Internet Education Foundation

What Internet Education Foundation does

The Internet Education Foundation (IEF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., founded in 1996 with approximately 6 core staff members, governed by a volunteer board of directors chaired by founder Jerry Berman and led operationally by Executive Director Tim Lordan (since 1999). Its mission is to promote informed policymaking on Internet-related issues through five operating programs: the Congressional Internet Caucus Academy (the official educational programming arm for Congressional staff on Internet policy), the State of the Net Conference Series (an annual Internet policy conference), the Congressional App Challenge (the official student coding competition of the U.S. House of Representatives), the Internet Law & Policy Foundry (early-career professional development in Internet law), and the Decentralized Future Council (joint project with the Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web). It also serves as fiscal sponsor for two adjacent projects: Copyright & Creativity for Ethical Digital Citizens (K-12 copyright education) and the Trust & Safety Foundation.

IEF does not develop proprietary technology products; it operates as a neutral, non-partisan platform convening Congress, the technology industry, academia, civil society, and students. The organization is funded through tax-deductible individual donations, corporate sponsorships (including Capital One, Microsoft, Democracy Fund, Verizon Foundation, Amazon Web Services, UPS, BSA Foundation, CA Technologies, Cognizant, and Copyright Alliance), and fiscal-sponsorship administrative fees. Distribution occurs through Congressional briefings on Capitol Hill, the annual State of the Net Conference (600+ attendees), the nationwide Congressional App Challenge (30,000+ students, 340 Members of Congress in 2021), and a podcast, video, and social media content program reaching its stakeholder community.

The organization takes no positions on legislation, instead serving as a debate and education forum. Its scale metrics (20+ years of operation, 600+ annual conference attendees, 30,000+ App Challenge students, 340 participating Members of Congress, 18th annual conference in 2022, ongoing 2025-2026 programming across AI, spectrum, and space-internet topics) reflect a small but durable institutional footprint in U.S. Internet policy.

Name

Internet Education Foundation

Legal name

Internet Education Foundation

Website

https://neted.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1996

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

The Internet Education Foundation (IEF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit, founded in 1996, that operates as a neutral educational platform convening the U.S. Congress, the technology industry, civil society, and students around Internet policy through the Congressional Internet Caucus Academy, State of the Net Conference, Congressional App Challenge, Internet Law & Policy Foundry, and Decentralized Future Council.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Washington

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, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Contributions: IEF receives tax-deductible donations from individuals and organizations. Federal Tax ID: 31-1577362. The organization offers donation options at $10, $50, $100, $5,000 levels and custom amounts through PayPal or by mail.
2. Corporate Sponsorships: Corporate sponsors support specific programs like the Congressional App Challenge. Past sponsors include Capital One, Microsoft, Democracy Fund, Verizon Foundation, Amazon Web Services, UPS, BSA Foundation, CA Technologies, Cognizant, and Copyright Alliance.
3. Fiscal Sponsorship: IEF serves as a fiscal sponsor for related projects including Copyright & Creativity for Ethical Digital Citizens and Trust & Safety Foundation, receiving administrative support fees.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Internet Education Foundation (IEF) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that operates educational programs and platforms focused on Internet policy. It coordinates the Congressional Internet Caucus Academy, which educates Members of Congress and staff on Internet policy issues; the Congressional App Challenge, the official student coding competition of the U.S. House of Representatives; the State of the Net Conference series; the Internet Law & Policy Foundry for early-career professionals; and the Decentralized Future Council.

Product overview

The Internet Education Foundation (IEF) is a non-profit organization that does not offer a unified software product but rather coordinates multiple educational programs and initiatives focused on Internet policy and technology education. Its portfolio includes the Congressional Internet Caucus Academy (an educational platform for Congress on Internet policy), the State of the Net Conference Series (a major Internet policy conference), the Congressional App Challenge (a national student coding competition), the Internet Law & Policy Foundry (professional development for Internet law professionals), the Decentralized Future Council (decentralized web education), and two fiscally sponsored projects: Copyright & Creativity for Ethical Digital Citizens (K-12 copyright education) and Trust & Safety Foundation (trust and safety professional community).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Congressional Internet Caucus Academy: The most prominent educational program on Capitol Hill for Internet policy, providing a neutral platform for debate among Internet stakeholders.
• State of the Net Conference Series
• Congressional App Challenge
• Internet Law & Policy Foundry
• Decentralized Future Council

Products and services

• Congressional Internet Caucus Academy The most prominent educational program on Capitol Hill for Internet policy, serving as a neutral platform where thought leaders debate technology issues shaping legislative and administration policy through briefings and open forums for Congressional members and staff.
• State of the Net Conference Series America's premier annual Internet policy conference series, bringing together Internet stakeholders in government and the private sector to explore the potential of a decentralized global Internet to promote communications, commerce, and democracy; attended by over 600 participants each year.
• Congressional App Challenge The official student coding competition of the U.S. House of Representatives, promoting computer coding skills and STEM education by recognizing and incentivizing young programming talent through district-wide competitions; recognized as the most prestigious computer science award for students.
• Internet Law & Policy Foundry A collaborative professional development environment for early-career Internet law and policy professionals passionate about disruptive innovation, offering constructive debate, network-building, and cohort-based learning opportunities.
• Decentralized Future Council An advocacy and education organization dedicated to the emerging decentralized web and related technologies, raising awareness of blockchain and cryptocurrency, and educating policymakers on privacy, security, democracy, and online trust and safety.
• Copyright & Creativity for Ethical Digital Citizens Free K-12 education resources for teaching copyright and fair use to students as they consume, create, and publish creative work online, including in-class lesson plans, learning videos, and materials developed with educators, copyright experts, and online civil liberties advocates.
• Trust & Safety Foundation A fiscally sponsored project of IEF supporting the global community of professionals who develop and enforce principles and policies that define acceptable behavior online, and improving society's understanding of trust and safety.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 30,000 students inspired to code across 50 states
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 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

Partnerships

15 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized WebcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 11 March 2022The Decentralized Future Council (DFC) is a joint project between IEF and the Filecoin Foundation for the Decentralized Web. The Council is dedicated to advocacy and education for the emerging decentralized Web and related technologies, including blockchain and cryptocurrency. It will raise awareness for the larger ecosystem of new technologies and educate policymakers on challenges including privacy, security, democracy, online trust and safety.
• Copyright & Creativity for Ethical Digital CitizensminorOthersIEF serves as the fiscal sponsor for the Copyright & Creativity for Ethical Digital Citizens project, which provides free K-12 education resources for teaching copyright and fair use.
• Trust & Safety FoundationminorOthersThe Trust & Safety Foundation is a fiscally sponsored project of IEF. TSPA is a 501(c)6 membership-based organization while TSF is the 501(c)3 component under IEF's fiscal sponsorship.
• Amazon Web ServicesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAWS provides $250 in AWS credits to each Congressional App Challenge winner as sponsorship support for the program.
• Capital OneminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate sponsor of the Congressional App Challenge, supporting the program alongside other technology companies.
• MicrosoftminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate sponsor of the Congressional App Challenge, providing support for the program and hosting events like #HouseOfCode activities at Microsoft Innovation & Policy Center.
• Democracy FundminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate sponsor supporting the Congressional App Challenge initiative.
• Verizon FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate sponsor of the Congressional App Challenge program.
• United Parcel ServiceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate sponsor supporting the Congressional App Challenge.
• BSA FoundationminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate sponsor of the Congressional App Challenge.
• CA TechnologiesminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate sponsor of the Congressional App Challenge.
• CognizantminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate sponsor of the Congressional App Challenge.
• Copyright AllianceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCorporate sponsor supporting the Congressional App Challenge.
• COMO Summit PartnersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe COMO (Content Moderation at Scale) Summit is a collaborative effort among multiple organizations including Cato Institute, Center for Democracy & Technology, Charles Koch Institute, CCIA, Craig Newmark Philanthropies, Engine, Internet Association, Internet Education Foundation, New America's Open Technology Institute, and Santa Clara University School of Law, committed to content moderation practices.
• Congressional App Challenge Advisory BoardminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAdvisory board includes American Indian Science and Engineering Society, Computer Science Teachers Association, Girls Who Code, Hispanic Heritage Foundation, Capital One, and Cisco, supporting the Congressional App Challenge.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• Engine Advocacy: Non-profit advocacy organization for technology startups on Internet policy issues including encryption, immigration, and access. Overlaps with IEF's Internet-policy-education mandate and has co-convened events with IEF (e.g., COMO Summit), but focuses on startup founder advocacy.
• Future of Privacy Forum: DC-based non-profit that educates policymakers and industry on data privacy and emerging technology issues. Comparable in operating model (small staff, convening power, policy education) to IEF, focused specifically on the privacy vertical that IEF's Caucus Academy covers.
• Computer Science Teachers Association: Membership organization supporting K-12 computer science educators and serving on the Congressional App Challenge Advisory Board. Comparable as a CS-education partner feeding the App Challenge talent pipeline.

Direct peers

• Code.org: Non-profit dedicated to expanding access to computer science education in K-12 schools, with significant policy advocacy for CS standards and funding. Code.org operates the largest comparable K-12 CS education mission to IEF's Congressional App Challenge, but at materially larger scale.
• Internet Society: Global non-profit that promotes the open development, evolution, and use of the Internet through education, policy advocacy, and standards engagement. Highly comparable mission to IEF's 'informed policymaking' goal, with a more global footprint.
• New America - Open Technology Institute: DC think tank policy program focused on Internet openness, privacy, and security, producing research, convenings, and Congressional education. OTI is a close functional peer to IEF's Caucus Academy work, and both co-convene events like the COMO Summit.
• Electronic Frontier Foundation: Foundational digital civil-liberties non-profit that educates the public and lawmakers on Internet freedom, privacy, and free expression. EFF shares IEF's non-partisan education-and-advocacy posture and donor/sponsorship funding model, but operates at a much larger scale.
• Center for Democracy & Technology: Washington, DC-based 501(c)(3) non-profit that educates policymakers and the public on Internet and technology policy. CDT and IEF both convene multi-stakeholder Internet policy discussions and produce educational programming for Congress, making them the most direct comparables in the DC internet-policy non-profit space.
• Public Knowledge: DC-based public-interest non-profit working on Internet, copyright, and technology policy through advocacy, education, and Congressional engagement. Comparable to IEF in mission, policy focus, and reliance on a small staff to run educational programs aimed at Congress and the broader public.

Others

• TechNet: Tech industry trade association and lobby group that educates policymakers on technology issues. TechNet is a broader-incumbent counterpart to IEF's industry-engagement function, representing many of the same corporate sponsors (Microsoft, AWS) that back the App Challenge.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/netedfound
• YouTubeyoutube.com/playlist?list=PLMCTOgS5GuYz6sVWwcVT2g3_ziWFiCK4f
• Facebookfacebook.com/AppChallengeCoalition

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles16 records

Subsidiaries7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Internet Education Foundation