What National Equity Project does

National Equity Project (NEP) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 1995 and headquartered in Oakland, California, that develops leaders capable of navigating and transforming educational systems toward equity. The organization's core intellectual property is the Leading for Equity Framework — a multidisciplinary methodology combining Equity, Complexity, and Design disciplines through a "See-Engage-Act" leadership stance — alongside the Liberatory Design approach co-developed with external practitioners. NEP's product surface spans the Center for Equity Leadership Online (CEL Online) self-paced subscription platform ($1,000/seat, California PK-12 districts only), the Liberatory Design Card Deck (free digital, paid physical), the Adaptive Strategic Planning Guide (co-developed with ERS), and an extensive library of free webinars and articles. Service offerings include Strategic Consulting and Design engagements, Custom Professional Development, Communities of Practice facilitation, the four-day residential Leading for Equity Institute, and the two-day Coaching & Managing for Equity Institute.

NEP's business model is a hybrid of professional services, recurring subscription, and donation revenue. Custom consulting and residential institutes are priced with $3,600-$8,000 minimum invoice thresholds and event registration via Eventbrite, while CEL Online operates as an annual subscription with a four-seat minimum. Distribution combines direct enterprise field sales into school districts and foundations, event-driven demand generation in Oakland and Chicagoland, and a self-serve content funnel of free resources, webinars, and the Liberatory Design digital downloads. The organization reaches three primary customer segments: school districts and EMOs, education organizations/ecosystems/funders, and individual teams and leaders, with select cross-sector extensions into philanthropy and healthcare through Communities of Practice partnerships.

Name

National Equity Project

Legal name

National Equity Project

Website

https://nationalequityproject.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

National Equity Project is a 30-year Oakland-based nonprofit that develops educational equity leaders through its proprietary Leading for Equity Framework, Liberatory Design methodology, CEL Online subscription platform, residential institutes, strategic consulting, and Communities of Practice for school districts, foundations, and healthcare partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Educational Equity Consulting and Leadership Development Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (61171), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

akta.pro primary industry

Education Access & EdTech for Equity (Low-cost Learning, Skills Platforms) (BPAGALAH)

akta.pro secondary industry

DEI, Equity & Inclusion Advisory (BPACAJAJ)

Keywords

• Educational equity consulting
• Leadership development training
• Professional development services
• Nonprofit education consulting
• Equity framework facilitation

Headquarters

HQ city

Oakland

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. Professional Development Training: Open-registration institutes and workshops including Leading for Equity (in-person residential), Coaching & Managing for Equity Institute, and custom professional development delivered to districts and organizations. Revenue generated through registration fees paid via Eventbrite or invoice.
2. CEL Online Subscriptions: Annual subscription-based access to the Center for Equity Leadership Online library at $1,000/seat for California PK-12 public school districts. Packages of 4 seats or more. Includes access to all current and future courses.
3. Strategic Consulting & Design Services: Customized consulting engagements for education leaders and organizations, including discovery, learning, design/redesign, implementation, and monitoring phases. Priced with minimum thresholds for check/purchase order payments ($8,000).
4. Donations: The organization is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit (EIN: 94-3222960) that accepts donations to sustain operations, field-building, research, and communication efforts.
5. Liberatory Design Card Deck Sales: Physical Liberatory Design card decks available for purchase through Vimeo marketplace for organizations needing additional copies beyond free digital downloads.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

National Equity Project develops leaders who can navigate and transform educational systems toward equity through its proprietary Leading for Equity Framework and Liberatory Design methodology. Its core offerings include residential institutes (Leading for Equity, Coaching & Managing for Equity), Strategic Consulting and Design services, Custom Professional Development, Community of Practice Facilitation, and the CEL Online subscription learning platform. The organization serves school districts, education organizations, foundations, and individual leaders across the United States.

Product overview

National Equity Project is a multiracial and multigenerative nonprofit organization that develops leaders who can navigate and transform educational systems toward equity. The organization offers a platform-plus-services model centered on its Leading for Equity Framework, which combines Equity, Complexity, and Design disciplines through a See-Engage-Act leadership stance. The primary digital product is the Center for Equity Leadership Online (CEL Online), a self-paced learning platform with 8 modules across 4 course areas. Core offerings include Strategic Consulting and Design Services, Custom Professional Development, Community of Practice Facilitation, and residential institutes (Leading for Equity Institute, Coaching & Managing for Equity Institute). Supporting products include the Liberatory Design Card Deck (available as physical purchase or free digital download), Adaptive Strategic Planning Guide, Free Recorded Webinars, Youth-Adult Co-Design Resources, and articles/thought leadership content. The District Redesign Network provides peer learning for school districts. Black Teacher Project is an integrated sub-brand. Offerings are delivered virtually, in-person, or through hybrid formats, with CEL Online currently available exclusively to California PK-12 public school districts.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Black Teacher Project: A project focused on supporting Black teachers, operated as a distinct domain (blackteacherproject.org).
• Center for Equity Leadership Online (CEL Online)
• Liberatory Design

Products and services

• Center for Equity Leadership Online (CEL Online) Self-paced subscription-based online learning platform providing leadership development courses focused on equity, complexity, and design. Available exclusively to California-based PK-12 public school districts at $1,000/seat annually in packages of 4 or more seats.
• Leading for Equity Institute Four-day, three-night residential institute providing teams with transformative opportunities for reflection and planning on equity leadership, including examination of racism and bias, emotional intelligence training, and collaborative relationship building.
• Coaching & Managing for Equity Institute Two-day in-person institute focused on coaching and management practices for equity leadership, scheduled for Oakland, CA.
• Strategic Consulting and Design Services Customized consulting services using the Leading for Equity Framework and Liberatory Design facilitation. Includes Discovery, Learning, Design/Redesign, Implementation, and Monitoring phases for supporting equity transformation in education organizations. Invoicing minimum of $8,000.
• Custom Professional Development Tailored professional development services for districts and organizations including Leadership Development, Coaching, Designing & Facilitating Effective Meetings, and Liberatory Design workshops. Available in virtual (Zoom), in-person, or customized half-to-full-day session formats.
• Community of Practice Facilitation Facilitation service for networks and communities of practice within and across systems and sectors, including relationship building, shared analysis, and collective action toward equity outcomes. Includes in-person and virtual engagement with 1:1 coaching via phone or Zoom.
• District Redesign Network Multi-year network program (currently 2026-2028) supporting school districts and Education Management Organizations to create equitable learning environments through shared learning, collaboration, and implementation of equity frameworks, including the BELE (Building Equitable Learning Environments) focus.
• Leading for Equity Framework Core organizational framework enabling leaders to navigate equity challenges through the See-Engage-Act leadership stance, combining Equity, Complexity, and Design disciplines. A registered trademark of National Equity Project and the foundation of all consulting and curriculum.
• Liberatory Design Card Deck Physical and digital card deck product for creative problem-solving that centers equity. Contains mindsets and modes for designing for liberation and addressing equity challenges in complex systems. Physical decks available for purchase through Vimeo marketplace.
• Adaptive Strategic Planning Guide Resource guide for education leaders on adaptive strategic planning under complex and uncertain conditions, co-developed with Education Resource Strategies (ERS) and available for free download.
• Black Teacher Project Initiative focused on supporting and developing Black teachers, operated as a distinct sub-brand (blackteacherproject.org) with NEP providing infrastructure and partnership support.

Quantifiable outcome

• Thousands of leaders developed across the U.S. since 2002
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration7 records

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core.

• Education Resource Strategies (ERS)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024NEP and ERS co-developed 'The Future of Strategic Planning: An Adaptive Approach for Changing Times' and collaborated with superintendents nationwide to articulate a new responsive approach to strategic planning for education districts.
• Kenneth Rainin FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKenneth Rainin Foundation is a partner in NEP's Community Strategy Council. NEP facilitates community of practice engagement with the foundation's network to advance equity-focused grant-making and education initiatives.
• California Health Care Safety Net Institute (SNI)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCalifornia Health Care Safety Net Institute partners with NEP for a Racial Equity Community of Practice, bringing NEP's facilitation expertise to healthcare systems seeking to advance health equity.
• Kauffman FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerKauffman Foundation collaborates with NEP through the Racial Equity, Diversity, and Inclusion (REDI) Community of Practice, applying NEP's equity frameworks to foundation operations and grant-making.
• BELE NetworkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNEP collaborates with the BELE (Building Equitable Learning Environments) Network alongside district partners. NEP has led networks of school districts for over 5 years contributing to the BELE Network's mission.
• Liberatory Design Co-DeveloperscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLiberatory Design is a multi-year collaboration between Tania Anaissie, David Clifford, Susie Wise, and National Equity Project (Victor Cary and Tom Malarkey). The methodology is available free at liberatorydesign.com.
• Black Teacher ProjectcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerBlack Teacher Project is referenced as a partner organization providing equity-focused professional development services. NEP provides infrastructure and partnership support for the initiative.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• CASEL (Collaborative for Academic, Social, and Emotional Learning): CASEL is a non-profit that advances equity-centered social-emotional learning through frameworks, professional development, and district partnerships. It shares NEP's K-12 district customer base, framework-led PD delivery model, and equity-focused mission, making it a closely comparable organization in scale and approach.
• Pacific Educational Group: Pacific Educational Group provides equity-focused professional development, anti-racism training, and consulting to K-12 school districts and organizations nationally. It competes directly with NEP in equity leadership development and race-based equity training for educators.
• Education Resource Strategies (ERS): ERS is a non-profit that partners with school districts on strategic planning, resource allocation, and equity-focused transformation. They co-developed the Adaptive Strategic Planning Guide with NEP in 2024, indicating directly overlapping customer base (school districts), methodology (equity-centered strategic planning), and consulting delivery model.
• Crossroads Antiracism Organizing & Training: Crossroads provides antiracism training, consulting, and organizational change services to schools, nonprofits, and foundations. It is a directly comparable peer in the equity-training and consulting space with similar workshop and custom-engagement offerings.
• Center for Racial Justice in Education: The Center for Racial Justice in Education provides racial equity training, workshops, and consulting for schools and organizations. It is a directly comparable peer offering similar equity-focused PD to educators and school communities.
• The BELE Network: BELE (Building Equitable Learning Environments) Network is a multi-stakeholder initiative that convenes districts, funders, and researchers to advance equitable learning environments. NEP is a partner within BELE, and the two organizations serve overlapping district customers around equity transformation.
• AORTA (Anti-Oppression Resource and Training Alliance): AORTA is a worker-owned cooperative providing anti-oppression training, consulting, and facilitation to social justice organizations, schools, and foundations. It is a closely comparable peer in equity-focused facilitation and consulting for mission-driven clients.

Broad incumbents

• Learning for Justice (Southern Poverty Law Center): Learning for Justice provides free educational resources, frameworks, and professional development on anti-bias and equity topics for K-12 educators. It is a broader incumbent in the equity education space with a much larger resource library and national footprint than NEP.
• EdTrust: EdTrust is a national non-profit that promotes equity in education through research, advocacy, and engagement with schools and policymakers. It operates at a larger scale than NEP and overlaps on equity-centered policy and practice support for districts.

Emerging players

• The Equity Project: The Equity Project is a non-profit that supports education leaders in building equitable systems through coaching and capacity-building. It is an emerging player with overlapping methodology (equity coaching for school leaders) and a similar district-customer base.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/equityproject
• Facebookfacebook.com/NationalEquityProject

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 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 National Equity Project