Pilot Light
Pilot Light is a Chicago-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that delivers free food education curriculum, teacher fellowships, and the SnackTime Explorers toolkit to Pre-K-12 students and educators across the United States, funded by donations, USDA grants, and restaurant partnerships.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2010
- HeadquartersChicago, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2B
- OfferingServices
What Pilot Light does
Pilot Light is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2010 and headquartered in Chicago, Illinois, that integrates food education into Pre-K-12 classroom instruction across the United States. The organization develops the Food Education Standards — a seven-standard framework written by educators for educators — and delivers a portfolio of programs including Classroom to Cafeteria, Feeding Futures, the Food Education Fellowship, the SnackTime Explorers FFVP toolkit (aligned to the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program), and professional development workshops. Its primary technology asset is the Food Education Center, a free online portal offering classroom lessons, home lessons, recipes, videos, and advocacy resources accessible to educators, caregivers, and young people.
Pilot Light serves Pre-K-12 students and their educators as its primary beneficiaries, with secondary stakeholders including schools and school districts (Chicago Public Schools, Noble Network of Charter Schools, Baltimore City Public Schools, USDA FFVP schools), individual donors, corporate partners, and a network of Chicago restaurants participating in the Pilot Light Picks program. The organization does not charge for its core curriculum or fellowship offerings; instead, its operating model is funded through individual donations (one-time, recurring monthly/quarterly/annual, stock gifts, QCDs, and donor-advised funds), corporate matching programs, federal grants (notably USDA Farm to School grants in 2018 and 2023), foundation grants (e.g., Rabobank, The Chicago Community Trust), restaurant partnership proceeds, and event-based fundraising (annual gala, Shuck Off at The Publican, Cocktail for a Cause). Go-to-market is community-led, anchored on training cohorts of Food Education Fellows and a self-serve curriculum portal, supplemented by district-level partnerships and a national distribution channel for SnackTime Explorers via the FRESHEALTH partnership.
Pilot Light firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Pilot Light
- Legal name
- Pilot Light
- Website
- https://pilotlightchefs.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2010
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Pilot Light is a Chicago-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that delivers free food education curriculum, teacher fellowships, and the SnackTime Explorers toolkit to Pre-K-12 students and educators across the United States, funded by donations, USDA grants, and restaurant partnerships.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Pilot Light industry classification
Industry- Product category
- K-12 Food Education and Nutrition Literacy Services
- NAICS
- Educational Services (61)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Standards Alignment & Curriculum Mapping Resources (State/NAEYC/Head Start) (EDACAJAN)
Keywords
Where Pilot Light is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Chicago
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Pilot Light business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2B
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others
Revenue model
- Individual Donations: Pilot Light receives donations from individual supporters through its website portal (Neon CRM), with options for one-time or recurring monthly, quarterly, or annual donations. The organization also accepts donor advised fund grants.
- Corporate Matching: The organization encourages donors to utilize corporate matching programs to double the impact of their gifts, with instructions provided on how to initiate matching.
- Stock Donations: Donors can make gifts of appreciated securities (stock, bonds, and mutual funds) directly to Pilot Light via electronic transfer to Merrill Lynch, potentially providing greater tax benefits than cash donations.
- Qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs): Donors aged 70.5 years or older can give directly from their IRA to maximize impact and minimize taxes.
- Recognition Circles: Individual donor recognition program established in 2020 to honor donors who helped build a foundation in food education and those whose continued generosity sustains programs.
- Brian E. Kruk Memorial Fund: Memorial fund established in 2022 by the Board of Directors to support the Food Education Fellowship and teachers who embody Brian's love of food and learning.
- Pilot Light Picks Restaurant Partnerships: Restaurants designate special menu items with a portion of sales benefiting Pilot Light, providing a percentage or fixed amount per item sold.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Others | Free Food Education resources for educators and families |
Go-to-market motion2 records
Distribution channels6 records
Marketing channels12 records
Pilot Light product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Pilot Light provides free food education programs, curriculum, and resources for Pre-K-12 students and educators, centered on its seven proprietary Food Education Standards. Offerings include the Food Education Center online portal (lessons, videos, recipes, advocacy resources), the Food Education Fellowship for teachers, Classroom to Cafeteria, Feeding Futures, SnackTime Explorers aligned to the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, and Standards-aligned Professional Development Workshops.
Product overview
Pilot Light is a nonprofit organization offering Food Education programs for Pre-K-12 students. Its primary offerings include the Food Education Center (an online portal with free lessons, videos, and recipes), the Food Education Fellowship (a year-long teacher fellowship program), and several classroom programs including Classroom to Cafeteria, Feeding Futures, and SnackTime Explorers FFVP Program. The organization also provides Professional Development Workshops and has developed the Food Education Standards, a seven-standard framework defining American Food Education. All offerings work together to integrate food education into teachers' classrooms and foster informed food choices among students.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Food Education Center: A free library of classroom-based and eLearning lessons, videos, and recipes, as well as advocacy lessons to bring Food Education anywhere.
- Food Education Fellowship
- SnackTime Explorers
- Pilot Light Picks
Products and services
- Food Education Center An online portal providing free classroom-based and eLearning lessons, videos, recipes, and advocacy resources to bring Food Education anywhere, including Classroom Lessons and Home Lessons for educators, families, and young people.
- Food Education Fellowship A year-long fellowship for highly motivated PreK-12 educators in the United States to implement Pilot Light Food Education lessons in their classrooms, providing professional development, ongoing coaching, and curriculum materials.
- Classroom to Cafeteria Program combining Pilot Light classroom lessons with healthy and locally sourced in-school lunches, bridging academic learning with food experiences in partnership with food service providers such as Chartwells K12.
- Feeding Futures A program focused on supporting students with Food Education as part of teachers' classrooms and fostering informed food choices.
- SnackTime Explorers FFVP Program A toolkit designed for the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program (FFVP) that brings structured, consistent weekly lesson plans to educators related to fruits and vegetables, integrating all seven Food Education Standards.
- Food Education Professional Development Workshops Professional development aligned to state standards and Pilot Light's own Food Education Standards for Pre-K-12 educators.
Quantifiable outcome
- 90% elective student lunchtime participation achieved at Pritzker College Prep
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Pilot Light
Customer profileNamed customers12 records
Segments6 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Pilot Light technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Pilot Light partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
16 partnerships are on record, tiered core, minor and major.
- Pilot Light Picks Restaurant PartnerscoreNetwork of Chicago restaurants including Lilac Tiger, Kimski, Dimmi Dimmi Corner Italian, The Table at Crate, The Bowline, Rockwell Bottle Shop & Coffee, Rockwell's Neighborhood Grill, El Che Steakhouse and Bar, and Brasero, each designating menu items with proceeds benefiting Pilot Light.
- SOFSAminorPartnership to plant seeds of collaboration around food education and sustainable food systems.
- The White HousemajorSnackTime Explorers Expansion Commitment accepted by The White House Challenge to End Hunger & Build Healthy Communities, representing significant federal recognition of the program.
- FRESHEALTHcorePartnership to deliver the SnackTime Explorers toolkit to students and educators nationwide. FRESHEALTH provides insights into how food education can positively impact the agricultural landscape. Pilot Light and FRESHEALTH jointly advocated on Capitol Hill for FFVP funding.
- One Off Hospitality / The PublicanminorHost of the annual Shuck Off event featuring Chicago chefs shucking oysters with all proceeds benefiting Pilot Light. Event sold out in less than 24 hours.
- MordecaiminorChicago restaurant hosting monthly Cocktail for a Cause events, mixing the Teacher's Cure cocktail with a portion of each sale benefiting Pilot Light.
- Ray ElementaryminorHost location for the For Good Measure Evaluation Summit, one of 15 Pilot Light educators from across grade bands.
- Here Here MarketminorSponsor and host for the For Good Measure Evaluation Summit.
- Hyatt Hyde ParkminorSponsor for the For Good Measure Evaluation Summit.
- The Spice HouseminorSponsor and supporter for the For Good Measure Evaluation Summit.
- The Evolved NetworkminorNonprofit network dedicated to food justice and education in Chicago. Pilot Light participated in a luncheon to strengthen community building among nonprofit organizations.
- FRESHFARMminorFRESHFARM became an organization to adopt Pilot Light's Food Education Standards, extending the reach of the standards beyond Pilot Light's direct programming.
- Baltimore City Public Schools Farm to School ProgramminorPartnership spotlight organization that works with Pilot Light's approach to food education in school settings.
- Chartwells K12corePartnership to provide healthy and locally sourced in-school lunches combined with Pilot Light classroom education. The collaboration achieved 90% elective student lunchtime participation at Pritzker College Prep.
- Noble Network of Charter SchoolscoreExpansion partner for Pilot Light's food education and lunchtime experience program, including Pritzker College Prep and three additional Noble Charter High Schools.
- University of Chicago MedicineminorResearch evaluation partner providing assistance with program effectiveness evaluation, led by Deborah Burnet MD, Chief of General Internal Medicine.
Scale indicators10 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights6 records
Pilot Light competitors and assessment
Company assessmentBroad incumbents
- National Farm to School Network: National Farm to School Network is a broader incumbent information, advocacy, and grants hub serving the same USDA Farm to School ecosystem Pilot Light accesses, with overlapping federal-funding mechanics and school district partnerships.
Direct peers
- The Edible Schoolyard Project: Founded by Alice Waters, Edible Schoolyard Project integrates hands-on food education into K-12 curricula and shares Pilot Light's teacher-supported, classroom-to-cafeteria model with overlapping standards-setting activity.
- Action for Healthy Kids: Action for Healthy Kids is a national nonprofit providing K-12 nutrition and physical-activity education resources, programs, and grants to schools — comparable in mission, school-district GTM, and school-nutrition advocacy positioning to Pilot Light.
- Healthy Schools Campaign: Healthy Schools Campaign is a Chicago-based national nonprofit that combines K-12 food education with federal advocacy and school-food-service partnerships, mirroring Pilot Light's hybrid Capitol Hill + cafeteria model.
- FoodCorps: FoodCorps is the closest direct peer: a national nonprofit that places service members in schools to deliver hands-on food education, similarly targeting Pre-K-12 students, with parallel funding sources (USDA, philanthropy) and an identical curriculum-as-mission model.
- FRESHFARM: FRESHFARM is an existing Pilot Light standards adopter that operates DC-area farmers markets and food-education programming — a directly comparable peer that has already integrated Pilot Light's Food Education Standards into its K-12 outreach.
- Chef Ann Foundation: Chef Ann Foundation drives food education and scratch-cooking programs inside K-12 schools, sharing Pilot Light's curriculum-plus-cafeteria integration approach and a similar donor-funded nonprofit structure.
- Whole Kids Foundation: Whole Kids Foundation funds K-12 salad bars, bee programs, and food education grants to schools — a parallel donor-funded nonprofit leveraging corporate/philanthropic dollars to embed nutrition education in Pre-K-12 classrooms.
- Cooking Matters (Share Our Strength): Cooking Matters, a program of Share Our Strength / No Kid Hungry, delivers food-literacy and cooking education to low-income families and communities, overlapping with Pilot Light's hands-on, free, standards-aligned curriculum approach.
Emerging players
- LifeLab: LifeLab is a nonprofit that trains K-12 educators in garden-based and food-systems education — an emerging player with partially overlapping curriculum/professional-development offerings to Pilot Light's Food Education Fellowship.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Pilot Light social profiles
Digital presencePilot Light compliance and trust
Trust signalCompliance2 records
Pilot Light financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Pilot Light leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Pilot Light funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Pilot Light M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about Pilot Light
What does Pilot Light do?
Pilot Light provides free food education programs, curriculum, and resources for Pre-K-12 students and educators, centered on its seven proprietary Food Education Standards. Offerings include the Food Education Center online portal (lessons, videos, recipes, advocacy resources), the Food Education Fellowship for teachers, Classroom to Cafeteria, Feeding Futures, SnackTime Explorers aligned to the USDA Fresh Fruit and Vegetable Program, and Standards-aligned Professional Development Workshops.
Is Pilot Light a public or private company?
Pilot Light is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Pilot Light founded?
Pilot Light was founded in 2010. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Pilot Light based?
Pilot Light is headquartered in Chicago, United States, in the North America region.
How does Pilot Light make money?
Seven revenue lines are on record. Individual Donations are the primary driver. The others are corporate Matching, stock Donations, qualified Charitable Distributions (QCDs), recognition Circles, brian E. Kruk Memorial Fund and pilot Light Picks Restaurant Partnerships.
Who are Pilot Light's main competitors?
National Farm to School Network is listed as a broad incumbent. Direct peers are The Edible Schoolyard Project, Action for Healthy Kids, Healthy Schools Campaign, FoodCorps, FRESHFARM, Chef Ann Foundation, Whole Kids Foundation and Cooking Matters (Share Our Strength). LifeLab is listed as an emerging player.
Does Pilot Light have an API?
No public API is recorded for Pilot Light.
What industry is Pilot Light in?
Pilot Light's product category is K-12 Food Education and Nutrition Literacy Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDACAJAN, Standards Alignment & Curriculum Mapping Resources (State/NAEYC/Head Start). Its NAICS code is 61 and its SIC code is 8200.