Achieve Twin Cities
Achieve Twin Cities is a Minneapolis nonprofit, founded in 2002, that embeds Career & College Centers in 26 Minneapolis and Saint Paul public high schools, delivering free advising, college planning, and paid internships to 20,000 students annually through 100+ employer partnerships.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2002
- HeadquartersMinneapolis, United States
- Headcount51–100
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Achieve Twin Cities does
Achieve Twin Cities is a Minneapolis-based nonprofit organization, founded in 2002, that delivers career and college readiness services to high school students in Minneapolis and Saint Paul public schools. Its core offering consists of embedded Career & College Centers staffed by full-time coordinators in 26 high schools across both districts, providing personalized advising, college application support, FAFSA assistance, and postsecondary planning at no cost to students. Complementary programs include the Step Up Youth Employment Program, which since 2003 has placed over 34,000 Minneapolis youth ages 14-21 into paid internships through employer partnerships with the City of Minneapolis, as well as Achieve College Internships for postsecondary students and the Minneapolis Educator Leadership Awards (MELA) grant program administered on behalf of MPS educators.
The organization is funded primarily through corporate and foundation grants (notably a $4 million three-year Cargill Foundation grant and Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation support via the To and Through Advising Challenge), individual donations, annual fundraising events, and government partnerships. It also administers more than $1 million in Minneapolis Public Schools funds and scholarships. Achieve Twin Cities serves as the official strategic nonprofit partner for both Minneapolis Public Schools and Saint Paul Public Schools, giving it privileged access to student outcome data and direct integration with school counseling teams, and operates a 100+ employer and nonprofit partner ecosystem that includes Best Buy, U.S. Bank, Accenture, Cargill, Target, and General Mills. There is no proprietary technology platform; service delivery is coordinator-led, with 51-100 employees, a $5M-$25M estimated operating budget, and outcomes data covering more than 95,000 students served since founding.
Achieve Twin Cities firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Achieve Twin Cities
- Legal name
- Achieve Twin Cities
- Website
- https://achievetwincities.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2002
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 51–100 employees
- Short description
- Achieve Twin Cities is a Minneapolis nonprofit, founded in 2002, that embeds Career & College Centers in 26 Minneapolis and Saint Paul public high schools, delivering free advising, college planning, and paid internships to 20,000 students annually through 100+ employer partnerships.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Achieve Twin Cities industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Education Services
- NAICS
- Educational Support Services (611710), Child and Youth Services (62411), Vocational Rehabilitation Services (6243)
- SIC
- Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Workforce Readiness, Career Pathways & Youth Employment Nonprofits (BPAGADAF)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Public Workforce Development Programs (WIOA/One-Stop Career Centers) (EDAAAOAA), Work-Based Learning Programs (Internships, Apprenticeships, Community-Based Instruction) (EDAKANAF), Employment & Job Readiness Support Services (BPAGAEAJ), Transition Services (Secondary to Postsecondary/Employment, Life Skills) (EDAJAKAG), Benefits Counseling & Financial Literacy for Transition-Age Youth (EDAKANAJ)
Keywords
Where Achieve Twin Cities is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Minneapolis
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices3 records
Markets served
Achieve Twin Cities business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Foundation and Corporate Grants: Major funding comes from corporate foundations such as Cargill Foundation ($4 million three-year grant), Gates Foundation, and other corporate partners. These grants support Career & College Centers, STEM programs, and general operations.
- Individual Donations: The organization accepts financial gifts from individuals through its website, by check, by phone, and through workplace giving programs. Tribute gifts and planned giving options are also available.
- Event-based Fundraising: Annual Celebration events serve as major fundraising opportunities, with corporate sponsors at various levels (Presenting Sponsor, Diamond Sponsors, Gold Sponsors, Silver Sponsors).
- Government Partnerships: Funding and partnerships with government entities including the City of Minneapolis, State of Minnesota, and Minneapolis Public Schools for specific programs like Step Up.
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels4 records
Marketing channels10 records
Achieve Twin Cities product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Achieve Twin Cities is a nonprofit organization that operates embedded Career & College Centers in 26 Minneapolis and Saint Paul public high schools, providing personalized career exploration, college planning, FAFSA and scholarship advising, and postsecondary readiness services directly to students at no cost. The organization also runs the Step Up Youth Employment Program connecting Minneapolis youth ages 14-21 with paid internships through employer partnerships, and administers MPS funds, scholarships, and the Minneapolis Educator Leadership Awards (MELA) grants.
Product overview
Achieve Twin Cities is a nonprofit organization offering career and college readiness services as a portfolio of interconnected programs. The core offerings include Career & College Centers embedded in 26 Minneapolis and Saint Paul public high schools, the Step Up Youth Employment Program providing paid internships for youth ages 14-21, and Achieve College Internships for postsecondary students. Additional services include administering Minneapolis Educator Leadership Awards (MELA) grants for educators and managing MPS school funds and scholarships. The organization also operates a Student Advisory Board for youth input. These programs work together to provide students with personalized guidance, career exploration, internship opportunities, and financial support throughout their educational journey.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Step Up Youth Employment Program: Youth employment program connecting Minneapolis youth ages 14-21 with paid internships
- Career & College Centers
- Minneapolis Educator Leadership Awards (MELA)
- Achieve College Internships
Products and services
- Career & College Centers On-campus hubs in Minneapolis and Saint Paul public high schools providing comprehensive career and postsecondary planning, personalized guidance, college application assistance, and financial aid support for students.
- Step Up Youth Employment Program Paid internship program connecting Minneapolis youth ages 14-21 with employers, providing career skills development, professional mentoring, and workforce experience. Since 2003, has created over 34,000 internship opportunities.
- Minneapolis Educator Leadership Awards (MELA) Annual grant program recognizing Minneapolis Public Schools educators with up to $75,000 in total grants for creative classroom projects that impact student achievement and school communities.
- MPS Funds Administration Manages and administers over $1 million in funds benefiting Minneapolis Public Schools students, schools, staff, and classrooms, including scholarships and grants.
- Achieve College Internships Internship program for postsecondary students providing hands-on career experience and professional connections for college students, building on the Step Up model.
Quantifiable outcome
- Seniors from low-income families who used Achieve programs were three times more likely to enroll in college than those who did not (2018)
- +3 more outcomes
Companies that use Achieve Twin Cities
Customer profileNamed customers5 records
Segments4 records
Ideal customer profiles3 records
Achieve Twin Cities technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Achieve Twin Cities partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core, strategic and minor.
- Saint Paul Public SchoolscorePartnership began with pilot program in 2019. Now officially expanding to serve all eight SPPS comprehensive high schools with Career & College Centers, building on district's 'SPPS Achieves' strategic plan commitment to career and college pathways for all students.
- National College Attainment Network (NCAN)strategicPartnership through Gates Foundation To and Through Advising Challenge. NCAN collaborates with Achieve and 19 other districts on best practices to boost postsecondary outcomes. Partnership featured in NCAN national report on districtwide approaches to student success.
- Minneapolis Public Schoolscore20+ year strategic nonprofit partnership. Achieve serves as the district's nonprofit foundation, managing Career & College Centers in MPS high schools and administering MPS funds and scholarships. Organization recently expanded to support MPS Online School and smaller high schools under the contract alternatives umbrella.
- City of MinneapoliscorePartnership for the Step Up Youth Employment Program, which has created over 34,000 internship opportunities since 2003. City co-manages the program with Achieve Twin Cities.
- ECMC GroupstrategicECMC Group partnered with Achieve to pilot the Discover Your Future (DYF) framework through work in Minneapolis Public Schools. Partnership strengthening employer engagement work and expanding high-quality career experiences for students.
- Best BuycorePresenting Sponsor for annual fundraising event for over a decade. Major financial supporter of career and college readiness programs. Dedicated Step Up employer providing internships at corporate headquarters. Board member Mat Watson serves on Achieve board.
- U.S. BankcoreFounding Step Up employer since 2003, has hired and mentored 479 interns - more than any other private sector employer. Major financial supporter with Executive Chairman Richard Davis as co-founder of Step Up and passionate ambassador.
- AccenturestrategicDesigned core work readiness training curriculum for advanced Step Up interns. Provides team of work readiness trainers annually. Delivered pro bono consulting on cultivating employer relationships. Board member Scott Cummings provides leadership on Achieve board.
- Foster AdvocatesminorPartner through EDTalks speaker program. Foster Advocates supports foster youth in reaching college and post-secondary goals. Speaker Hannah Planalp featured at Achieve EDTalks event.
- Citizens LeagueminorCo-presenter of EDTalks events with Achieve Twin Cities, bringing together education leaders and community voices on career and college readiness topics.
Scale indicators8 records
Recent moves8 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Achieve Twin Cities competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- Urban Alliance: National nonprofit operating high school internship programs for underserved youth, pairing paid work experiences with mentoring and professional development. Directly comparable to Achieve's Step Up program in both model and target population.
- Year Up: Workforce development nonprofit providing young adults from low-income communities with six-month training followed by corporate internships. Comparable paid-internship-plus-training model for opportunity youth, though focused on young adults rather than high schoolers.
- Genesys Works: Nonprofit providing high school students from underserved communities with technical skills training and corporate paid internships. Closely matches the Step Up paid-internship-plus-career-skills development model.
- Bottom Line: Nonprofit that partners with high schools to provide one-on-one college access and success advising for first-generation students from low-income backgrounds. Closely mirrors Achieve's embedded advising + postsecondary completion focus.
- College Possible: Minnesota-headquartered nonprofit providing intensive college access coaching for low-income high school students, with AmeriCorps-driven near-peer advising. Directly comparable mission, model (embedded coaching in high schools), and geography to Achieve Twin Cities.
- Summer Search: Nonprofit working with low-income high school students on college and career readiness through mentoring, experiential programs, and postsecondary support. Comparable youth-development-to-college pipeline model.
- College Advising Corps: National nonprofit placing recent college graduates as full-time college advisers in underserved high schools. Directly comparable embedded-in-school advising approach for college access.
- iMentor: Nonprofit pairing low-income high school students with college-educated mentors for college access and success support. Comparable in pairing K-12 students with adult professionals and embedding in school communities.
Others
- National College Attainment Network (NCAN): National membership and advocacy organization for college access programs, of which Achieve Twin Cities is a member. Listed as an ecosystem/peer-network participant rather than a direct service competitor.
Emerging players
- Posse Foundation: Nonprofit identifying and supporting cohorts of underrepresented students through college. Adjacent in mission (college access for underrepresented youth) but uses a cohort-based scholarship model rather than embedded high school advising.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat5 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights7 records
Customer concentration
Achieve Twin Cities social profiles
Digital presenceAchieve Twin Cities financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Achieve Twin Cities leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles7 records
Achieve Twin Cities funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds1 record
Investors1 record
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Achieve Twin Cities 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 Achieve Twin Cities
What does Achieve Twin Cities do?
Achieve Twin Cities is a nonprofit organization that operates embedded Career & College Centers in 26 Minneapolis and Saint Paul public high schools, providing personalized career exploration, college planning, FAFSA and scholarship advising, and postsecondary readiness services directly to students at no cost. The organization also runs the Step Up Youth Employment Program connecting Minneapolis youth ages 14-21 with paid internships through employer partnerships, and administers MPS funds, scholarships, and the Minneapolis Educator Leadership Awards (MELA) grants.
Is Achieve Twin Cities a public or private company?
Achieve Twin Cities is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Achieve Twin Cities founded?
Achieve Twin Cities was founded in 2002. It employs 51 to 100 people.
Where is Achieve Twin Cities based?
Achieve Twin Cities is headquartered in Minneapolis, United States, in the North America region.
How does Achieve Twin Cities make money?
Four revenue lines are on record. Foundation and Corporate Grants are the primary driver. The others are individual Donations, event-based Fundraising and government Partnerships.
Who are Achieve Twin Cities's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are Urban Alliance, Year Up, Genesys Works, Bottom Line, College Possible, Summer Search, College Advising Corps and iMentor. National College Attainment Network (NCAN) is listed as an others. Posse Foundation is listed as an emerging player.
Does Achieve Twin Cities have an API?
No public API is recorded for Achieve Twin Cities.
What industry is Achieve Twin Cities in?
Achieve Twin Cities's product category is Education Services. Its primary akta.pro industry code is BPAGADAF, Workforce Readiness, Career Pathways & Youth Employment Nonprofits, with a secondary code of EDAAAOAA, Public Workforce Development Programs (WIOA/One-Stop Career Centers). Its NAICS code is 611710 and its SIC code is 8300.