Getting Smart

What Getting Smart does

Getting Smart is a private education advisory, design, and media organization founded in 2010 and operating with an 11-50 person distributed team in the United States. The company helps K-12 schools, districts, charter networks, education foundations, and intermediaries ideate, design, and implement learning innovations centered on equity, personalization, and competency-based approaches. Service offerings span five core lines: strategic advisory, system and learning design, professional learning (workshops, tours, coaching), storytelling and thought leadership campaigns, and fund management through the Learning Innovation Fund, with engagements structured as customized, quote-based projects. Customer relationships include named K-12 partners such as ASU Preparatory Academy, Cajon Valley Unified School District, Dexter Community Schools, and Lake City Area Schools, alongside major foundation funders including the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Walton Family Foundation, Kauffman Foundation, American Student Assistance, and Stand Together.

Underlying the services business is a sizable content and distribution platform: 10,000+ publications and resources, 550+ podcast episodes, 900+ blog articles, 2.1M annual website page views, a weekly newsletter, and a network of approximately 100 innovative schools visited annually. This media engine drives top-of-funnel awareness, supports sales-led enterprise engagement, and produces frameworks such as the Learning Innovation Framework that anchor the firm's advisory methodology. Recent strategic emphasis has shifted toward AI in education content and the EdShift.ai initiative, microschool models, and multi-year New Pathways campaigns funded by multiple foundations. The organization is privately held, founder/team-controlled with no disclosed external investment, and has not pursued M&A, IPO, or going-private activity.

Name

Getting Smart

Legal name

Getting Smart

Website

https://gettingsmart.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Getting Smart is a private education advisory, design, and media organization that provides strategic consulting, learning design, professional development, storytelling, and fund management services to K-12 schools, districts, and education foundations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Advisory Services

NAICS

Professional and Management Development Training (61143), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Management Consulting Services (8742)

akta.pro primary industry

Innovation & Design Thinking Programs (EDAMAHAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Career & College Readiness Platforms (Guidance, Planning, Scholarships) (EDAJAMAO)

Keywords

• Education advisory services
• Learning design consulting
• Professional learning facilitation
• Education strategy consulting
• K-12 innovation advisory

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Advisory and Consulting Services: Getting Smart provides strategic advisory, learning design, and consulting services to schools, districts, education organizations, and foundations. Services include strategy planning, organizational development, product and brand development, and technical assistance. These are client-driven, flexible engagements tailored to partner needs.
2. Professional Learning Services: The organization designs and facilitates professional learning experiences including workshops, speaking engagements, school tours, webinars, and coaching services. These are delivered both in-person and virtually to education leaders and practitioners.
3. Storytelling and Campaign Services: Getting Smart designs and implements thought leadership campaigns and initiatives with foundations and learning organizations, including tool and resource development, publication, and dissemination. This movement-building work includes campaign management and advocacy efforts.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Getting Smart provides strategic advisory, learning design, and consulting services to K-12 schools, districts, education organizations, and philanthropic foundations. The firm also designs and facilitates professional learning experiences (workshops, school tours, speaking engagements, coaching) and runs thought-leadership storytelling campaigns, including tool, resource, and publication development. It supplements these services with a media platform (podcast, blog, publications, town halls) covering education innovation topics.

Product overview

Getting Smart is an advisory, design and media organization focused on building the future of learning for all. The company offers a portfolio of professional services including Strategic Advisory, System and Learning Design, Professional Learning, Storytelling and Campaign Services, and Fund Management. These services are delivered alongside a rich content ecosystem comprising the Getting Smart Podcast, Blog and Articles, Publications and Whitepapers, and Town Hall events. The organization also produces ongoing content series including Horizon Three (H3) Learning, New Pathways, Microschools, and AI in Education. The Learning Innovation Framework serves as an organizing tool for system-level change. The company has supported 150+ organizations, visited 600+ schools, and created over 10,000 resources, positioning itself as both a service provider and media channel for education innovation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Getting Smart Collective: The collective refers to the organization's team and community of leaders, learners and educators that they have built over the past decade.
• EdShift.ai

Products and services

• Strategic Advisory Services Project-based strategic advisory engagements for philanthropic, educational, and workforce organizations covering project design, scaling strategies, market positioning, and organizational development.
• System and Learning Design Specialized instructional, school, and system design service including network advising and innovative leadership/learning model workshops, coaching, and implementation support for learner-centered personalized learning.
• Professional Learning Design and facilitation of in-person and virtual school tours, speaking engagements, professional learning workshops, and event strategy with logistics management for education leaders and practitioners.
• Storytelling and Campaign Services Design and implementation of high-impact thought-leadership campaigns with foundations and learning organizations, including tool and resource development, community building, and advocacy.
• Learning Innovation Fund (Fund Management) Grantmaking and program management services for foundations that actively fund and support innovative, high-impact learning opportunities.

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% reported satisfaction with Getting Smart services
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• ASU Preparatory K-12 Academy Charter NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStrategic partnership for new school model design and launch, network alignment, professional learning, learning model development, branding, communications and curriculum design. Getting Smart provides ongoing advisory and design services through on-site meetings, virtual coaching, and design session facilitation.
• Cajon Valley Unified School DistrictcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership supporting the World of Work initiative and learning community partners like San Diego Workforce Partnerships. Getting Smart supports design of personalized learning and interest-driven opportunities that build learner agency.
• Big Picture LearningcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner network of schools focused on student-centered, interest-based learning. Collaboration on school models and pathway programs.
• Education ReimaginedcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-host of town halls and collaboration on learner-centered education transformation. Joint programming on designing for learning differences.
• Learner-Centered CollaborativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-author of Public Microschool Playbook. Collaboration on learner-centered education models and resources.
• TranscendcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-author of Public Microschool Playbook. Partnership on school innovation and redesign frameworks.
• The Learning AcceleratorcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStorytelling support for Strategy Lab cohort to expand practices and share success stories from the field. Content development and interview support.
• New Tech NetworkminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner network of project-based learning schools. Collaboration on school models and professional learning.
• Digital PromiseminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducation intermediary focused on EdTech and innovation. Collaboration on advancing learning technology and equity.
• Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducation intermediary focused on breakthrough models. Partnership on advancing next-generation learning approaches.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Digital Promise: A nonprofit intermediary focused on EdTech and innovation in education, listed as a Getting Smart partner, sharing the same K-12 advisory and ecosystem-building model.
• Big Picture Learning: A school network supporting student-centered, interest-based learning with whom Getting Smart collaborates, overlapping heavily on school model design and pathway work.
• Transcend: A school innovation organization that co-authored the Public Microschool Playbook with Getting Smart and competes for the same foundation and district design engagements.
• Next Generation Learning Challenges (NGLC): A breakthrough-models education intermediary partnering with Getting Smart and competing for the same foundation funding pool around next-generation school design.
• New Tech Network: A project-based learning school network listed as a Getting Smart partner, addressing overlapping K-12 redesign and professional learning needs for districts.
• The Learning Accelerator: An education intermediary working on personalized and competency-based learning with overlapping foundation funders and a similar content-and-advisory model.
• Learner-Centered Collaborative: A co-author of the Public Microschool Playbook and a learner-centered education partner with a similar consulting and resource model.
• Education Reimagined: An education intermediary focused on learner-centered transformation that co-hosts Town Halls with Getting Smart and shares the same K-12 redesign, thought-leadership, and movement-building model.

Broad incumbents

• EdSurge: A leading EdTech media and information company covering the same K-12 innovation audience as Getting Smart's blog and podcast, though focused on product news rather than advisory services.
• Edutopia: A major K-12 education innovation media platform from the George Lucas Educational Foundation that overlaps with Getting Smart's content reach and thought-leadership positioning, though on a larger institutional scale.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Getting_Smart
• Facebookfacebook.com/GettingSmart
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/getting-smart
• Instagraminstagram.com/getting_smart

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 Getting Smart