being, plus the Hot Chocolate Talk child abuse prevention program for educators, families, and communities. Programs are licensed to school districts via subscription agreements requiring activation-key-enabled user accounts.

Product overview

Committee for Children offers a unified platform-plus-modules architecture centered on its Second Step® family of programs. The core Second Step® program is a research-based social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum for Early Learning through Grade 12 students, which includes three integrated module components: Human Skills Curriculum (empathy, resilience, decision-making), Bullying Prevention Curriculum, and Child Protection Curriculum. The portfolio has recently expanded with the Second Step Digital Well-Being Specialized Unit, a new K–12 instructional module addressing safe and responsible technology use. An additional offering, Hot Chocolate Talk, provides child abuse prevention resources. These products work together to help improve behavior, build positive school environments, and support child safety while creating lasting benefits for children, educators, families, and communities.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Second Step Digital Well-Being Specialized Unit: A new K-12 instructional offering designed to help students engage with technology in safe, responsible, and developmentally appropriate ways by exploring how digital experiences connect to emotions, decision-making, accountability, and impact.

Products and services

• Second Step® Comprehensive research-based social-emotional learning (SEL) curriculum for Early Learning through Grade 12, equipping educators with curricula to help students build essential human skills such as empathy, resilience, and responsible decision-making. Licensed to school districts and schools via activation-key-enabled digital platform access.
• Second Step Digital Well-Being Specialized Unit K-12 instructional offering within the Second Step family designed to help students engage with technology in safe, responsible, and developmentally appropriate ways by exploring how digital experiences connect to emotions, decision-making, accountability, and impact.
• Hot Chocolate Talk Child abuse prevention program partnering with organizations to provide resources for educators, families, and communities.

Quantifiable outcome

• 26.9 million children reached annually worldwide
• +2 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• International Partner NetworkcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCommittee for Children works with a growing network of organizations, researchers, and thought leaders in over 70 countries to implement Second Step programs internationally. Partners adapt and deliver SEL curricula to support children's human skills development and well-being globally.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Kickboard: Kickboard provides a behavior and SEL tracking platform used by K-12 educators to record and analyze student behavior and SEL data. It competes in the same K-6 SEL/behavior management buying cycle as Second Step, with a more data-centric positioning.
• Rethink Ed: Rethink Ed provides SEL, mental health, and behavioral support curricula and resources to K-12 schools and districts. Its product breadth and K-12 district focus make it a direct competitor in school-based SEL curriculum sales.
• Panorama Education: Panorama is a leading K-12 SEL and student-success platform that helps districts measure and improve SEL, behavior, and college/career readiness. It is the most direct for-profit competitor to Committee for Children's Second Step, with overlapping customers (US K-12 districts) and a comparable SEL curriculum-plus-data approach.
• 7 Mindsets: 7 Mindsets delivers an SEL and school culture curriculum licensed to K-12 schools. It is a like-for-like competitor in the SEL curriculum category, often short-listed alongside Second Step by district curriculum committees.
• Voyager Sopris Learning: Voyager Sopris Learning provides K-12 intervention, SEL, and supplemental curricula to schools and districts — overlapping with Second Step's audience. The company's former SVP of Strategy & Product Development (Polly Stansell) joined Committee for Children, indicating close category familiarity.
• Aperture Education: Aperture Education offers the DESSA suite of SEL assessments and intervention tools to K-12 districts. It competes with the screening/assessment layer of Second Step and is often co-sold or substituted for SEL curriculum in the same district buying cycle.

Broad incumbents

• Nearpod: Nearpod is a K-12 instructional delivery and formative assessment platform used by classroom teachers. While not an SEL curriculum specialist, it is increasingly layered with SEL content and competes for the same teacher-level digital tool budgets as SecondStep.org.
• McGraw-Hill Education: McGraw-Hill is a broad K-12 and higher education publisher with digital curriculum products reaching similar district customers. CFC's VP of Product and Director of Content Platforms both came from McGraw-Hill, underscoring the shared buyer and overlapping sales motion in K-12.
• Lexia Learning: Lexia Learning is a larger, well-established K-12 EdTech provider (literacy and reading) owned by Cambium Learning Group. It is relevant because it is frequently sold into the same K-12 district procurement cycles as Second Step, and CFC's Director of Education Partnerships came from Lexia's sales leadership.

Emerging players

• DreamBox Learning: DreamBox Learning is a digital math curriculum provider for K-8, now part of Discovery Education. It is a partial-overlap peer because its director-level team at CFC came from DreamBox's web-based curriculum group, and it competes for the same digital curriculum budget line item in K-8 schools.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/committee-for-children
• Xx.com/cfchildren
• Facebookfacebook.com/cfchildren

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles28 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Committee for Children