What Learn To Be Foundation does

Learn To Be Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN: 26-1919770) founded in 2007 and operational since 2008, headquartered in West Hollywood, California. It provides free, 1-on-1 online tutoring to K-12 students from underserved communities across the United States, covering math, reading, writing, and other academic subjects. The organization connects students with screened volunteer tutors within approximately three days of enrollment, and each student is paired with a dedicated tutor for a sustained relationship lasting between six months and six years. Sessions are conducted entirely online via the proprietary LTB Virtual Classroom, supplemented by Zoom and Google Meet for video conferencing, and the IXL Learning platform is integrated for diagnostic assessment, personalized action plans, and adaptive skill practice.

The platform is operated by volunteer tutors drawn from high school students, college students, retirees, and working professionals, including an exclusive Tutor Corps track for 75 high-achieving tutors who receive stipends, and a California College Corps program tied to state service recognition. The volunteer community coordinates internally through Slack, and the organization maintains structured university chapter programs across college campuses. Tutor productivity is augmented by a custom IXL Tutor Helper GPT, a wrapper around OpenAI's ChatGPT trained on IXL documentation to answer tutor questions. Marketing and student acquisition are driven primarily by content marketing, word-of-mouth referrals, and partnerships with schools and community organizations such as Schools on Wheels, which channels homeless students in California into the program.

The organization's revenue model is entirely donation-based; all tutoring services are provided at no cost to students or families, and the nonprofit has no disclosed venture capital, private equity, or institutional ownership. Strategic operations are led by co-founder and president Stephen Chen and general contact Neeraj Kapoor. There are no disclosed funding rounds, M&A activity, or audited financial statements in the available sources, and the Presidential Volunteer Service Award certification pathway was temporarily paused as of May 2025 due to federal funding cuts to AmeriCorps, which represents a material risk to the volunteer incentive infrastructure.

Name

Learn To Be Foundation

Legal name

Learn To Be Foundation

Website

https://learntobe.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Learn To Be Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit providing free 1-on-1 online tutoring to K-12 students from underserved U.S. communities, matching them with volunteer tutors for sustained weekly academic support since 2008.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Online K-12 Tutoring Services

NAICS

Exam Preparation and Tutoring (611691), Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

K–12 Core Curriculum Small-Group Tutoring Centers (Math/ELA/Science/Social Studies) (EDANAHAA)

Keywords

• Online tutoring services
• K-12 academic tutoring
• Nonprofit education programs
• Volunteer tutor network
• Remote learning support

Headquarters

HQ city

Anaheim

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: As a 501c(3) nonprofit organization (EIN: 26-1919770), Learn To Be is entirely funded through donations. All tutoring services are provided completely free to students and families.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Learn To Be Foundation provides free 1-on-1 online tutoring to K-12 students from underserved communities. Students are matched within 3 days with a dedicated volunteer tutor and work with the same tutor on weekly sessions for periods ranging from 6 months to 6 years. Core subjects offered include math, reading, and writing, supplemented by an integrated IXL diagnostic and adaptive practice platform and a proprietary LTB virtual classroom.

Product overview

Learn To Be Foundation operates a free 1-on-1 online tutoring platform for K-12 students from underserved communities. The core offering is the Learn To Be Tutoring Platform, which provides Math, Reading, and Writing tutoring. This is supplemented by the IXL Learning Platform for diagnostic assessments and adaptive skill practice. Additional programs include the Summer Study Buddies Program, Tutor Corps (stipend program for high achievers), California College Corps, and Learn To Be Chapters for campus organizations. The organization also facilitates Presidential Volunteer Service Award (PVSA) certification for tutors. The platform uses proprietary LTB Classrooms for virtual instruction and integrates with Zoom/Google Meet for video sessions, Slack for tutor communication, and a custom IXL Tutor Helper GPT for AI-assisted support.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Learn To Be Tutoring Platform Free 1-on-1 online tutoring platform connecting underserved K-12 students with volunteer tutors for weekly sessions in math, reading, writing, and other academic subjects. Students are matched with a dedicated tutor within 3 days and work with the same tutor for 6 months to 6 years.
• Math Tutoring Free 1-on-1 online math tutoring for K-12 students covering math facts through Algebra, with tailored instruction designed to identify and address specific learning gaps.
• Reading Tutoring Free 1-on-1 online reading tutoring targeting phonics, fluency, and comprehension skills for K-12 students to develop essential literacy.
• Writing Tutoring Free 1-on-1 online writing tutoring covering spelling, sentence mastery, paragraph writing, and essay foundations across elementary through middle school grades.
• Summer Study Buddies Program Free summer tutoring camp allowing students to revisit previous material and prepare for the upcoming school year, with general tutoring and reading programs offered annually from May through August.
• Tutor Corps Program Exclusive year-long tenure program for 75 high-achieving high school and college student volunteer tutors, providing a stipend in recognition of their tutoring service.
• California College Corps Program offering tutoring opportunities specifically for California college students participating in the California College Corps, with official service recognition.
• LTB Classrooms (virtual classroom) Proprietary virtual classroom technology used by Learn To Be for conducting online tutoring sessions, with built-in whiteboard and annotation tools enabling interactive online instruction.

Quantifiable outcome

• Students typically show measurable academic improvement including grade increases (e.g., C+ to B+) and percentile gains on standardized assessments (e.g., 39th to 91st percentile in math)
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration5 records

AI capability3 records

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Schools on WheelscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Schools on Wheels to provide online tutoring sessions to homeless students in grades 2-8 in California. Learn To Be tutors work one-on-one with children experiencing homelessness on basic math, reading, writing, and science several times a week. California has approximately 300,000 children experiencing homelessness each year.
• IXL LearningcoreTechnology or IntegrationIXL Learning provides the diagnostic assessment and practice platform used by Learn To Be tutors. The IXL platform offers personalized practice for students K-12, diagnostic assessments, skill recommendations, and access to 40+ textbook series alignments. Tutors receive unlimited access to IXL through their Learn To Be accounts.
• University ChapterscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLearn To Be partners with college students through university chapters, where students can organize tutoring initiatives and provide volunteer opportunities. Tutors come from diverse academic backgrounds including graduate students like those at Penn State studying astrophysics.
• Tutor CorpsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTutor Corps is an exclusive year-long tenure program for 75 high-achieving high school and college students, offering opportunities to earn a stipend for their tutoring service. This is an internal program that recognizes top-performing volunteer tutors.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves1 record

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Citizen Schools: Nonprofit providing extended learning time and tutoring-style programming for underserved middle-school students via volunteer-staffed models. Comparable youth-education nonprofit with a volunteer-driven, outcomes-oriented approach.
• Reading Partners: Nonprofit that mobilizes volunteer tutors to deliver literacy tutoring to underserved elementary students. Highly comparable 1-on-1, volunteer-driven, outcomes-focused K-12 literacy tutoring model.
• 826 National: Nonprofit network providing free writing and academic tutoring to underserved students via trained volunteers. Comparable free, volunteer-driven supplemental education for K-12 students with measurable outcomes.
• City Year: Nonprofit deploying AmeriCorps members as near-peer tutors and mentors in high-need schools. Comparable youth academic-support mission that depends on service-year volunteers for capacity — similar exposure to federal funding volatility.
• Schools on Wheels: Nonprofit providing educational support to homeless children in California. Learn To Be already partners with Schools on Wheels and both serve the same population (homeless/underserved K-12 students) with supplemental tutoring — directly overlapping in mission and beneficiary.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: Nonprofit matching volunteer mentors with youth from underserved communities for sustained one-on-one relationships. Highly comparable long-tenure, volunteer-mentor model serving at-risk K-12 youth.

Broad incumbents

• Varsity Tutors: Large commercial 1-on-1 online tutoring platform for K-12 and beyond. Directly comparable format (online 1-on-1 tutoring) but a paid B2C/B2B model rather than a free nonprofit model.
• Khan Academy: Free, large-scale education nonprofit serving K-12 and beyond with content, practice, and (more recently) AI-tutor tools. Comparable free-of-charge educational-access mission, though Learn To Be's 1-on-1 human tutoring is narrower.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America: Large nonprofit network providing after-school academic support, tutoring, and enrichment for underserved youth. Comparable mission (educational equity for underserved K-12) with broader programming and a national footprint.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 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 Learn To Be Foundation