Inneract Project
Inneract Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2004 and headquartered in Oakland, California that delivers free design education and mentorship programs — including Summer Design Camp, the Uplift online platform, and Learning Labs — to Black, Latinx, and underrepresented youth from middle school through early career, funded by corporate sponsorships and grants.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2004
- HeadquartersSan Francisco, United States
- Headcount11–50
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What Inneract Project does
Inneract Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2004 by Maurice Woods that delivers free design education programs to Black, Latinx, and other underrepresented youth of color, from middle school through early career. The organization is headquartered in Oakland, California (4610 Foothill Blvd) and reports having served over 10,000 students across its 20-year operating history, with a stated enrollment target in the hundreds annually. Its primary program surface consists of the 4-week Summer Design Camp held at sites such as Fremont High School, the Uplift online mentorship platform (currently in BETA), Create @ Home design activities, single-day Learning Lab Workshops hosted at corporate partner sites including Apple headquarters, paid Design Internships, IP Studio portfolio challenges, and Back to Design Night community events. All programs are free of cost to participants; the organization does not charge tuition and instead disburses stipends and gift cards. The Uplift platform provides online mentor matching, interview preparation, networking, and portfolio reviews for emerging designers, with no disclosed AI/ML components.
The organization is funded by a mix of individual donations, corporate sponsorships, and foundation grants. Its 2024 fundraising goal is $200,000 against an explicit two-year $2M capitalization target, and it works with 40+ funders including Google, Adobe, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, Dolby, eBay, the Eames Institute, and the Coyne Foundation. Distribution is community-led: programs are delivered in-person across the Bay Area through partnerships with schools, school districts, community colleges, CBOs (e.g., Girls Inc., Bridge Builders, UCSF TRiO Upward Bound), and corporate volunteer channels, while the Uplift platform extends reach to college students and early-career designers nationally. Curriculum is taught by practicing designers from Google, Apple, Microsoft, Meta, and Adobe, providing direct industry exposure and feeding alumni into design programs at Parsons, UC San Diego, UC Berkeley, and into hires at firms including Meta, Nike, OddFellows TV, and Daffy. Operational headcount consists of a small core staff of roughly 11 people supplemented by volunteers.
The business model is that of a donor-funded nonprofit with no direct tuition revenue; sustainability depends on continued corporate and foundation sponsorship and on founder Maurice Woods' dual role as Principal Design Manager at Microsoft. Pricing is fully subsidized on the student side, and the operating economics are constrained by grant cycles and corporate sponsorship churn rather than market-driven revenue. Strategic posture over the past three years has emphasized programmatic diversification (Uplift + Summer Design Camp launched in 2023), ecosystem partnership consolidation around tier-1 design employers, and preparation for geographic expansion via the digital platform, all set against a 20-year anniversary capital campaign.
Inneract Project firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- Inneract Project
- Legal name
- Inneract Project
- Website
- https://inneractproject.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2004
- Operating status
- Operating
- Headcount range
- 11–50 employees
- Short description
- Inneract Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2004 and headquartered in Oakland, California that delivers free design education and mentorship programs — including Summer Design Camp, the Uplift online platform, and Learning Labs — to Black, Latinx, and underrepresented youth from middle school through early career, funded by corporate sponsorships and grants.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
Inneract Project industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Youth Design Education
- NAICS
- Fine Arts Schools (61161), Educational Services (611)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Arts & Design Camps (Visual Arts, Crafts, Design Thinking) (EDAMALAH)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Innovation & Design Thinking Programs (EDAMAHAD), Advanced Project-Based Learning & Portfolio Mentoring (STEM/arts portfolios, maker projects) (EDANAKAI)
Keywords
Where Inneract Project is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- San Francisco
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices1 record
Markets served
Inneract Project business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Others
Revenue model
- Donations and Sponsorships: Inneract Project operates as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Revenue comes from individual donations, corporate sponsorships, and foundation grants. The organization aims to raise $200,000 in 2024 towards an overall $2M goal over two years.
- Corporate Sponsorship: Companies sponsor the organization to support free design education for students while providing volunteer and professional growth opportunities for their employees.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Freemium | Other | Free programs for students |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels6 records
Inneract Project product offering
Product offeringCore offering
Inneract Project delivers a portfolio of free design education and mentorship programs to Black, Latinx, and underrepresented youth from middle school through early career. Offerings include a 4-week Summer Design Camp, the Uplift online mentorship platform for portfolio reviews and interview prep, plus Create @ Home activities, Learning Lab Workshops, Design Internships, and community events, all taught by working designers from major tech and design companies.
Product overview
Inneract Project is a nonprofit organization offering a portfolio of design education programs focused on Black, Latinx, and underrepresented youth of color. The core offerings include the Summer Design Camp (a 4-week intensive in-person program), Uplift (an online mentorship platform for emerging designers in beta testing), and various supplementary programs including Create @ Home activities, Learning Lab Workshops, Design Internships, Back to Design Night community events, and IP Studio. All programs are free to participants and aim to provide pathways into design careers while building portfolios and professional networks.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Uplift: A free online digital platform by Inneract Project designed to help Black, Latinx and underrepresented designers of color find mentors, prepare for interviews, strengthen their network, and gain access to portfolio reviews from professional designers.
Products and services
- Summer Design Camp (SDC) A 4-week intensive design education program for Black and Brown middle and high school students covering design fundamentals, visual/interactive design, real-world client projects, portfolio development, and field trips to design companies in the Bay Area. Held at Fremont High School in Oakland. Free of cost, with stipends and gift cards available upon completion.
- Uplift A free online digital platform designed to help Black, Latinx, and underrepresented designers of color find mentors, prepare for interviews, strengthen their network, and gain unlimited access to portfolio reviews from professional graphic and product designers. Currently in BETA testing.
- Create @ Home (CAH)
Quantifiable outcome
- 10,000+ students served since 2004
- +2 more outcomes
Companies that use Inneract Project
Customer profileNamed customers6 records
Segments3 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
Inneract Project technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
Inneract Project partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.
- GooglecoreMajor corporate partner providing design professionals as mentors and instructors. Google designers have taught at Summer Design Camp and participated in design-a-thons.
- AdobecoreCorporate design partner supporting IP programs with professional development and design tools exposure.
- ApplecoreCorporate partner hosting Learning Labs at Apple headquarters. Students participate in design workshops at Apple facilities with transportation provided.
- MicrosoftcoreCorporate partner with founder Maurice Woods serving as Principal Design Manager. Microsoft professionals participate as instructors and mentors.
- MetacoreCorporate partner providing internship opportunities for IP alumni, including Summer 2022 internship at Meta for Jasmine Robinson.
- Eames InstituteminorDesign partner supporting IP initiatives.
- DolbyminorCorporate design partner supporting IP programs.
- Girls Inc.minorCommunity partner organization serving young women through IP design programs.
- Bridge BuildersminorCommunity partner organization working with IP on design education programs.
- Bridge the Gap College PrepminorEducational partner providing design programming to underserved students in Marin City and Southern Marin.
- UCSF TRiO Upward BoundminorFederal TRIO program partner serving high school students from low-income families and first-generation college students.
- Twitter/X Design TeamminorCorporate partner that took IP alumni on a trip to Barcelona, Spain for the OFFF Conference.
- eBayminorCorporate partner participating in design-a-thons and providing internship opportunities for IP students.
- Design MapminorDesign agency partner that provided freelance contract opportunity to IP alumnus Andrew Whitmore through the Uplift platform.
- The Hidden Genius ProjectminorNonprofit partner training Black male youth in technology. Joint workshops on content creation and design projects.
- Project LevelminorArts nonprofit providing experiential learning environment for Bay Area youth. Joint Music in Design Workshop.
- Mills College at Northeastern UniversityminorHigher education partner hosting college tours and museum visits for IP students.
Scale indicators7 records
Recent moves7 records
Expansion highlights5 records
Inneract Project competitors and assessment
Company assessmentDirect peers
- The Hidden Genius Project: Oakland-based nonprofit training Black male youth in technology, software engineering, and entrepreneurship. Highly comparable mission (underrepresented youth tech education), Oakland location, and even an existing Inneract Project partner; differs in focusing on coding rather than design.
- The LAGRANT Foundation: Nonprofit increasing diversity in advertising, marketing, and communications through scholarships, internships, and career development programs. Closely comparable creative-industry DEI focus for underrepresented students, with similar scholarship-to-career pipeline model.
- Black Girls CODE: National nonprofit providing technology education for Black girls and youth of color. Similar underrepresented-youth-in-tech mission, comparable community-led GTM and corporate partnership model, though focused on coding/STEM rather than design specifically.
- The Marcus Graham Project: Nonprofit developing diverse talent for the advertising and creative industries through mentoring, workshops, and the iCR8 creative agency. Closely comparable focus on creative industries and design careers for underrepresented youth, with similar corporate pipeline structure.
Emerging players
- Braven: National nonprofit supporting underrepresented college students to land strong first jobs through career education. Comparable mission of building career pathways for first-generation and underrepresented students with corporate employer partnerships, though focused on broader business careers rather than design specifically.
- ADCOLOR: Industry coalition advancing diversity, equity, and inclusion in creative, advertising, and design industries. Comparable DEI focus in design/creative spaces; serves as industry advocacy counterpart to Inneract's grassroots pipeline approach.
- Visual Communications (VC): Los Angeles-based nonprofit supporting Asian American and Pacific Islander media artists and storytellers. Comparable nonprofit creative-education pipeline for underrepresented communities of color; similar small-staff model with corporate sponsorship focus.
- NPower: National nonprofit providing technology training and career pathways for underrepresented young adults. Similar demographics (Black, Latinx youth) and free-to-student model; overlaps in corporate partnership structure but focuses on IT/cybersecurity rather than design.
Broad incumbents
- Code.org: Major nonprofit expanding access to computer science education in K-12 schools. Comparable supplemental enrichment mission for youth, with free curriculum and broad school partnerships, though at much larger scale and CS-focused rather than design-specific.
- 4A's Foundation: Foundation arm of the 4A's (American Association of Advertising Agencies) focused on increasing diversity in advertising and creative industries. Comparable diversity-in-creative mission at broader industry-infrastructure level, with programs like MAIP for multicultural advertising talent.
Market position
Strengths4 records
Weaknesses4 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks6 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
Inneract Project social profiles
Digital presenceInneract Project financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
Inneract Project leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles16 records
Inneract Project funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Inneract Project 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 Inneract Project
What does Inneract Project do?
Inneract Project delivers a portfolio of free design education and mentorship programs to Black, Latinx, and underrepresented youth from middle school through early career. Offerings include a 4-week Summer Design Camp, the Uplift online mentorship platform for portfolio reviews and interview prep, plus Create @ Home activities, Learning Lab Workshops, Design Internships, and community events, all taught by working designers from major tech and design companies.
Is Inneract Project a public or private company?
Inneract Project is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was Inneract Project founded?
Inneract Project was founded in 2004. It employs 11 to 50 people.
Where is Inneract Project based?
Inneract Project is headquartered in San Francisco, United States, in the North America region.
How does Inneract Project make money?
Two revenue lines are on record. Donations and Sponsorships are the primary driver. The others are corporate Sponsorship.
Who are Inneract Project's main competitors?
Direct peers on record are The Hidden Genius Project, The LAGRANT Foundation, Black Girls CODE and The Marcus Graham Project. Emerging players are Braven, ADCOLOR, Visual Communications (VC) and NPower. Broad incumbents are Code.org and 4A's Foundation.
Does Inneract Project have an API?
No public API is recorded for Inneract Project.
What industry is Inneract Project in?
Inneract Project's product category is Youth Design Education. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAMALAH, Arts & Design Camps (Visual Arts, Crafts, Design Thinking), with a secondary code of EDAMAHAD, Innovation & Design Thinking Programs. Its NAICS code is 61161 and its SIC code is 8200.