What One8 Foundation does

One8 Foundation is a private 501(c)(3) philanthropic foundation founded by Joanna and Jon Jacobson, headquartered in Boston's Back Bay. The foundation operates as both a venture philanthropy and a pro bono strategic consultancy, providing pilot grants, multi-year scaling grants, and embedded strategic advisory services to nonprofit partners. Its grantmaking is organized around four issue areas: Education (K-12 applied learning, postsecondary, and the internally operated Applied Learning Hub), Jewish Community and Israel (Jewish life, Israel engagement, and antisemitism), Community Giving, and Epilepsy research. The foundation does not accept unsolicited proposals and selects partners through a rigorous due diligence process; grantmaking to universities and government agencies is subject to a 2.5% maximum overhead cap, and grants to schools offset program adoption costs.

The foundation's education work is its largest scale of operation, reaching 500+ Massachusetts K-12 schools, 175,000+ Massachusetts students, and 40% of the state's school districts. Core education partners include MIND Education (ST Math, reaching 140,000+ students and validated by Brown University's Annenberg Institute) and Project Lead The Way (PLTW), which is associated with a 3 percentage-point increase in students meeting/exceeding expectations and approximately 20% closure of the income-based test-score gap. The Applied Learning Hub, a wholly-owned operating subsidiary, deploys implementation teams, runs learning communities for educators, hosts statewide competitions, and connects industry professionals to classrooms. Jewish Life and Israel work includes a 2022-23 research partnership with ADL and NORC at the University of Chicago on antisemitism attitudes, plus ongoing work in Israel through Director Michal Steinman. The team of approximately 26 is staffed with alumni of McKinsey, Bain, Boston Consulting Group, EY-Parthenon, and Arthur D. Little, and works on a hybrid schedule from the Boston office. The foundation takes no commercial revenue; its operating economics are those of an endowed 501(c)(3) private foundation distributing capital to nonprofit partners.

Name

One8 Foundation

Legal name

One8 Foundation

Website

https://one8.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

One8 Foundation is a Boston-based private philanthropic foundation and pro bono consultancy that provides venture-philanthropy grants and strategic advisory services to select nonprofits across education, Jewish community and Israel, community giving, and epilepsy research.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Philanthropic Grantmaking

NAICS

Grantmaking Foundations (813211), Voluntary Health Organizations (813212), Educational Support Services (6117)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAK)

akta.pro secondary industries

Research & Science Grantmaking Foundations (BPAGAKAI), International Grantmaking & Development Foundations (BPAGAKAH)

Keywords

• Venture philanthropy
• Grantmaking foundation
• K-12 applied learning
• Nonprofit strategic consulting
• Philanthropic grant programs

Headquarters

HQ city

Boston

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, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Foundation Philanthropy: One8 Foundation generates no revenue as it is a grantmaking foundation. The foundation provides funding to nonprofit organizations through venture philanthropy approach, including pilot grants, multi-year scaling grants, and pro bono strategic consulting services. The foundation does not consider unsolicited grant proposals and only provides grants to 501(c)(3) organizations.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

One8 Foundation is a venture philanthropy and pro bono strategic consultancy that identifies highly effective nonprofit partners and supports them through pilot grants, multi-year scaling grants, and ongoing strategic advisory services. The foundation focuses its grantmaking across four issue areas: Education (K-12 applied learning, the Applied Learning Hub, and Postsecondary), Jewish Community and Israel, Community Giving, and Epilepsy research. One8 does not accept unsolicited proposals and only funds U.S. 501(c)(3) organizations; grants to schools offset the cost of adopting new programs and grants to universities/government agencies carry a maximum 2.5% overhead.

Product overview

One8 Foundation is a venture philanthropy organization, not a technology product company. It does not offer technology products, software platforms, or SaaS offerings. The foundation operates as a grantmaking entity focused on four primary issue areas: Education (K-12, Applied Learning Hub, Postsecondary), Jewish Community and Israel, Community Giving, and Epilepsy research. Its primary offerings are grants, strategic advisory services, and the Applied Learning Hub which supports schools in implementing applied learning programs. No commercial technology products or services are offered.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Pilot Grants Early-stage venture philanthropy grants used by One8 Foundation to test innovative ideas with selected nonprofit partners before scaling; available only to 501(c)(3) organizations selected through the foundation's due diligence process.
• Multi-Year Scaling Grants Multi-year venture philanthropy grants awarded to nonprofit partners that have demonstrated compelling breakthrough ideas and strong potential for outsized results; available to 501(c)(3) organizations only and capped at a 2.5% maximum overhead for grants to universities and government agencies.
• Pro Bono Strategic Consulting Pro bono strategic planning and ongoing advisory support provided by One8 Foundation's portfolio teams to selected nonprofit grantees, complementing grant funding. The service is delivered by teams staffed with alumni of top consulting firms and is offered at no cost.
• Applied Learning Hub A wholly-owned initiative of One8 Foundation that partners with schools across Massachusetts to assist with implementing cutting-edge, high-quality applied learning programs. The Hub deploys implementation teams, creates learning communities of educators, hosts statewide student events and competitions, and connects industry professionals to classrooms.

Quantifiable outcome

• 3 percentage point increase in students meeting/exceeding expectations for ST Math program vs. <1 percentage point for comparison schools
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• MIND EducationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 March 2026One8 Foundation supports MIND Education's ST Math program, which has led to significant math learning gains among over 140,000 students in Massachusetts. The support includes teacher training and community programs, resulting in higher student engagement and achievement especially with consistent curriculum completion. Research from Brown University's Annenberg Institute demonstrates the program's impact.
• Epilepsy & Pregnancy Medical ConsortiumcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne8 Foundation supports the Epilepsy & Pregnancy Medical Consortium, a panel of clinician experts who created a comprehensive knowledge hub around epilepsy and pregnancy/reproductive health. The consortium provides people with epilepsy and their doctors access to accurate, up-to-date data from research and best practice recommendations for clinical care.
• Project Lead The Way (PLTW)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOne8 Foundation supports Project Lead The Way, an applied learning program. Students participating in PLTW coursework show increased state test scores, particularly in science and at the high school grade level. Impact size represents about 20% of the income-based gap in test scores in Massachusetts, with equally strong results for economically disadvantaged students.
• ADL (Anti-Defamation League)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerIn 2022-23, One8 partnered with ADL and NORC at the University of Chicago on a large-scale research study to better understand contemporary attitudes toward Jews and Israel. Research findings revealed that greater knowledge and education about Jews, Judaism, the Holocaust, and contemporary antisemitism is linked with lower levels of antisemitic attitudes.
• NORC at the University of ChicagominorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnered with ADL and NORC at the University of Chicago in 2022-23 on a research study to understand contemporary attitudes toward Jews and Israel, focusing on how education impacts antisemitic attitudes.
• One8 Applied Learning HubcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe Applied Learning Hub is an internal initiative that partners with schools across Massachusetts to assist with implementing cutting edge, high-quality applied learning programs. The Hub deploys implementation teams, creates learning communities of educators, holds statewide student events and competitions, and connects industry professionals to classrooms.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Walton Family Foundation: A large, established K-12 education funder backing charter schools and applied learning / "personalized learning" approaches. Operates in a similar K-12 space but with much larger AUM, broader geographic scope, and a more politically articulated reform orientation.
• Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation (US Education): The dominant K-12 + postsecondary funder; widely studied counterpart to One8 in evidence-based interventions, charter networks, and applied learning. Orders of magnitude larger, but its strategy and grantmaking rubrics shape what mid-sized foundations like One8 measure and replicate.
• Michael & Susan Dell Foundation: Major K-12 education funder with strong focus on urban school systems, charter performance, and college persistence. Comparable as a scale K-12 venture philanthropy but with national reach and significantly larger assets under management.
• Lumina Foundation: Lumina funds postsecondary access and completion — directly comparable to One8's Postsecondary issue area. It is a broader, longer-established education funder with similar data-driven grantmaking but at much greater scale and a strictly postsecondary mandate.

Direct peers

• Schusterman Family Philanthropies: Schusterman is a venture philanthropy with overlapping issue areas in Jewish community and education, operating a similar model of multi-year strategic grants plus capacity-building support to grantees. Aligned with One8 in both Jewish Life focus and pro bono advisory-style engagement.
• NewSchools Venture Fund: NewSchools is a venture philanthropy dedicated to K-12 education innovation, funding charter management organizations and ed-tech with rigorous outcomes evaluation. Closely matches One8's "applied learning + venture philanthropy + data-driven due diligence" model, even though it operates more nationally.
• Barr Foundation: Barr is a Boston-based private foundation with a major K-12 education portfolio and a venture-philanthropy-style approach to funding — directly comparable to One8's MA-anchored K-12 strategy and Hub-style infrastructure investments. Both foundations also share Massachusetts ecosystem ties.
• Jim Joseph Fund / Jewish Community Foundations: A Jewish-focused education and engagement funder with overlapping grants in Jewish education and community building. Comparable to One8's Jewish Life portfolio in mission and grantmaking style (multi-year strategic grants to mission-driven nonprofits).

Others

• The Wasserman Foundation / Venture Philanthropy Partners: Venture Philanthropy Partners is a pool of family foundations funding DC-region youth-serving nonprofits with multi-year strategic grants and capacity building. Comparable to One8's venture philanthropy model and grantee-intensive engagement, though focused on regional scale in a different geography.

Regional players

• Robin Hood Foundation: Operates a venture philanthropy model with a focus on NYC-area education and poverty programs. Comparable as a regionally concentrated, data-driven venture funder but operating in a different metropolitan market and with a poverty (vs. applied-learning) lens.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/one8-foundation
• Xx.com/ONE8Network

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Subsidiaries1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments1 record

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Frequently asked questions about One8 Foundation