What Hark does

Hark is a Northwest Arkansas-based nonprofit division of the Excellerate Foundation that operates a regional care-coordination and social-services referral platform serving individuals, families, schools, employers, and partner agencies. Founded as an operating program in 2020, Hark runs the Hark Connector web platform — a HIPAA-compliant application using a SDOH assessment instrument covering 10 determinants and 50 need categories to match clients to community resources and track outcomes. Hark's staff of 11–50 handles intake, follow-up, and resource navigation, with multilingual capability in English, Spanish, and Marshallese, and since inception has served roughly 25,000 individuals, generating 263,000 referrals and 138,000 identified needs. The organization is operationally significant in the region: it has administered nearly $15 million in Emergency Rental Assistance since February 2021 in partnership with Benton County, integrates with the SHARE statewide health information exchange, and powers Arkansas 211 as a partner organization. Hark 3.0 (launched 2025) extends the platform to external nonprofits, allowing peer organizations to license the same technology stack.

Revenue mechanics are mixed and non-commercial at the core. Direct service delivery to individuals and families is free, funded through philanthropic grants, government program administration (notably ERA), and EAP+ — a subscription employee-assistance product sold to employers that bundles care coordination and SDOH support. The platform-to-nonprofits expansion in Hark 3.0 adds a potential software-licensing revenue line, though no pricing or adoption data is disclosed. The organization convenes an annual C3 Summit (in its seventh iteration) that doubles as community engagement and a soft-marketing channel for employer and institutional partners.

Name

Hark

Legal name

Hark at Excellerate Foundation

Website

https://harknwa.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Hark is a Northwest Arkansas nonprofit operating a HIPAA-compliant care-coordination and social-services referral platform under the Excellerate Foundation, serving individuals, families, schools, and employers through community-resource matching and grant-funded programs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Services Care Coordination

NAICS

Community Housing Services (62422), Emergency and Other Relief Services (624230), Other Community Housing Services (624229), Community Food Services (624210)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Housing Assistance & Homeless Services (BPAGAEAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Affordable Housing & Community Development (Housing, Community Land Trusts) (BPAGALAC)

Keywords

• Social services coordination
• Community resource navigation
• Care coordination platform
• Social determinants of health
• Employee assistance program

Headquarters

HQ city

Springdale

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding: As a division of Excellerate Foundation (a community foundation), Hark is funded through grants and charitable contributions. Services are provided free of charge to individuals and families.
2. Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA): Partnership with Benton County to distribute Emergency Rental Assistance program dollars to county residents. Since February 2021, nearly $15M distributed through ERA program.
3. EAP+ Program: Supplemental Employee Assistance Program service sold to employers (school districts, churches, businesses, nonprofits). Organizations receive custom branded EAP+ pages and dedicated Community Liaison services with measurable ROI on healthcare costs, absenteeism, and retention.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Hark connects individuals, families, employers, and nonprofits in Northwest Arkansas to essential community resources (rent assistance, food pantries, legal aid, housing, counseling) through the Hark Connector web platform, Community Liaison staff, and Arkansas 211 phone routing. The organization also sells a subscription EAP+ workforce program to employers and provides the Hark 3.0 care-coordination platform to nonprofits at no cost.

Product overview

Hark is a unified social services connection platform centered on its Hark technology platform. The core offering includes the Hark Connector web tool for care coordination, supplemented by Arkansas 211 helpline services (now powered by Hark), the EAP+ employee assistance program supplement, and Upskill NWA career referrals that utilize the Hark Connector. All services leverage a comprehensive resource database to connect Northwest Arkansas residents with vital community resources.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Arkansas 211: Arkansas 211 is now powered by Hark at Excellerate Foundation, providing resource search and phone-based support (dial 211 or 1-866-489-6983) for Northwest Arkansas residents.
• EAP+ Program
• Hark Connector
• C3 Summit

Products and services

• Hark Platform / Hark Connector Web-based care coordination and resource referral platform that connects Northwest Arkansas residents to essential community resources (rent assistance, food, legal aid, housing, counseling) through a continuously updated regional resource map and personalized plans.
• Arkansas 211 Resource helpline serving Benton, Madison, and Washington counties in Northwest Arkansas. Callers can dial 211 or 1-866-489-6983 to speak with a Community Resource Specialist or search resources online; now powered by Hark at Excellerate Foundation.
• EAP+ Program Subscription supplemental Employee Assistance Program sold to employers (school districts, churches, businesses, nonprofits) that gauges social determinants of health across an organization's workforce, provides a custom branded EAP+ page and a dedicated Hark Community Liaison, and measures ROI on healthcare costs, absenteeism, and retention.
• Upskill NWA Career pathway program that connects Northwest Arkansas residents to higher-paying, in-demand career opportunities (primarily healthcare), covering tuition, books, fees, and licensing exam costs, and uses the Hark Connector Tool to make community resource referrals.
• Hark 3.0 Fully funded care coordination platform for nonprofits and organizations that streamlines intake, referrals, care coordination, outcome reporting, and creates funder-ready reports in clicks rather than hours.

Quantifiable outcome

• 25,000 people served since March 2020
• +3 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature5 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core, strategic and minor.

• Excellerate FoundationcoreOthers · 1 February 2021Hark is a division of Excellerate Foundation, a community foundation serving Northwest Arkansas. Excellerate Foundation provides organizational support, funding, and strategic direction for Hark's mission to connect NWA residents with vital community resources.
• Benton CountycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 February 2021Partnership to distribute Emergency Rental Assistance (ERA) program dollars. Since February 2021, nearly $15M distributed to Benton County residents through ERA program. Partnership involves policy development and fund distribution coordination.
• United Way / Arkansas 211coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerArkansas 211 is now powered by Hark. Call 211 or 1-866-489-6983 connects callers to Hark services. This partnership provides broad phone-based access to Hark's resource connection services.
• Arkansas State Health Alliance for Records Exchange (SHARE)strategicTechnology or IntegrationHealth information exchange partnership with Arkansas Department of Health. Allows treating healthcare providers to access limited social determinants of health information about Hark users for coordinated care. Patients can opt-in or opt-out of SHARE sharing.
• Upskill NWAminorGTM or Marketing PartnerRelated program under Excellerate Foundation that connects participants to career opportunities in healthcare. Uses Hark Connector Tool to make referrals to community resources.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Regional players

• 211 San Diego / 2-1-1 San Diego: Regional 211 call center and resource directory serving San Diego County, with comparable nonprofit-led care coordination model to Hark's Arkansas 211 partnership.

Direct peers

• Unite Us: Builds coordinated care networks linking health and social service providers with shared referral workflows and outcome tracking — same product category as Hark Connector and SHARE-style interoperability.
• NowPow (part of Unite Us): Community resource referral platform acquired by Unite Us, focused on SDOH screening and closed-loop referrals — direct competitor to Hark Connector for healthcare and nonprofit customers.
• Findhelp (formerly Aunt Bertha): Largest U.S. social-care network connecting people to community resources via a searchable database and referral platform — directly analogous to Hark's Connector and 211 services, but operating nationally.

Emerging players

• Benevity: Corporate-purpose and employee-engagement platform used by employers to run volunteer, donation, and wellness programs — adjacent to Hark's EAP+ workforce SDOH offering from a B2B angle.
• One Degree: Nonprofit-founded social services search and referral platform used by community organizations to direct clients to verified resources — same target user base and feature set as Hark Connector for nonprofits.

Broad incumbents

• Feeding America: National hunger-relief nonprofit network operating food bank referrals and assistance navigation — comparable to Hark's food pantry navigation and SDOH food-needs screening at much larger scale.
• Healthify (a WellSky company): SDOH referral platform acquired by WellSky, used by health plans and providers to screen for social needs and refer to community resources — overlapping technology stack and customer base with Hark's SHARE-integrated Connector.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCWJXNnXHtb2ceWe6oTXKPWA
• Facebookfacebook.com/harknwa
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/hark-at-the-center-for-collaborative-care
• Instagraminstagram.com/harknwa

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles9 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 Hark