What Northside Achievement Zone does

Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) is a nonprofit, place-based collaborative founded in 2010 and headquartered in North Minneapolis. Its mission is to end generational poverty and build a culture of achievement for low-income children of color through a two-generation, cradle-to-career model that pairs direct family services with a coordinated network of 40+ partner schools and community organizations. NAZ serves over 1,000 parents and 2,000+ scholars from the prenatal period through age 18, delivering services free of charge through Scholar Success Coaches embedded at anchor schools and early childhood centers. Core programmatic offerings include the Family Academy (parenting education), Early Childhood scholarships and supports, K-12 academic and extended-learning programs, Scholar Success Coaching, college/post-secondary preparation, wellness services, and family economic support (career, finance, housing). In 2026 NAZ launched Wealth Builds Minneapolis in partnership with Harlem Children's Zone, adding financial education, college savings accounts, and asset-building to the service stack.

NAZ's underlying technology is a HIPAA-compliant longitudinal data system that tracks scholar and family participation, health, well-being, and educational progress across the collaborative, enabling outcome evaluation, board/funder reporting, and continuous program improvement. The organization is funded entirely through philanthropy, drawing on four primary revenue streams: individual donations (including planned giving and corporate matching), institutional giving from foundations and corporate social responsibility programs, government grants (federal Promise Neighborhood designation and state funding via the Education Partnership Coalition), and event fundraising, led by the annual SoarNorth Gala which raises over $3M. Programs are free to families with no income restrictions. Distribution is anchored at partner K-12 schools (e.g., Patrick Henry, Camden, North Community, Cristo Rey Jesuit) and early childhood centers, with self-enrollment also available. NAZ is governed by an independent Board of Directors chaired by Tim Manning (Scoular SVP & CLO) and has held federal Promise Neighborhood designation and StriveTogether network membership.

Name

Northside Achievement Zone

Legal name

Northside Achievement Zone

Website

https://northsideachievement.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2010

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) is a Minneapolis-based nonprofit operating a place-based, cradle-to-career collaborative of 40+ partner schools and organizations that serves over 1,000 parents and 2,000 scholars from prenatal through age 18 in North Minneapolis, free of charge, through Scholar Success Coaches, family programming, and the Wealth Builds Minneapolis wealth-building initiative.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Minneapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: NAZ receives donations from individual supporters including one-time gifts, multi-year pledges, and planned giving. Corporate matching programs are also available.
2. Institutional Giving: Foundation and corporate partners provide essential base funding for NAZ programs and partners. Includes grants from foundations and corporate social responsibility contributions.
3. Government Grants: NAZ receives government funding including federal Promise Neighborhood designation and state funding through the Education Partnership Coalition.
4. Events: Annual fundraising events including the SoarNorth Gala which raises over $3 million annually.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) is a nonprofit collaborative providing free cradle-to-career support to families in North Minneapolis. It delivers integrated programs including parenting education (Family Academy), early childhood scholarships, K-12 academic support, Scholar Success Coaching, college preparation, wellness services, and wealth-building initiatives, delivered through 40+ partner schools and community organizations.

Product overview

Northside Achievement Zone (NAZ) is a place-based nonprofit collaborative offering a comprehensive cradle-to-career service model. The organization provides integrated programs including Family Academy (parenting education), Early Childhood services (scholarships, doulas, coaching), K-12 academic support (tutoring, summer programs), Scholar Success Coaching, College/Post-Secondary support, Wellness programs, Family Support services (career, finance, housing), and the newer Wealth Builds Minneapolis initiative (financial education and asset-building). NAZ operates through partnerships with 40+ anchor organizations and schools, serving North Minneapolis families from prenatal through career.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Family Academy: Parent and youth education program offering parenting classes from prenatal through teen years.
• Wealth Builds Minneapolis
• Scholar Success Coaches

Products and services

• Family Academy A series of free parenting education classes for caregivers in North Minneapolis, providing skills and tools to strengthen family stability and support children's academic success from prenatal through teen years.
• Early Childhood Program Provides scholarships for high-quality early childhood education, access to birth doulas, home visitors, and coaches to support child development from before birth through kindergarten readiness.
• K-12 Education Support On-site math and reading help, enrichment opportunities during and outside school hours, and summer programs to improve academic outcomes for Northside scholars.
• College/Post-Secondary Support Promotes a college-going culture through partner resources that help families and scholars navigate the path to higher education.
• Wealth Builds Minneapolis A wealth-building initiative developed in partnership with Harlem Children's Zone that combines NAZ's prenatal-to-profession supports with financial education, college savings accounts (CSAs), and asset-building investments for scholars and families.
• Scholar Success Coaching One-on-one coaching assigned to enrolled families, connecting them with community resources, removing barriers, and supporting academic and social-emotional goals through personalized Scholar Success Plans.
• Wellness Programs Physical and mental health support integrated with programming, connecting families with health resources and creating supportive spaces for educators.
• Family Support Services Career, finance, and housing support services helping families achieve stable housing, economic advancement, meaningful employment, and homeownership to build strong foundations for scholars.

Quantifiable outcome

• 75% of NAZ early childhood scholars meeting/exceeding developmental expectations in literacy and cognition
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eight partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Harlem Children's Zone (HCZ)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerHCZ co-developed the Wealth Builds Minneapolis initiative with NAZ. This partnership brings HCZ's proven model for building generational wealth to North Minneapolis, combining NAZ's prenatal-to-profession supports with financial education and college savings accounts tailored for the local community.
• Early Childhood Partners (Agape Child Development Center, Everyday Miracles, La Crèche Early Childhood Centers, Minneapolis Public Schools Early Childhood, Northside Child Development Center, Olu's Beginnings, Think Small, Way to Grow, and others)coreOthersEarly childhood centers providing high-quality learning opportunities and scholarships for NAZ's youngest learners. Partners offer access to birth doulas, home visitors, and NAZ coaches to form educational support systems beginning before birth.
• K-12 School Partners (Ascension Catholic School, Cristo Rey Jesuit High School, Camden High School, Lucy Craft Laney Elementary, North High School, Nellie Stone Johnson Elementary, Patrick Henry High School)coreOthersK-12 schools providing academic programs, extended learning, and college preparation for NAZ scholars. Coaches are embedded at these anchor schools to provide direct support.
• Expanded Learning Partners (21st Century Academy, Reading Partners, Playworks Minnesota, YMCA Beacons, and others)coreOthersOut-of-school time programs providing tutoring, mentoring, and enrichment activities. Reading Partners offers free literacy tutoring at Ascension Catholic School.
• Family Support Partners (Build Wealth MN, HIRED, Project for Pride in Living, Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity, Housing in Action)coreOthersPartners supporting families with career services, financial education, housing assistance, and wealth-building opportunities including homeownership support.
• Wellness Partners (Washburn Center for Children)coreOthersMental health and wellness services provided through partner organizations supporting the overall health of scholars and families.
• Education Partnership Coalition (EPC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerStatewide group of nine place-based, cradle-to-career organizations across Minnesota. EPC secured over $23M in state funding over seven years to collectively support over 100,000 students. Led by Sondra Samuels as co-founder.
• StriveTogether NetworkminorOthersNAZ is a member of the StriveTogether Network, a community of place-based partnerships and learning communities including Harlem Children's Zone, Blue Meridian Partners, Ballmer Group, and the William Julius Wilson Institute.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Harlem Children's Zone: Harlem Children's Zone is the original place-based cradle-to-career collaborative and is NAZ's explicit co-development partner for Wealth Builds Minneapolis. Operates the same model archetype (anchor partner network, embedded coaches, two-generation supports) in Harlem, NYC, with a substantially larger scope. The most direct functional peer.
• Generation Next: Minneapolis-based cradle-to-career collaborative focused on closing achievement gaps for students of color. Operates in a parallel Twin Cities geography with overlapping funder ecosystem and is part of the same Education Partnership Coalition that NAZ's CEO co-founded. Functionally a sibling place-based collective-impact org.
• Reading Partners: National literacy tutoring nonprofit operating inside NAZ's anchor schools (e.g., Ascension Catholic School). NAZ's Chief Development Officer previously led the MSP chapter and served as Reading Partners' national Chief Advancement Officer, making it both a service-delivery partner inside NAZ and a strong functional peer on the K-12 tutoring component.
• Think Small: Minnesota early childhood nonprofit providing scholarships and supports; directly serves NAZ's early childhood scholars (Hollman family profile referenced). Comparable on the early-childhood scholarship and parent-education layers of NAZ's cradle-to-career stack.

Broad incumbents

• StriveTogether: StriveTogether is the national network of place-based cradle-to-career partnerships of which NAZ is a member. Operates as a backbone/incubator rather than a single-site direct-service org, but defines the framework and benchmarks NAZ is measured against; includes peers like Blue Meridian Partners and Ballmer Group in its orbit.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters Twin Cities: Youth-mentoring nonprofit with a Twin Cities footprint; NAZ's VP of Finance (Natalie Obee) was previously VP of Finance and Operations here. Overlaps with NAZ on mentoring component of expanded-learning supports and shares the same corporate philanthropy base in Minneapolis.
• United Way Twin Cities: Large-scale Twin Cities funder and backbone org supporting family stability, education, and income programs for Northside residents. Comparable as a multi-issue community-impact intermediary with overlapping scholar/family population, though operating as a grantmaker rather than direct-service provider.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of the Twin Cities: Expanded-learning and youth-development nonprofit with North Minneapolis presence that overlaps with NAZ's K-12 and after-school components. Comparable as a youth-services provider embedded in the same community, though without NAZ's two-generation or asset-building overlay.

Emerging players

• Promise Neighborhoods grantees (national network, e.g., Berea College Promise Neighborhood): NAZ holds the federal Promise Neighborhood designation, making it part of a national cohort of federally funded place-based collaboratives across the U.S. Peer organizations in this cohort share funding mechanism, federal outcome-reporting requirements, and the cradle-to-career framework, though each operates in distinct geographies with locally tailored partners.

Others

• Twin Cities Habitat for Humanity: Family-support partner within NAZ's collaborative providing housing and homeownership pathways to NAZ families (Briana Thompson profile). Indirect peer operating at the housing-stability layer of NAZ's two-generation model rather than competing directly.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@NAZMpls/featured
• Facebookfacebook.com/NAZMpls
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/nazmpls
• Instagraminstagram.com/nazmpls

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors2 records

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Northside Achievement Zone