CESA 6

What CESA 6 does

CESA 6 (legal name: Cooperative Educational Service Agency 6) is a Wisconsin-chartered non-profit educational service agency founded in 1963 and headquartered at 2300 State Road 44, Oshkosh, Wisconsin. The organization provides comprehensive educational consulting, professional development, coaching, and support services to K-12 school administrators, teachers, and students/families, primarily across Wisconsin school districts with limited out-of-state engagements (e.g., Corsicana ISD, Texas). Its product portfolio is anchored by the Effectiveness Project, a suite of educator evaluation systems covering teachers, educational specialists, school administrators, central office, district administrators, athletic/activities directors, coaches/advisors, and non-certified staff, delivered on the Frontline Education platform. Adjacent services span coaching and consulting across HR, leadership, special education, curriculum and instruction, technology, marketing/communications, student services, and math/STEM; AI literacy training modules launched in 2024; a Gallup Q12 employee engagement practice; and consortium-based service delivery. CESA 6 also operates a Shopify-powered e-commerce storefront (store.cesa6.org) selling physical products such as the Duke's Storm children's book, leadership card decks, the NUDGE Formula prompting game, and affirmation tokens under the Smart Thinking sub-brand.

CESA 6 generates revenue through professional services (consulting, coaching, professional development, consortiums) delivered via a consultative, sales-led, relationship-based GTM motion directly to K-12 districts and their administrators, supplemented by event revenue (e.g., Youth Transition Conference, Smart Thinking Summer Leadership Retreat, Women Leading Wisconsin 2027) and a smaller direct-to-consumer e-commerce line for branded merchandise and tools. Pricing is quote-based and not publicly disclosed, reflecting the customized nature of engagements. The organization's 101-250 employee base is concentrated in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, and it was recognized as a 2026 Gallup Exceptional Workplace Award winner. There is no public ownership, parent company, or external funding; CESA 6 is governed by a Board of Control and operates as an independent cooperative educational service agency under Wisconsin statute.

Name

CESA 6

Legal name

Cooperative Educational Service Agency 6

Website

https://cesa6.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1963

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

101–250 employees

Short description

CESA 6 (Cooperative Educational Service Agency 6) is a Wisconsin-chartered non-profit founded in 1963 that delivers consulting, professional development, coaching, and educator evaluation systems to K-12 school districts primarily in Wisconsin. It also offers AI literacy training and a branded e-commerce line of leadership and SEL products under the Smart Thinking sub-brand.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Educational Services

NAICS

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

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Management Services (8741)

akta.pro primary industry

Regional Education Service Agencies (ESAs/BOCES/Intermediate Units) (EDADABAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Education Professionals (Teacher/Administrator CE, CPD) (EDAAALAE), Special Education Evaluation & Assessment (Psychoeducational, Speech/Language, OT/PT) (EDAJAKAA), Professional Development / CPD Requirement Administration for Licensure (EDADAJAL)

Keywords

• Educational service agency
• K-12 professional development
• Educator evaluation systems
• School consulting services
• Teacher coaching programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Oshkosh

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Educational Services Revenue: CESA 6 generates revenue through providing educational consulting, professional development, coaching, and support services to K-12 schools and districts. Services are customized to meet individual school needs and delivered by professional education experts.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

CESA 6 (Cooperative Educational Service Agency 6) delivers customized educational consulting, coaching, and professional development services to K-12 school districts, primarily in Wisconsin. Its flagship offering is the Effectiveness Project, a suite of educator performance evaluation systems (TPES, ESPES, SAPES, COPES, DAPES, AADPES, CAPES, NCSPES) used by school districts to assess teachers, administrators, and support staff. Services are tailored to each district's needs and delivered by professional education experts.

Product overview

CESA 6 is a Cooperative Educational Service Agency providing comprehensive educational solutions primarily serving K-12 schools in Wisconsin. The organization operates as a multi-product service provider with the Effectiveness Project as its core evaluation platform comprising multiple evaluation systems: TPES for teachers, ESPES for educational specialists, SAPES for school administrators, COPES for central office administrators, DAPES for district administrators, AADPES and CAPES for athletic and activity directors, and NCSPES for non-certified staff. Supporting this core platform are professional services including Gallup Q12 Employee Engagement Survey, coaching services across multiple domains (HR, marketing, technology, special education), consulting services, consortium membership, and events. The organization offers AI-focused training through AI Leadership & Integration Academy, AI Essentials, AI Leadership Learning Collaborative, and AI Playbook for Athletic Excellence. Physical products include the Duke's Storm children's book series with related merchandise (stickers, stuffed animals), Leadership & Reflection Card Decks (180 Degree Cards, Positivity Prompt Cards, Be Buffalo Card Deck, Buffalo Mindfulness Cards), Affirmation Tokens, NUDGE Formula Prompting Game, and Seasons of Life guides. The Smart Thinking Podcast branded content provides leadership development resources. Products are sold through an online store powered by Shopify.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Smart Thinking: Smart Thinking is CESA 6's leadership philosophy and brand, featuring the 'Smart Thinking Podcast' hosted by CEO Ted Neitzke, emphasizing buffalo leadership principles of facing challenges with courage.
• Duke's Storm
• Effectiveness Project

Products and services

• Effectiveness Project A comprehensive suite of educator performance evaluation systems covering teachers (TPES), educational specialists (ESPES), school administrators (SAPES), central office administrators (COPES), district administrators/superintendents (DAPES), athletic/activities directors (AADPES), coaches and advisors (CAPES), and non-certified staff (NCSPES). The systems integrate with the Frontline Education platform to streamline the evaluation process for K-12 districts.

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

AI capability3 records

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• CESA 1 (Cooperative Educational Service Agency 1): Another Wisconsin Cooperative Educational Service Agency serving a different regional cluster of school districts with the same ESA model (consulting, PD, cooperative services). Most directly comparable peer because it operates under identical Wisconsin statute and shares the same customer base archetype.
• Learning Forward: Professional association advancing educator professional learning standards, training, and certification. Comparable because CESA 6's PD workshops and coaching services serve the same educator learning market that Learning Forward shapes and accredits.
• Capital Region BOCES (Questar III): A New York Boards of Cooperative Educational Services (BOCES) organization delivering cooperative educational services - the NY equivalent of Wisconsin's CESA structure. Comparable because it is a region-based education services cooperative providing shared PD, evaluation, and student services to member districts.
• Battelle for Kids: Non-profit organization delivering leadership development, educator evaluation frameworks, and student success consulting to K-12 districts. Directly comparable because its evaluation and leadership offerings overlap with CESA 6's Effectiveness Project suite.
• Solution Tree: National K-12 professional development and consulting provider that competes with CESA 6 in leadership development, instructional coaching, and educator effectiveness services for school districts. Closest direct out-of-state competitor because it sells similar PD workshops, coaching, and school improvement content to district administrators nationwide.
• McREL International: Non-profit education research and consulting organization providing professional development, leadership coaching, and school improvement services to K-12 districts. Comparable because it sells the same mix of consultant-led advisory services to district leadership.

Emerging players

• Edthena: Teacher coaching and PD video platform used by districts for instructional coaching and educator evaluation. Comparable because it offers a scaled, lower-cost alternative to CESA 6's human-delivered coaching services and could displace in-person engagements.
• Panorama Education: Fast-growing K-12 data and SEL platform providing surveys, educator evaluation, and student success tools that increasingly overlap with CESA 6's Effectiveness Project and Gallup Q12 offerings. Comparable as an emerging EdTech competitor encroaching on the same educator-effectiveness category.

Broad incumbents

• NWEA: Large non-profit K-12 assessment, professional development, and consulting provider used by thousands of U.S. districts. Comparable because it competes with CESA 6 in PD, assessment, and data-driven instructional support, but at much larger scale and as a national incumbent rather than regional specialist.
• Frontline Education: Major K-12 administrative software platform whose evaluation tools integrate with CESA 6's Effectiveness Project. Comparable because it serves the same educator-effectiveness and PD workflow and could expand into the consulting-and-content layer where CESA 6 operates.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCdRQEeyT0MEcJgsGCEpeGDA
• Facebookfacebook.com/cesa6
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/cesa-6
• Instagraminstagram.com/cesa6wi
• TikToktiktok.com/@cesa6smartthinking
• Xx.com/CESA6

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles11 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 CESA 6