The Hanen Centre

What The Hanen Centre does

The Hanen Centre is a Canadian not-for-profit organization founded in 1977 and headquartered in Toronto, focused on early childhood language, social, and literacy development. It develops and disseminates evidence-based programs targeting speech-language pathologists, early childhood educators, and parents of young children, with the methodology supported by 75+ peer-reviewed studies. The organization has trained more than 150,000 professionals across 100+ countries and holds multiple registered trademarks across its program portfolio.

Its core products are structured, research-backed programs delivered through in-person and online workshops, certified-trainer networks, and published materials distributed internationally. The September 2025 launch of Hanen Launchpad to Literacy represents a recent product extension into the early literacy segment. Underlying delivery relies on a network of certified trainers and international distributors rather than on a technology platform; the organization operates on a fully remote basis.

The business model is not-for-profit and revenue is generated through workshop tuition, professional certification fees, publication sales, and licensed program materials. Distribution is hybrid: direct delivery in core markets and a network of international distributors and certified trainers in 100+ countries. Customer segments span individual practitioners, parents, and institutional buyers (schools, clinics, early childhood education providers), with no publicly disclosed revenue figures.

Name

The Hanen Centre

Legal name

Hanen Early Language Program

Website

https://hanen.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

The Hanen Centre is a Canadian not-for-profit founded in 1977 that develops and delivers research-backed early childhood language, social, and literacy programs to speech-language pathologists, early childhood educators, and parents across 100+ countries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Early Childhood Language Intervention & Professional Development

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (61), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Inclusion, Special Needs & Early Intervention Training (IEPs/IFSPs, Neurodiversity) (EDACAIAF)

akta.pro secondary industries

Autism Parent/Caregiver Education & Training (School-Linked) (EDAKAKAJ), Specialized Intervention & Skill-Building Programs (Speech/OT Support Materials, Social Skills) (EDACAJAJ), Virtual Special Education & Related Services (IEP Delivery Online) (EDAJADAG)

Keywords

• Parent-implemented intervention
• Early childhood language therapy
• Speech-language pathologist training
• Autism communication programs
• Early childhood professional development

Headquarters

HQ city

Toronto

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Professional Workshop Fees: Online workshops for professionals (SLPs, early childhood educators) with PD hours and ASHA CEUs. Each workshop has a fee (e.g., It Takes Two to Talk®: 22.50 PD Hours / 2.25 ASHA CEUs; More Than Words®: 23.00 PD Hours / 2.30 ASHA CEUs). This is the primary revenue stream from the professional segment.
2. e-Seminars: Online e-Seminars for professional development, generating revenue through registration fees.
3. Product Sales (Guidebooks & Resources): Sale of guidebooks, program materials, books (Book Nook), and handouts through the Hanen Shop. Resources are also available through international distributors in over 10 countries.
4. Membership Program: Ongoing professional membership for SLPs, Early Childhood Education Consultants, and students providing continuing support, resources, and access to the Members Only area of the website.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

The Hanen Centre delivers research-based parent-implemented early language intervention programs and online professional training workshops for speech-language pathologists, early childhood educators, and parents of young children. Its core offerings include parent programs (It Takes Two to Talk®, More Than Words®, TalkAbility™, I'm Ready!™), educator programs (Learning Language and Loving It™, ABC & Beyond™, Teacher Talk™, Hanen Launchpad to Literacy™), and certification workshops (SPARK Communication™, 4 I's to Socialize™), complemented by e-Seminars, an annual membership program, and a shop selling guidebooks and program materials.

Product overview

The Hanen Centre offers a portfolio of research-based programs and training workshops for parents and early childhood educators focused on building children's language, social, and literacy skills. The core offerings include parent programs (It Takes Two to Talk®, More Than Words®, TalkAbility™, I'm Ready!™) and educator programs (Learning Language and Loving It™, ABC & Beyond™, Teacher Talk™, Hanen Launchpad to Literacy™). These are complemented by professional workshops, e-Seminars, and membership subscriptions. The organization operates as a not-for-profit that has trained over 150,000 professionals across more than 100 countries since 1977.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• It Takes Two to Talk®: The Hanen Program® for Parents of Children with Language Delays
• More Than Words®
• TalkAbility™
• Learning Language and Loving It™
• ABC and Beyond™
• Teacher Talk™
• SPARK Communication™
• 4 I's to Socialize™
• Hanen Launchpad to Literacy™
• I'm Ready!™

Products and services

• It Takes Two to Talk® A research-based parent program for parents of children with language delays that teaches coaching strategies to build children's communication during everyday interactions. Delivered through Hanen-certified SLPs in small-group settings.
• More Than Words® A parent program for parents of autistic children that teaches strategies to support social communication development during everyday routines and enjoyable interactions. Delivered through Hanen-certified SLPs.
• TalkAbility™ A specialized parent program for parents of autistic children ages 4-8 who are speaking in sentences, helping children have extended conversations and form deeper connections. Requires More Than Words® certification and current Hanen membership of the delivering SLP.
• I'm Ready!™ A parent program for parents of preschool children ages 3-5 that supports emergent literacy development during enjoyable interactions and shared book reading.
• Learning Language and Loving It™ A program for early childhood educators that provides professional development on using responsive interaction strategies (including the Four S's Language Simplification Strategy) to facilitate children's social, language and literacy development in group settings.
• ABC & Beyond™ A program for educators of preschool children ages 3-5 that promotes emergent literacy development during shared book reading and daily interactions.
• Teacher Talk™ A training program for early childhood educators focused on building language, social and literacy skills for all children in early childhood settings.
• Hanen Launchpad to Literacy™ An online training workshop that transforms insights from the Science of Reading into practical, evidence-based strategies for building early literacy during everyday interactions, using a four-step coaching model. Designed for educators, kindergarten teachers, speech-language pathologists, and other professionals with post-secondary credentials.
• SPARK Communication™ A workshop training early intervention professionals on responsive interaction strategies to support children with language delays and provide coaching to parents. Offers 16.50 PD Hours.
• 4 I's to Socialize™ A workshop for early intervention professionals on using responsive interaction strategies to support social communication skills of autistic children.
• e-Seminars Online seminars for professionals seeking continuing education on supporting parents or educators of young children in language, social and literacy development. Delivered as virtual events with registration fees.
• Membership Programs Ongoing professional support memberships for speech-language pathologists, early childhood education consultants, and students (Student Community tier) with access to resources, training materials, and the Members Only area of the website (MyHanen portal). Billed annually.

Quantifiable outcome

• Children's communication improves when parents learn to use responsive interaction strategies during everyday interactions (per research summary)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Twelve partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Beyond PlaycoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor for Hanen products (guidebooks, materials) in the United States and Latin America. Orders can be delivered faster and at lower cost through Beyond Play compared to shipping from Canada. Contact: 877-428-1244.
• Dart ProductscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor for Hanen products in Australia and New Zealand. Provides faster delivery and lower cost for customers in the region.
• Winslow ResourcescoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor for Hanen products in the United Kingdom. Website: winslowresources.com.
• BrainworxcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor for Hanen products in Ireland and the United Kingdom.
• ETC ConsultminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor for Hanen products in Ireland.
• Outside the BoxminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor for Hanen products in Ireland.
• Aspire ToyscoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor for Hanen products in Asia. Contact: Australia +61 03 90676888; Singapore and Asia +65 86092119.
• FIVE IndiacoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor for Hanen products in India.
• Play and SchoolroomminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor for Hanen products in South Africa. Contact: +27 79 887 3964, +27 11 788 1304.
• Editorial CEPEminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor for Hanen products in Spain. Contact: 91 562 65 24.
• Artsberg Enterprise Ltd.coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor for Hanen products in Hong Kong. Contact: 852-2303-0081.
• Speech Therapy AnswersminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorAuthorized distributor for Hanen products in Malaysia. Updated information will be posted soon.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Preschool Speech and Language Services of Ontario (First Words): First Words / Preschool Speech and Language Services in Ontario is a publicly funded early intervention speech-language program serving families regionally, comparable to Hanen's parent-implemented intervention model but operating as a regional government service rather than a scalable training organization.

Direct peers

• Pyramid Model Consortium: Pyramid Model Consortium promotes an early childhood educator training framework with statewide implementation partnerships and trainer-coach networks, overlapping Hanen's Learning Language and Loving It/Teacher Talk educator training and coaching model.
• Social Thinking (Michelle Garcia Winner): Social Thinking develops curricula and trains SLPs and educators to support social communication and perspective-taking, with a publishing and workshop model directly comparable to Hanen's programs serving overlapping SLP and school-based educator buyers.
• DIRFloortime / ICDL: DIRFloortime Coalition/ICDL certifies professionals in a relationship-based autism intervention through workshops and parent-coaching materials, comparable to Hanen's More Than Words workshop-plus-parent-coaching pathway for the autism community.
• Pyramid Educational Consultants (PECS): PECS produces an evidence-based augmentative communication system and trains SLPs, educators, and parents through a tiered certification pathway with workshop fees and product sales, closely analogous to Hanen's trainer-certification plus guidebook sales flywheel.
• Apraxia Kids (formerly CASANA): Apraxia Kids is a not-for-profit that delivers SLP-facing workshops, CEUs, and parent programs on childhood apraxia of speech, directly mirroring Hanen's nonprofit, SLP-certification-plus-parent-program model in a related speech-sound niche.
• PROMPT Institute: PROMPT Institute trains speech-language pathologists in a tactile-kinesthetic motor speech approach through multi-day workshops and certification, mirroring Hanen's workshop-based, SLP-certification-driven model for specialized intervention techniques.

Broad incumbents

• Zero to Three: Zero to Three is a broader early childhood development organization offering professional training, publications, and policy work for infant and toddler practitioners, an adjacent incumbent that overlaps Hanen's ECE audience at a wider scope.
• NAEYC (National Association for the Education of Young Children): NAEYC is the dominant early childhood education professional association with accreditation, publications, and PD credentials, serving many of the same educators that Hanen targets with its classroom-based programs like ABC and Beyond.

Others

• American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA): ASHA is the professional credentialing body whose CEUs underpin the value of Hanen's SLP workshops; it is an ecosystem partner and standards-setter rather than a competitor, but influences Hanen's training economics.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/TheHanenCentre
• Instagraminstagram.com/hanencentre
• Xx.com/TheHanenCentre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 The Hanen Centre