What First Tech Fund does

First Tech Fund, operating as Honor Your Dreams, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization founded in 2020 in Brooklyn, NY (EIN: 85-1137904) that advances economic mobility for low-income youth through a portfolio of paid workforce development programs. The organization serves low-income students who lack access to paid professional experiences, professional networks, and mentorship in competitive industries, with beneficiaries drawn from across the U.S.

The organization's offering comprises four core programs: an Internship Program providing paid, hands-on professional experiences; the Dream Builder Fund, a scholarship vehicle; a Mentorship Program that matches students with professionals in their target industries; and a Practical Curriculum featuring professional panels and workshops on financial literacy, public speaking, and student-suggested topics. Participants gain access to a national network of young-professional "Fellows" spanning finance, biotech, climate, social impact, government, nonprofit, and entrepreneurship. Distribution is direct, with no channel intermediaries, and demand generation relies on the organization's website, email newsletter, blog, social media, and earned press coverage.

The business model is donation-funded: as a 501(c)(3), the organization does not charge program participants and is sustained entirely by charitable contributions and grants. No proprietary technology platform is described; program delivery appears relationship-driven and manual. Headcount is reported in the 11-50 range, consistent with a small-to-mid-sized U.S. nonprofit.

Name

First Tech Fund

Legal name

Honor Your Dreams

Website

https://firsttechfund.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

First Tech Fund, operating as Honor Your Dreams, is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2020 in Brooklyn, NY, providing paid internships, mentorship, scholarships, and practical curriculum to low-income youth pursuing economic mobility across multiple U.S. industries.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Workforce Development

NAICS

Educational Support Services (6117), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300), Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Youth & Young Adult Workforce Programs (Out-of-School Youth) (EDAAAOAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

After-School, Tutoring & Academic Enrichment Nonprofits (BPAGADAC), Scholarship & Fellowship Foundations and Trusts (EDADAHAC)

Keywords

• Youth workforce development
• Paid internship programs
• Student mentorship services
• Nonprofit education programs
• Career exploration workshops

Headquarters

HQ city

Brooklyn

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: Honor Your Dreams is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that relies on donations to fund its workforce development programs. The organization solicits contributions from individual donors and likely institutional funders to sustain operations, paid internship placements, mentorship programs, and scholarship disbursements.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Honor Your Dreams is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides paid workforce development programming for low-income youth, including paid internships, industry-matched mentorship, a cross-industry professional network, scholarships through the Dream Builder Fund, and a practical curriculum covering financial literacy, public speaking, and career exploration. Programs are delivered directly to individual student beneficiaries at no cost to participants, and operations are funded through charitable donations and grants.

Product overview

Honor Your Dreams is a nonprofit organization offering a portfolio of workforce development programs for low-income youth. The core offerings include the Internship Program (providing paid hands-on professional experiences), the Dream Builder Fund (scholarship financial support), and the Mentorship Program (connecting students with industry professionals). These programs are complemented by a Practical Curriculum featuring professional panels and workshops on topics like financial literacy and public speaking. The organization also facilitates networking opportunities by connecting Fellows with young professionals across various industries. This is a single unified nonprofit service offering rather than a platform-plus-modules architecture.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Internship Program A paid workforce development program that connects low-income students with hands-on professional experiences, enabling them to apply academic knowledge, build practical skills, and gain career confidence.
• Dream Builder Fund A scholarship fund that provides financial support to low-income youth, helping them access educational and workforce development opportunities.
• Mentorship Program Connects students with professionals in industries and roles they express interest in, providing support on job applications, technical skills, and career guidance.
• Practical Curriculum Professional panels and workshops covering topics such as financial literacy, public speaking, and career exploration across industries including finance, biotech, climate, social impact, government, nonprofit, and entrepreneurship. Students can also suggest topics to contribute to their own learning.

Quantifiable outcome

• Student testimonial indicates successful career exploration and entry into a previously inaccessible professional field (mental health)

Named customers1 record

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles1 record

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Emerging players

• QuestBridge: QuestBridge connects high-achieving low-income students with college scholarships and career-building opportunities at top universities. Comparable in scholarship-plus-pathway model for low-income students advancing into competitive industries.

Direct peers

• Per Scholas: Per Scholas delivers tuition-free technology workforce training and career placement for adults from low-income backgrounds. Comparable in mission, training-plus-placement model, and employer-funded paid-experience component.
• Year Up: Year Up is a large national nonprofit providing paid workforce training, mentorship, and career placement for low-income young adults, most in tech and finance. Directly comparable to Honor Your Dreams' Internship Program in target population, paid-experience model, and outcome-based mission.
• Braven: Braven is a nonprofit that combines a college course with career coaching and employer-connected experiences for low-income college students. Comparable in serving the low-income youth demographic with mentorship and career-acceleration programming.
• Bottom Line: Bottom Line provides college access and success coaching for low-income and first-generation students, with a strong career-outcomes focus. Comparable in serving low-income students navigating into professional career pathways.
• iMentor: iMentor pairs low-income high school students with college-educated mentors for long-term career and college guidance. Directly comparable in mentorship-driven model targeting low-income youth.
• America Needs You: America Needs You provides intensive career development, mentorship, and paid internships for low-income, first-generation college students. Highly comparable in bundled mentorship, paid-experience, and scholarship programming for the same demographic.
• Genesys Works: Genesys Works provides high school students from underserved communities with year-long paid internships, corporate mentorship, and college-and-career coaching. Closely comparable in paid-internship delivery model and youth demographic.
• NPower: NPower provides free tech training and job placement for young adults from underserved communities, with paid apprenticeships and corporate employer partnerships. Directly comparable in paid-workforce-experience model and youth demographic focus.

Regional players

• Coaching Corps: Youth-development nonprofit focused on mentorship and academic enrichment for underserved students. Comparable target demographic and program mix but narrower career-readiness focus; serves as a regional/adjacent peer in the youth-development nonprofit space.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/firsttechfund
• Facebookfacebook.com/firsttechfund
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/first-tech-fund

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

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 First Tech Fund