Youth Entrepreneurs

What Youth Entrepreneurs does

Youth Entrepreneurs, founded in 1991 and headquartered in Wichita, Kansas, now operates primarily under the "Empowered" brand as a nonprofit teacher support network. The organization serves middle and high school educators (with extensions to upper elementary and post-secondary) through an integrated suite of free classroom resources built around its "Principles + Markets = Mindset" (PMM) learning strategy and a shared language of 8 Foundational Principles (Responsibility, Integrity, Knowledge, Freedom, Passion, Opportunity, Sound Judgment, Win-win Focus).

The core product is the Empowered Hub (empoweredhub.org), a web-based platform that serves as the central repository and community for a 55,000+ educator base. Offerings include a library of ready-to-use activities with lesson guides and debrief questions, classroom tools (Start-Up Kit, Getting Started Guide, posters, bookmarks), the gamified Empowered Currency reward system, and Activity Creator AI™, a trademarked AI tool that customizes activities to specific grade levels and state standards. Distribution is entirely digital and self-serve, with optional 1:1 and small-group teacher support sessions.

The business model is nonprofit and donor-funded: all products, tools, and community access are provided at no cost to teachers and schools with no paywalls, subscriptions, or premium tiers. The organization is a member of the Stand Together Community, leveraging shared infrastructure and a broader change-maker network. GTM is community-led, with growth driven by teacher word-of-mouth, content marketing (blog, email newsletter), and organic social media (Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn). The organization has 51-100 employees, is US-based, and reports active ongoing content publication into 2025-2026.

Name

Youth Entrepreneurs

Legal name

Empowered

Website

https://youthentrepreneurs.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1991

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

Youth Entrepreneurs, founded in 1991 in Wichita, Kansas, operates as a nonprofit teacher support network ("Empowered") serving 55,000+ educators with free classroom activities, tools, and a PMM learning framework, including AI-powered activity customization.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Teacher Professional Development and Educational Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (6117), Educational Support Services (61171), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Business Incubators & Accelerators (EDAMAHAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Entrepreneurship Foundations & Startup Basics (EDAMAHAA), Leadership, Management & Teamwork for Business (EDAMAHAI), Financial Literacy, Budgeting & Personal Finance (EDAMAHAE)

Keywords

• Teacher professional development
• Classroom activities library
• Experiential learning resources
• Nonprofit education services
• Entrepreneurship education training

Headquarters

HQ city

Wichita

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: As a nonprofit organization, Empowered is funded through donations. The website includes a donate link, suggesting charitable contributions as the primary funding source. No revenue is generated from teachers or schools for the free resources and tools.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Youth Entrepreneurs delivers free, web-based educator support resources through the Empowered Hub platform, including a library of classroom activities, lesson guides, AI-powered Activity Creator AI™ for tailoring lessons to grade level and state standards, classroom management tools, a 55,000+ member teacher community, and free 1:1 and group teacher support. All resources are anchored in the Principles + Markets = Mindset (PMM) experiential learning strategy and the 8 Foundational Principles curriculum framework.

Product overview

Empowered is a nonprofit teacher support network offering an integrated suite of free resources for educators. The platform centers on its Empowered Hub (the central access point), an Activities Library with ready-to-use lesson guides aligned to the Principles + Markets = Mindset (PMM) learning strategy, Classroom Tools including the Empowered Currency reward system, and a 55,000+ Teacher Community. Key offerings include the Activity Creator AI™ for tailoring activities to specific standards, plus direct Teacher Support through 1:1 and group sessions. All resources are free for teachers, with the 8 Foundational Principles (Responsibility, Integrity, Knowledge, Freedom, Passion, Opportunity, Sound Judgment, Win-win Focus) providing the shared language framework across all products.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Activity Creator AI™: AI-powered tool to help teachers tailor activities to specific grade levels or state standards
• Empowered Currency
• Empowered Hub

Products and services

• Empowered Hub The central online platform where Empowered Educators access the full library of activities, resources, classroom tools, and community features at no cost. Available globally to teachers who self-serve sign up.
• Activities Library A collection of lesson guides, suggested materials, supplemental aids, and debrief questions designed around the Principles + Markets = Mindset (PMM) learning strategy, all available at no cost to Empowered Educators.
• Activity Creator AI™ An AI-powered standalone tool that helps teachers tailor activities to specific grade levels or state standards, reducing lesson preparation time.
• Classroom Tools A suite of tools including Start-Up Kit, Getting Started Guide, posters, bookmarks, and currency/bonds systems for establishing classroom vision, collaborative culture, and student motivation.
• Teacher Community A collaborative network of 55,000+ educators across various subjects, grade levels, and learning environments (public, private, charter, home, and community-based programs) working together to transform education using PMM.
• Teacher Support Free support services including 1:1 support sessions, small group sessions, and peer educator connections for teachers seeking help with PMM implementation or specific classroom needs.

Quantifiable outcome

• 55,000+ educators in community
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers8 records

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

One partnership is on record.

• Stand Together CommunitycoreOthersEmpowered is a proud member of the Stand Together Community, a larger organizational network. This affiliation provides access to shared resources, infrastructure, and a broader network of change-makers focused on education and community empowerment. Careers and job listings are hosted through standtogether.org.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship (NFTE): NFTE is a nonprofit focused on youth entrepreneurship education, directly comparable to Youth Entrepreneurs' mission of teaching entrepreneurship mindset, business planning, and foundational principles to young learners through teacher-supported programming.
• Junior Achievement: Junior Achievement is a long-standing nonprofit delivering entrepreneurship, financial literacy, and work-readiness education to K-12 students via teacher-led classroom programs — a direct peer in mission, audience, and educator-supported delivery model.
• Young Entrepreneurs Academy (YEA!): YEA! is a nonprofit youth business incubator and accelerator that guides students through launching real businesses. It is directly comparable to Youth Entrepreneurs' youth entrepreneurship incubator orientation.
• BizWorld Foundation: BizWorld Foundation delivers hands-on entrepreneurship programs to elementary and middle school students through teachers, directly comparable to Youth Entrepreneurs' classroom-based, teacher-led entrepreneurship education model.
• Council for Economic Education: The Council for Economic Education is a nonprofit that promotes economic and personal finance literacy in K-12 schools through teacher training and curriculum. It is directly comparable to Youth Entrepreneurs in delivering teacher-led, nonprofit-funded business and financial education to students.

Broad incumbents

• DECA: DECA is a large, established student organization preparing emerging leaders in marketing, finance, hospitality, and management. It overlaps with Youth Entrepreneurs on entrepreneurship and business-skill education for middle/high school students, but operates at much larger scale as a career-focused student org.
• Edutopia: Edutopia (George Lucas Educational Foundation) is a broad nonprofit that provides free, high-quality K-12 teaching strategies and resources to educators. It overlaps with Empowered's free teacher-resource and community model but covers all subjects rather than specializing in entrepreneurship.
• DonorsChoose: DonorsChoose is a well-known nonprofit that channels donor funds to teachers for classroom resources. It is comparable to Empowered's nonprofit, donation-funded, teacher-serving model, though DonorsChoose facilitates resource purchases rather than delivering curriculum content.
• Common Sense Education: Common Sense Education is a nonprofit providing free digital citizenship, media literacy, and SEL curricula to teachers and schools. Comparable to Empowered as a free, teacher-facing nonprofit resource network, though its focus areas differ.

Emerging players

• BetterLesson: BetterLesson provides professional development, coaching, and curated resources to K-12 educators. It overlaps with Empowered's teacher-support and free-resource offerings but with a heavier emphasis on coaching and PD rather than entrepreneurship curriculum.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/YouthEntrepreneurs
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/teach-empowered
• Instagraminstagram.com/teachersempowered
• Xx.com/YouthEntre

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Youth Entrepreneurs