Ingenuity
Ingenuity is a Chicago-based nonprofit that operates as the data backbone for arts education in Chicago Public Schools, running the artlook platform, Creative Schools Certification, and the Creative Schools Fund grant program. It serves 645 CPS schools, 400+ arts organizations, and major philanthropic funders with 13 years of longitudinal data.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2011
- HeadquartersChicago, United States
- Headcount1–10
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Ingenuity does
Ingenuity, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit arts education organization founded in 2011 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, that operates as a backbone organization advancing equitable access to arts education across Chicago Public Schools (CPS). The organization was created to carry out the Chicago Arts Learning Initiative's (CALI) vision, convened by the Wallace Foundation and RAND in 2008, and now serves 645 CPS schools (100% participation in 2024-25) and connects them to a network of 400+ arts organizations and 1,100+ teaching artists. Its mission is to ensure every student, in every grade, in every CPS school has access to the arts as part of a well-rounded education.
Ingenuity's product portfolio centers on the artlook® data platform, which houses the Creative Schools Survey and a five-tiered Creative Schools Certification (CSC) measurement system used by CPS since 2012-13, now in version 2.0 with refined access and quality metrics. The organization publishes the annual State of the Arts (SOTA) Report, an interactive Dashboard launched in 2022-23 with customizable filters, and a Toolkit, complemented by school-specific Creative Schools Roadmaps and topical Data Snapshots. These tools produce 13 years of longitudinal arts education data covering 90%+ of CPS schools annually, with 100% participation achieved in recent cycles. Professional learning offerings include the Arts Partner Standards of Practice (APSP) and self-assessment tools for teaching artists and program managers.
The business model is philanthropic rather than commercial: Ingenuity receives funding from 14+ foundations (MacArthur, Polk Bros., Chicago Community Trust, Gates, Crown, Pritzker Traubert, Zell, etc.), 12+ corporate sponsors (Lollapalooza/C3 Presents, William Blair, Grainger, Capital Group, etc.), Illinois Arts Council, the National Endowment for the Arts, and individual donors. The Creative Schools Fund is a public-private partnership with CPS and the City of Chicago that deploys competitive grants of up to $10,000 directly to schools, plus $1,000 Arts Essentials grants for survey completion. The Lollapalooza Arts Education Fund committed $2.2M over 2021-2026. Cumulative deployment since 2013 exceeds $26M, with 1,500+ grants reaching 460+ schools and 800,000+ students. Distribution is direct-to-school via annual grant cycles (August-September applications) and digital platform self-serve access to data tools.
Ingenuity firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Ingenuity
- Legal name
- Ingenuity, Inc.
- Website
- https://ingenuity-inc.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2011
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 1–10 employees
- Short description
- Ingenuity is a Chicago-based nonprofit that operates as the data backbone for arts education in Chicago Public Schools, running the artlook platform, Creative Schools Certification, and the Creative Schools Fund grant program. It serves 645 CPS schools, 400+ arts organizations, and major philanthropic funders with 13 years of longitudinal data.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Ingenuity industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Arts Education Nonprofit Services
- NAICS
- Grantmaking and Giving Services (81321), Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Services (611)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200), Miscellaneous Publishing (2741), Services-Engineering, Accounting, Research, Management (8700)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Grantmaking Agencies & Education Program Grants Administration (EDADAHAD), Education Access & EdTech for Equity (Low-cost Learning, Skills Platforms) (BPAGALAH), Arts Education & Community Arts Programs (BPAGAHAC), Gradebook, Transcripts, Credits & Academic Records Management (EDAFAEAG)
Keywords
Where Ingenuity is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Chicago
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Ingenuity business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Foundation Grants: Major foundation funding from Paul M. Angell Family Foundation, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation,Builders Initiative Foundation, Caerus Foundation, The Chicago Community Trust, Crown Family Philanthropies, James P. and Brenda S. Grusecki Family Foundation, The Harris Family Foundation, John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation, Robert R. McCormick Foundation, Polk Bros. Foundation, Pritzker Traubert Foundation, Zell Family Foundation, and many others listed as supporters.
- Corporate Sponsorships: Corporate funding from Ariel Investments, C3 Presents (Lollapalooza), Capital Group, GCM Grosvenor, HOK, Kenneth C. Griffin Museum of Science & Industry Chicago, Ledgers, Inc., McMaster-Carr Supply Company, Venable LLP, W.W. Grainger, Inc., William Blair & Company, and others.
- Government Funding: Government support from Illinois Arts Council Agency and National Endowment for the Arts.
- Individual Donations: Individual donor contributions from board members and community supporters.
- Lollapalooza Arts Education Fund: Partnership with C3 Presents/Lollapalooza committing $2.2 million over five years (2021-2026) to enhance arts education in CPS, administered through the Creative Schools Fund.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Other | Multi-year contract | Creative Schools Fund Competitive Grants - up to $10,000 per grant |
| Other | Annual | Arts Essentials Grant - $1,000 |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels7 records
Ingenuity product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Ingenuity is a Chicago-based nonprofit backbone organization that drives arts education access in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) by operating data-collection and reporting platforms (artlook®, Creative Schools Certification, State of the Arts, Roadmaps, Data Snapshots), directly awarding competitive grants to schools through the Creative Schools Fund and Lollapalooza Arts Education Fund, and delivering professional learning and partnership-matching services for CPS educators and arts organizations. Its products and services are provided free of charge to schools and are funded by philanthropic foundations, corporations, government agencies, and individual donors.
Product overview
Ingenuity operates as an arts education nonprofit offering a suite of interconnected data tools, grant programs, and professional development resources for Chicago Public Schools. The core product portfolio centers on the artlook® data platform, which houses the Creative Schools Survey and Creative Schools Certification measurement system. The annual State of the Arts (Report, Dashboard, and Toolkit) provides comprehensive landscape analysis. The Creative Schools Fund and Lollapalooza Arts Education Fund represent grant programs that distribute funding to schools. Supporting tools include Creative Schools Roadmaps, Data Snapshots, Arts Partner Standards of Practice, and Professional Learning Plan Assessments for teaching artists and program managers. Together, these products form a data-driven ecosystem supporting equitable arts education across 600+ CPS schools.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Creative Schools Fund (CSF): The largest philanthropic investment directly into schools each year, providing grants to schools to support increased access to high-quality arts education through teacher-led arts programs in Chicago Public Schools.
- Lollapalooza Arts Education Fund (LAEF)
- artlook
- Creative Schools Certification (CSC)
- State of the Arts (SOTA)
Products and services
- artlook® Platform Online hub for CPS arts education school-level and organization-level data providing detailed profiles, partnership facilitation, and a platform for Creative Schools Survey data collection. For CPS schools, arts organizations, and the public.
- Creative Schools Certification (CSC) Five-tiered shared measurement system providing a comprehensive quantitative summary of arts education access and quality for each CPS school. For CPS, schools, and the broader arts education sector.
- State of the Arts Report, Dashboard & Toolkit Annual landscape analysis of arts education in Chicago Public Schools comprising a detailed report, interactive dashboard with customizable data filters, and toolkit for stakeholders. For CPS leadership, funders, schools, arts organizations, and policymakers.
- Creative Schools Roadmaps Customized reports for each CPS school detailing its Creative Schools Certification rating, performance on each metric, comparisons to network and district peers, and tailored recommendations with available supports. For CPS school leaders and educators.
- Data Snapshots Focused analyses on specific topics that complement the State of the Arts reports, including reports and interactive data visualizations on teaching artist compensation, high school arts offerings, and BIPOC representation. For CPS, schools, arts organizations, funders, and policymakers.
- Creative Schools Fund (CSF) Largest direct philanthropic investment in CPS arts education, providing competitive grants of up to $10,000 directly to schools to support teacher-designed partnership residencies with arts organizations. For CPS schools (and their students); funded by philanthropic, corporate, and government sources.
- Lollapalooza Arts Education Fund (LAEF) $2.2 million commitment from Lollapalooza/C3 Presents administered through the Creative Schools Fund, delivering arts education residencies, field trips, and teacher professional learning to CPS schools rated Developing or Emerging. For CPS schools (and their students).
- Creative Schools Survey Annual survey administered through artlook® collecting arts staffing, courses, instructional minutes, and arts partnership data from CPS schools; used to rate schools on the Creative Schools Certification. For CPS schools.
- Arts Partner Standards of Practice (APSP) Standards framework with tools, processes, and a self-assessment quiz to help arts organizations and teaching artists improve arts program outcomes and establish consensus values on quality. For arts organizations and teaching artists working with CPS schools.
- Professional Learning Plan Assessment for Teaching Artists Self-assessment tool helping teaching artists and arts educators reflect on their practice and identify targeted professional learning needs, with a framework to build personalized, growth-oriented plans. For teaching artists and arts educators.
- Professional Learning Plan Assessment for Program Managers Assessment helping arts organizations evaluate and strengthen internal systems for supporting arts instruction, identifying key growth areas and guiding program managers in creating strategic, sustainable professional learning plans. For program managers at arts organizations.
- District Reports Custom reports allowing exploration of district-specific State of the Arts data, comparing selected schools alongside district-wide CPS data to identify trends, strengths, and gaps in arts education. For district leaders, network leaders, and school support staff.
Quantifiable outcome
- 180% increase in percentage of CPS schools rated as Excelling in arts education access and quality since 2012-13
- +5 more outcomes
Companies that use Ingenuity
Customer profileNamed customers9 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Ingenuity technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed Yes
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature4 records
Ingenuity partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
16 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- Arts Alliance IllinoiscoreStatewide arts advocacy organization. Co-chaired the Illinois Arts Indicator Work Group with Ingenuity that created the innovative, data-informed proposal leading Illinois to become the first state to include arts as a distinct, weighted indicator in its ESSA state plan.
- Kennedy Center for the Performing ArtscoreIngenuity partnered with the Kennedy Center's Any Given Child program and Arts Education in Maryland Schools (AEMS) in 2019 to expand artlook® to six new communities: Maryland, Houston TX, Jacksonville FL, New Orleans LA, Portland OR, and Sacramento CA.
- University of Chicago Consortium on School ResearchcoreResearch partnership producing the report 'Arts Education and Social-Emotional Learning Outcomes Among K-12 Students: Developing A Theory of Action' to support educators in arts and other subject areas.
- The Wallace Foundation and RAND CorporationcorePublished 'Revitalizing Arts Education Through Community-Wide Coordination' in 2008 on the state of arts education, noting Chicago's public schools remained weak in planning and provision of the arts. This report catalyzed the Chicago Arts Learning Initiative (CALI).
- Chicago Public Schools (CPS)coreCPS is the primary beneficiary and partner. Ingenuity collects arts education data on behalf of CPS, manages the Creative Schools Certification system, and serves as key advisor on the CPS Arts Education Plan 2.0. The Creative Schools Fund is a public-private partnership between Ingenuity, CPS, and the City of Chicago.
- City of ChicagocoreThe City of Chicago is part of the public-private partnership funding the Creative Schools Fund. Mayor Rahm Emanuel led creation of the first city-wide Cultural Plan in 2012 which called for more arts in CPS schools.
- Porchlight Music TheatreminorTeaching artist provider for George Westinghouse College Prep through Creative Schools Fund grants. Facilitated theater technology support and annual productions with sets, costumes, lighting, and sound.
- Old Town School of Folk MusicminorPartnered with Edward A. Bouchet Math & Science Academy ES through Creative Schools Fund grant to introduce dance education, expanding students' weekly arts engagement beyond visual arts.
- Chicago Human Rhythm ProjectminorPartnered with Catalyst Circle Rock Charter School through LAEF grant to introduce tap dance instruction for the first time.
- South Chicago Dance TheatreminorArts education partner through CSF grants at Ida B. Wells Preparatory Elementary, Thorp Scholantic Academy, and Hirsch Metropolitan High School. Offers Black History Month performances reaching 10,000+ students, mentorship from professional dancers, and student-led choreography.
- Uniting Voices ChicagominorArts partner through CSF grant at Peter Cooper Elementary Dual Language Academy, launching new choir program blending choral music with existing mariachi band. Program achieves 100% graduation rate among participants.
- PlayMakers LaboratoryminorArts education partner through CSF grants at multiple CPS schools. Uses 4-teacher approach with creative writing workshops. 90% of students showed improvement in writing skills; 100% of teachers reported increased student confidence.
- Intonation MusicminorMusic education partner through CSF grants at John J. Pershing STEAM Magnet Elementary School and others. Partners with schools lacking traditional music programs, providing instruments and rock band instruction. Empowered nearly 7,500 students with 94% achieving proficiency.
- Forward Momentum ChicagominorDance education partner through CSF grants, prioritizing south and southwest Chicago neighborhoods. Founded by former Joffrey Ballet dancer Pierre Lockett. Served 45,000+ children with programs including the Hot Chocolate Nutcracker.
- Urban GatewaysminorArts partner through CSF grant at Benjamin E. Mays Elementary. Building student confidence, igniting creativity, and connecting students to cultural roots through sustained arts programming.
- Morten GroupminorNational consulting firm based in Chicago specializing in racial equity. Partnered with Ingenuity to develop its first organizational Equity Action Plan, providing training, support, and guidance.
Scale indicators20 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Ingenuity competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- NewSchools Venture Fund: Education-focused venture philanthropy that funds and incubates innovative schools and edtech. Shares the data-driven, equity-focused nonprofit model targeting public-school improvement.
- The Wallace Foundation: Major arts education funder whose 2008 RAND report catalyzed Ingenuity's founding. Operates nationally across arts, education, and community development — broader scope but overlapping mission in arts education coordination.
- Arts Education Partnership (now EDC): National coalition housed at Education Development Center focused on arts education policy and research. Comparable mission around advancing arts access and producing national research, but operating at the policy/research layer rather than direct district delivery.
- United Way of Metropolitan Chicago: Large Chicago-area nonprofit aggregator that funds education, arts, and human services. Comparable funder-distribution and policy-advocacy model at greater scale, but with broader program scope beyond arts.
Direct peers
- EdReports: Nonprofit that provides independent, educator-led reviews of instructional materials, including arts curricula. Operates a district-facing data and quality signal model similar to Ingenuity's Creative Schools Certification.
- Education Resource Strategies (ERS): Nonprofit partnering with school districts on resource allocation, data-driven strategy, and equity. Operates as a backbone advisor to large urban districts, comparable to Ingenuity's role with CPS.
- Chicago Public Education Fund: Chicago-focused education nonprofit supporting CPS leadership, teacher pipelines, and school investment. Comparable district-embedded grantmaking and data-advocacy model within the same CPS ecosystem.
- DonorsChoose: Nonprofit crowdfunding platform that channels donations directly to teachers and schools for classroom needs, including arts supplies. Operates a national school-grantmaking infrastructure analogous to Ingenuity's CSF model.
Emerging players
- The Kennedy Center (Any Given Child): National cultural institution whose Any Given Child program partners with districts (including via Ingenuity) to expand arts access. Closely comparable as both funder and direct service partner in arts education equity.
Others
- Grantmakers for Education: Membership organization of education funders providing research, convening, and advocacy. Comparable as a backbone-supporting infrastructure in the same funder and education-policy ecosystem.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat6 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Ingenuity social profiles
Digital presenceIngenuity compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Ingenuity financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Ingenuity leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles10 records
Ingenuity funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Ingenuity 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 Ingenuity
What does Ingenuity do?
Ingenuity is a Chicago-based nonprofit backbone organization that drives arts education access in Chicago Public Schools (CPS) by operating data-collection and reporting platforms (artlook®, Creative Schools Certification, State of the Arts, Roadmaps, Data Snapshots), directly awarding competitive grants to schools through the Creative Schools Fund and Lollapalooza Arts Education Fund, and delivering professional learning and partnership-matching services for CPS educators and arts organizations. Its products and services are provided free of charge to schools and are funded by philanthropic foundations, corporations, government agencies, and individual donors.
Is Ingenuity a public or private company?
Ingenuity is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Ingenuity founded?
Ingenuity was founded in 2011. It employs 1 to 10 people.
Where is Ingenuity based?
Ingenuity is headquartered in Chicago, United States, in the North America region.
How does Ingenuity make money?
Five revenue lines are on record. Foundation Grants are the primary driver. The others are corporate Sponsorships, government Funding, individual Donations and lollapalooza Arts Education Fund.
Who are Ingenuity's main competitors?
Broad incumbents on record are NewSchools Venture Fund, The Wallace Foundation, Arts Education Partnership (now EDC) and United Way of Metropolitan Chicago. Direct peers are EdReports, Education Resource Strategies (ERS), Chicago Public Education Fund and DonorsChoose. The Kennedy Center (Any Given Child) is listed as an emerging player. Grantmakers for Education is listed as an others.
Does Ingenuity have an API?
No public API is recorded for Ingenuity.
What industry is Ingenuity in?
Ingenuity's product category is Arts Education Nonprofit Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGAKAK, Education Grantmaking Foundations, with a secondary code of EDADAHAD, Grantmaking Agencies & Education Program Grants Administration. Its NAICS code is 81321 and its SIC code is 8200.