What Math for America does

Math for America (MƒA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2004 by mathematician and philanthropist Jim Simons to reduce STEM teacher turnover in U.S. public schools. Its core product is a four-year fellowship, renewable up to five times for up to 20 years of total participation, that provides selected teachers with $60,000 in cumulative stipends, access to a professional learning community running 400+ teacher-led courses and events per semester, mentorship, conference travel funding, and classroom materials funding. As of the most recent reporting it has roughly 976 active and 171 emeritus teachers — 1,147 in total — teaching across 373–382 NYC public schools and reaching more than 100,000 students annually. The Master Teacher Fellowship is augmented by parallel Early Career Teacher Fellowship and School Leader Fellowship tracks, plus the annual MƒA Muller Award for Professional Influence in Education ($20,000 each to two teachers plus $5,000 to their schools).

The business model is donations-based: MƒA does not sell a product or charge tuition. Its revenue streams are private philanthropy — primarily the Simons Foundation, which has channeled more than $300 million to the fellowship since founding — supplemented by corporate and foundation partners (Overdeck Family Foundation, BD, Celgene/BMS, Maher Charitable Foundation, PSEG, ADP), individual donations, and signature fundraising events including the annual Fall MƒAunction gala (1,300+ attendees in 2025) and the Poker for Math tournament at The St. Regis ($5,000/participant). Non-cash contributions include a $1.7M NSF DRK-12 grant routed through partner universities (Montclair State, SUNY Buffalo State, DePaul) for the AIM-TRU research-practice partnership, and a $2.5M commitment to NYC's Computer Science for All initiative. Its recognized customer outcomes include 82% four-year teaching retention among fellows versus ~8% national STEM attrition and 82% of fellows leading professional development for school colleagues.

MƒA's go-to-market is direct-to-teacher, application-based, and deliberately selective: teachers apply through the website and are vetted against eligibility criteria, with the community then sustained through peer-led courses, mentorship pairings of Master Teachers with Early Career Teachers, and signature events. Operating status as of input data is "operating," with geographic reach across NYC plus licensed-model programs in New York State (SUNY's NYS Master Teacher Program), New Jersey (NJ STEM Innovation Fellowship), Los Angeles (MƒA LA), San Diego (MƒA San Diego), and Waterbury CT; the organization has explicitly advocated for Title II of the federal Every Student Succeeds Act to expand state-level STEM Master Teacher programs nationally.

Name

Math for America

Legal name

Math for America

Website

https://mathforamerica.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Math for America is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs four-year fellowships for accomplished NYC public school STEM teachers, paying $60,000 in stipends and serving roughly 976 active teachers across 373 schools. It is funded primarily by the Simons Foundation, which has contributed more than $300 million since 2004.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Teacher Fellowship and STEM Education Programs

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Teacher Training for Math Enrichment & Competitions (EDAMAEAN)

Keywords

• Teacher fellowship programs
• STEM education support
• Professional development courses
• Teacher community building
• Education nonprofit funding

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Private Philanthropy / Fellowship Funding: MƒA is a nonprofit organization funded primarily through private philanthropy. The Simons Foundation provides substantial funding. Additional funding comes from foundations and corporate partners. The organization distributes fellowships and stipends to STEM teachers in NYC public schools.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Math for America (MƒA) is a nonprofit organization that operates multi-year fellowship programs for accomplished New York City public school STEM teachers. The organization provides substantial financial stipends (up to $60,000 over four years for the Master Teacher Fellowship), teacher-led professional development courses (400+ per semester), mentorship, conference and classroom materials funding, and a long-term peer community of practice spanning up to 20 years. Services are delivered to individual teachers through direct application, in-person workshops, events, and virtual/hybrid programming out of its New York City headquarters.

Product overview

Math for America (MƒA) is a nonprofit organization offering a portfolio of fellowship programs for NYC public school STEM teachers. The core offerings include the Master Teacher Fellowship (4-year program with substantial stipends), Early Career Teacher Fellowship, and School Leader Fellowship. These are supported by professional development through MƒA Courses (hundreds of teacher-led workshops per semester), the annual Fall ƒunction gala, and the annual Poker Night Tournament fundraiser. MƒA also operates recognition programs including the $20,000 Muller Award for Professional Influence in Education. The organization extends its model nationally through partnerships including MƒA LA, MƒA San Diego, the New York State Master Teacher Program, and the New Jersey STEM Innovation Fellowship. MƒA additionally sponsors the Genes in Space STEM competition and manages research initiatives like AIM-TRU through NSF partnerships.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Poker for Math: Annual poker night tournament fundraiser featuring hedge fund managers, poker professionals, and traders to support MƒA's fellowship programs
• MƒA Muller Award for Professional Influence in Education

Products and services

• MƒA Master Teacher Fellowship A four-year fellowship program for accomplished New York City public school K-12 STEM teachers providing substantial stipends ($60,000 over four years), access to professional learning communities, mentorship, conference travel funding, and renewal options for up to 20 years of continued participation.
• MƒA Early Career Teacher Fellowship Fellowship program designed for early-career STEM teachers in NYC public schools, providing mentorship from experienced Master Teachers, professional development, and entry into the MƒA teaching community.

Quantifiable outcome

• 82% of MƒA fellows remain teaching STEM in NYC after four years (vs. 8% national attrition)
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• SUNY (State University of New York)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMƒA works with SUNY to support the New York State Master Teacher Program, a professional network of more than 1,400 public school K-12 STEM teachers throughout the state. SUNY serves as host campus for regional cohorts.
• Montclair State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the AIM-TRU research-practice partnership and the NJ STEM Innovation Fellowship. Leads research on teacher professional development using MƒA's video library model.
• Princeton UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the New Jersey STEM Innovation Fellowship, hosting monthly workshops and contributing to teacher professional development in mathematics instruction.
• Rowan UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the New Jersey STEM Innovation Fellowship, providing professional development opportunities for elementary mathematics teachers across New Jersey.
• MƒA LAcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA program inspired by the MƒA model that finds the best mathematics and computer science teachers in Los Angeles and creates opportunities for their professional and intellectual growth.
• MƒA San DiegocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA program inspired by the MƒA model that seeks to improve the teaching and learning of mathematics in high-need schools in San Diego by providing professional development, mentoring, and other forms of support.
• New Jersey STEM Innovation FellowshipcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerTeacher-leadership program providing renewable, one-year fellowships to elementary mathematics teachers and middle school science teachers across New Jersey, modeled after MƒA.
• miniPCR biominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founder of the Genes in Space competition, a national STEM contest challenging students to design DNA analysis experiments for the International Space Station.
• BoeingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCo-founder and sponsor of the Genes in Space competition along with miniPCR, supporting student experiments aboard the International Space Station.
• ISS National LaboratoryminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the Genes in Space competition, providing the platform for student-designed DNA analysis experiments aboard the International Space Station.
• New England BiolabsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSponsor of the Genes in Space competition, supporting student STEM education in DNA analysis and space biology.
• NYC Computer Science for All InitiativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMƒA committed $2.5 million over five years to Mayor de Blasio's CS4All initiative, helping train nearly 5,000 teachers to bring computer science education to all 1.1 million NYC public school students.
• DePaul UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner in the AIM-TRU research-practice partnership along with Chicago Public Schools, studying teacher professional development using MƒA's video library model.
• Waterbury Public Schools STEM FellowshipminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMƒA-inspired fellowship program for middle and high school mathematics and science teachers in Waterbury, CT, supporting teacher development over more than four years.
• Federal Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMƒA advocated for provisions in ESSA allowing states to use Title II funds for state-wide STEM Master Teacher programs modeled after MƒA, expanding the model nationally.

Scale indicators8 records

Recent moves9 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• Knowles Teacher Initiative: National nonprofit providing multi-year STEM teacher fellowships, stipends, and professional learning communities to high school mathematics and science teachers. Closest structural analog to MƒA — uses a similar fellowship-plus-community model with comparable stipends.
• New York State Master Teacher Program (NYSMTP): Statewide STEM teacher fellowship program hosted by SUNY, explicitly modeled after MƒA. Serves 1,400+ K-12 STEM teachers with similar four-year fellowship cycles and professional learning communities — a direct institutional clone.
• MƒA LA: Independent program inspired by MƒA serving top mathematics and computer science teachers in Los Angeles. Operates the same fellowship-plus-community model under a separate organization — a direct derivative and a leading indicator for MƒA's replication potential.
• MƒA San Diego: Independent fellowship program for mathematics teachers in high-need San Diego schools, inspired by and branded off the MƒA model. Provides professional development, mentoring, and stipends — a geographically-scoped replication.
• New Jersey STEM Innovation Fellowship: New Jersey teacher-leadership fellowship for elementary mathematics and middle school science teachers, modeled directly on MƒA and co-created with MƒA, Princeton, Montclair State, and Rowan University. Operates under independent governance but reflects the MƒA playbook.

Broad incumbents

• Teach For America: Large nonprofit recruiting and developing teachers for underserved schools nationwide. While broader in scope (all subjects, all grade levels, non-STEM focused) and longer-tenured, it addresses a similar problem — teacher quality and retention in high-need schools — and serves as a comparable scale benchmark for teacher-focused nonprofits.
• National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS): The dominant national teacher certification body, providing board certification across all subjects and grade levels. Broader in scope than MƒA but operates in the same teacher quality and recognition space, with similarly long-tenured institutional credibility.

Others

• American Institute of Mathematics (AIM): Nonprofit advancing mathematical sciences through research, education, and community programs including Math Teacher Circles. Comparable in mission emphasis on strengthening math education and the math profession, but focused on enrichment rather than classroom teacher fellowships.
• Charles A. Dana Center (UT Austin / Texas State): Education research and development center focused on mathematics and science instruction, with programs supporting K-12 teachers and state education systems. Operates in an adjacent space — strengthening math teaching quality at the system level rather than through individual teacher fellowships.
• Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching: Established education philanthropy working on teacher development, credentialing, and improvement science in K-12 and higher education. Comparable in scale and policy influence, but addresses a broader portfolio of education issues rather than STEM-specific teacher fellowships.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/mathforamerica
• YouTubeyoutube.com/mathforamerica
• Facebookfacebook.com/math-for-america-77732770566
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/math-for-america
• Instagraminstagram.com/mathforamerica_

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Math for America