Partnership for the Future

What Partnership for the Future does

Partnership for the Future (PFF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 1994 by Alan Kirshner and headquartered at 4600 Cox Rd, Suite 375, Glen Allen, Virginia. It operates the largest privately funded college preparatory and workforce development program in the Commonwealth of Virginia, serving high-achieving high school freshmen from limited means across the greater Richmond metropolitan area. The organization recruits students (minimum 3.0 GPA or honor/scholar roll) from a network of 14 partner high schools across Richmond Public Schools, Henrico County Public Schools, and CodeRVA Regional High School, and engages them in a four-year pre-college commitment followed by continued support through college graduation.

PFF delivers its services through a coordinated human-delivered program that combines college preparation, paid summer internships, mentorship, scholarship matching (up to $2,000 in matched college savings), college application support, career immersion experiences, and cultural enrichment. There is no proprietary technology platform or software product; the program operates through direct staff engagement, partner school coordination, and corporate internship placements with major Richmond-area employers including Markel, Dominion Energy, and Capital One, supplemented by smaller partners such as Universal Adaptive Consulting Services. The organization reports outcomes of 100% college enrollment for program completers, $23M+ in scholarships earned by the Class of 2025, and a 77% six-year college graduation rate.

The business model is donation-funded: PFF operates as a 501(c)(3) with 11-50 employees, deriving revenue from individuals, corporations, and foundations, and states that 75% of received funding directly impacts students in the program. It is led by President and CEO Dionne W. Henderson and governed by a Board of Directors that includes senior representatives from its major corporate partners. The organization holds accreditations from Candid (Platinum Seal 2025), Better Business Bureau, National College Access Network, and Service Enterprise (2025).

Name

Partnership for the Future

Legal name

Partnership for the Future

Website

https://partnershipforthefuture.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1994

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Partnership for the Future is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit operating the largest privately funded college preparatory and workforce development program in Virginia, serving high-achieving high school students with limited means in the Richmond metropolitan area through partner schools, corporate internships, mentorship, and scholarship support.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth College Preparation and Workforce Development Programs

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (6117)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

College Access, Scholarships & Student Success Nonprofits (BPAGADAE)

akta.pro secondary industry

Youth-to-Adult Bridge & College Readiness (Noncredit) (EDAAAEAK)

Keywords

• College preparation program
• Workforce development services
• Youth mentorship programs
• Scholarship assistance services
• Paid internship programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Glen Allen

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Others, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Donations: PFF is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that operates primarily through donations from individuals, corporations, and foundations. The organization states that 75% of funding directly impacts students in the PFF program.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels7 records

Core offering

Partnership for the Future delivers a free, four-year college preparation and workforce development program for high-achieving high school freshmen (9th graders with a minimum 3.0 GPA or honor/scholar roll) from limited means in the greater Richmond, Virginia area. The program combines paid corporate summer internships, mentorship, intensive college application support, a college savings match of up to $2,000, and continued college success support through graduation, delivered through partner high schools and corporate partners.

Product overview

Partnership for the Future (PFF) is a nonprofit college preparation and workforce development program that operates the largest and most accomplished privately funded college preparatory/workforce development program in the Commonwealth of Virginia. The organization does not offer technology products or software platforms; rather, it provides a comprehensive service program consisting of college preparation, job skills training, paid work experiences, financial aid assistance, and workforce guidance designed to help high-achieving students from limited means pursue college education and ambitious careers. PFF is a four-year commitment program before students enter college, followed by a college success program through graduation.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Four-Year College Preparation Program
• Paid Corporate Summer Internship Program
• College Savings Match Program

Quantifiable outcome

• 100% college enrollment rate for students who complete the program
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MarkelcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor corporate partner providing internship opportunities for PFF students. Sean Smith, a PFF alumnus, completed an internship at Markel Corporation through the program.
• Dominion EnergycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate partner supporting PFF's mission through internship placements and scholarship contributions. Gus Johnson, VP of Grid Technical Solutions at Dominion Energy, serves on the PFF Board of Directors as Secretary.
• Capital OnecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMajor corporate partner providing internship opportunities. Chip Miller, Director of Product Management at Capital One, serves as Chair of the PFF Board of Directors. Christin Duval interned at Capital One's Community Impact & Investment Team.
• Richmond Public SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partnership with 8 high schools: Armstrong High School, Franklin Military Academy, Huguenot High School, John Marshall High School, Open High School, Richmond Community High School, Richmond High School for the Arts, and Thomas Jefferson High School.
• Henrico County Public SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducational partnership with 6 high schools: Hermitage High School, Henrico High School, Highland Springs High School, J.R. Tucker High School, and Varina High School.
• CodeRVA Regional High SchoolcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional educational partner providing college access opportunities to students.
• Universal Adaptive Consulting ServicesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSmall business that hosted a PFF student intern. Valencia Hicks, director of business operations, provided positive feedback about the intern experience and program partnership.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Bottom Line: Bottom Line is a national college access and success nonprofit serving low-income, first-generation students from high school through college graduation. It mirrors PFF's multi-year coaching, mentoring, and degree-completion support model and competes for the same donor and student populations in overlapping metros.
• College Possible: College Possible provides intensive near-peer coaching for high school and college students from low-income backgrounds, with a curriculum-driven, multi-year model. It is a direct functional peer to PFF in target population, intervention design, and outcome reporting.
• QuestBridge: QuestBridge connects high-achieving, low-income high school students with full four-year scholarships at top colleges, pairing applicants with partner institutions. It is directly comparable to PFF in serving high-achieving students with limited means and in driving scholarship outcomes like those reported in PFF's $23M+ Class of 2025 figure.
• Minds Matter: Minds Matter is a college access nonprofit offering mentoring, test prep, and summer programs for low-income high school students with strong academic potential. Its three-year program model and academic eligibility criteria closely parallel PFF's four-year commitment and 3.0 GPA threshold.
• Breakthrough Collaborative: Breakthrough Collaborative runs pre-college academic enrichment and college counseling programs for students from communities with limited access to higher education. Its mission, student population, and college-prep coaching focus overlap directly with PFF's college readiness services.
• iMentor: iMentor pairs low-income high school students with college-educated mentors through structured curriculum and one-to-one relationships from junior year through college. It is comparable to PFF in emphasizing sustained mentorship as a core lever for college persistence and completion.
• ScholarMatch: ScholarMatch provides college advising, scholarships, and mentorship to low-income students with the ambition to attend college. It is comparable to PFF in combining individualized advising, scholarship access, and donor-funded support for first-generation college students.
• OneGoal: OneGoal delivers a multi-year college persistence program to low-income high school students, embedding coaches inside partner schools. Its cohort-based, school-partner delivery model closely resembles PFF's partner-high-school recruitment approach.

Emerging players

• Matriculate: Matriculate connects low-income, high-achieving high school students with undergraduate mentors for college admissions coaching. It overlaps with PFF in target student profile and mentoring-driven outcomes, but operates nationally and at a smaller per-student scale.

Others

• National College Access Network (NCAN): NCAN is the national membership and accreditation body for college access programs and an accreditor of PFF itself. It is not a direct competitor but is a sector-level peer — the network through which PFF benchmarks outcomes and accesses policy/funding levers relevant to its model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/PFFRichmond
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/partnership-for-the-future-inc
• Instagraminstagram.com/partnershipforthefuture

Compliance4 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 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 Partnership for the Future