National Girls Collaborative

What National Girls Collaborative does

National Girls Collaborative Project (NGCP) is a Seattle-headquartered nonprofit founded in 2002 that operates as a network-of-networks for gender equity in STEM. The organization connects 42,500 girl-serving STEM organizations across 41 U.S. states through 33 Local Collaboratives, collectively serving 20.2 million girls and 10 million boys. NGCP's core offerings are not commercial products but a portfolio of programs, digital databases, and partnership-driven initiatives — including The Connectory (national STEM opportunity directory), FabFems (international database of female STEM role models), Connected Girls (STEAM opportunities database), and research-based curricula such as SciGirls Strategies, Brite Practices, and the Access to STEM Framework. Major programs include Million Girls Moonshot, Leap into Science, IF/THEN Initiative, GSK Science in the Summer, Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA, and the recently launched Building AI Literacy for Inclusion in STEM initiative.

The organization does not develop proprietary technology products in the conventional sense; its digital infrastructure is built on third-party platforms (Neon CRM, RegFox, GivingFuel) and consists of curated databases plus content libraries rather than software products. NGCP is governed by a Board of Directors, Champions Board, Corporate Leadership Council, and Youth Advisory Board, with Karen Peterson as CEO and Tara Cox as Assistant Director of Programs. Formative and summative evaluation is conducted by the Education Development Center (EDC).

NGCP's revenue model is entirely nonprofit in structure: primary funding flows from National Science Foundation (NSF) grants since 2004 (including Awards 1103073 and HRD-1532643), with additional support from Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS), corporate partners (AMD Foundation, GSK, Lyda Hill Philanthropies), individual donations, and merchandise sales. All programs, resources, and digital tools are provided free of charge to educators, practitioners, families, and youth, positioning accessibility and equity as the operating principle rather than revenue capture. Distribution occurs through self-serve digital platforms, regional Local Collaboratives, and national partner networks.

Name

National Girls Collaborative

Legal name

National Girls Collaborative

Website

http://www.ngcproject.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

National Girls Collaborative Project is a Seattle-based nonprofit founded in 2002 that connects 42,500 STEM-serving organizations across 41 U.S. states through 33 Local Collaboratives, advancing gender equity in STEM for 20.2 million girls and 10 million boys.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

STEM Education Nonprofit Services

NAICS

Human Rights Organizations (813311), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133)

SIC

Services-Membership Organizations (8600)

akta.pro primary industry

STEM, Digital Literacy & Maker Education Nonprofits (BPAGADAG)

akta.pro secondary industries

Gender Equality & Women’s Empowerment (BPAGABAF), STEM Project-Based Learning (PBL) & Challenge Platforms (EDAFANAI), AI & Emerging Technology Literacy (EDAAAIAJ)

Keywords

• STEM equity programs
• Girl-serving STEM network
• STEM collaboration nonprofit
• Youth STEM education
• STEM role model database

Headquarters

HQ city

Seattle

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, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. NSF Grant Funding: Primary revenue source from National Science Foundation (NSF) grants under Human Resource Development and Research on Gender in Science and Engineering. NGCP has received multiple NSF grants (2004, 2006, 2011, 2015, and others including Award Number 1103073 and Grant No. HRD-1532643) to build capacity of STEM practitioners and expand the collaborative network.
2. Corporate Partnerships: NGCP generates revenue through corporate partnerships and sponsorships. Companies such as the AMD Foundation, GSK, and Lyda Hill Philanthropies provide funding and support for specific programs and initiatives.
3. Individual Donations: NGCP accepts individual donations through its support portal and fundraising events to sustain operations and expand program reach.
4. Donations and Shop: Revenue generated through the NGCP merchandise shop (spreadshop) and donation pages.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

National Girls Collaborative Project operates a network-of-networks connecting 42,500 girl-serving STEM organizations across 41 U.S. states and globally. It delivers free digital databases (The Connectory, FabFems, Connected Girls), evidence-based program models (Brite, Leap into Science, Million Girls Moonshot, Building AI Literacy for Inclusion in STEM, SciGirls), role model collections (IF/THEN), mini-grants, professional development workshops, and collaborative infrastructure to advance gender equity in STEM.

Product overview

National Girls Collaborative is not a technology product company but rather a collaborative network organization that connects organizations committed to encouraging girls to pursue STEM careers. NGCP's offerings consist of educational programs and initiatives (Brite, Connected Girls, Global Girls Collaborative, Youth Advisory Board, Building AI Literacy for Inclusion in STEM), partner programs (CryptoClub, Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA, GSK Science in the Summer, IF/THEN Initiative, Leap into Science, Million Girls Moonshot, National Citizen and Community Science Library Network, SciGirls), and databases (FabFems role model database, The Connectory opportunity finder). These programs work together as a network of girl-serving STEM organizations rather than as a unified software product with modules.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Brite: Interdisciplinary summer STEM program for girls ages 13-16, providing a high-quality online suite of activities centered on collaborative learning with female role models.
• Connected Girls
• Global Girls Collaborative
• Youth Advisory Board
• Building AI Literacy for Inclusion in STEM
• CryptoClub
• Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA
• GSK Science in the Summer
• IF/THEN Initiative
• Leap into Science
• Million Girls Moonshot
• National Citizen and Community Science Library Network
• SciGirls
• Local Collaboratives
• FabFems
• The Connectory

Products and services

• The Connectory The Connectory is a free searchable national directory of STEM opportunities for youth, allowing organizations to list their offerings and families and educators to find programs. It is co-managed by NGCP and the SciGirls program.
• FabFems Database FabFems is an international database of female STEM professionals managed by NGCP that connects young women with role models and mentors during critical career transition points, serving as the primary pipeline for role model connections across all NGCP programs.
• Connected Girls Database Connected Girls is a free database of STEAM opportunities and events designed for K-12 girls and other groups historically excluded from STEM, helping them discover programs and educational pathways.
• Brite Brite is an interdisciplinary online summer STEM program for girls ages 13-16, offering courses such as Art x Science and Dream Big, Take Risks. It was developed in partnership with Florida State University and Smart Girls HQ (now Ingenia Learning) under NSF funding, with activities centered on collaborative learning with female role models.
• Leap into Science Leap into Science is an NSF-funded program that empowers educators to lead engaging science and literacy workshops for children ages 3-10 and their families. NGCP serves as a critical scaling partner alongside The Franklin Institute, reaching over 40,000 children and adults across 20 states.
• Million Girls Moonshot Million Girls Moonshot is an initiative funded by the STEM Next Opportunity Fund that strives to engage one million more girls in STEM learning through afterschool and summer programs. NGCP serves as an implementation partner, providing 23 professional development workshops and developing the Access to STEM Framework for statewide afterschool networks.
• Building AI Literacy for Inclusion in STEM Building AI Literacy for Inclusion in STEM is a national initiative examining how AI is being introduced in K-12 learning environments. Developed in partnership with Ingenia Learning and STEM Next Opportunity Fund with AMD Foundation support, it includes the National AI Literacy Landscape Report and associated webinars for educators and youth program leaders.
• IF/THEN Initiative The IF/THEN Initiative is a partnership with Lyda Hill Philanthropies that highlights professional female STEM role models and provides the IF/THEN Collection — the largest free resource of authentic images and assets of real women in STEM, with 2,000+ assets. NGCP manages asset requests, supports ASTC grantees, and has awarded $100,000 in grants to Collaboratives.
• National Citizen and Community Science Library Network The National Citizen and Community Science Library Network is a project led by NGCP alongside Arizona State University and SciStarter, funded by IMLS, that scales libraries as community hubs for citizen science. The network has grown to over 700 library members since 2021.
• SciGirls SciGirls is an Emmy award-winning PBS Kids TV show and outreach program drawing on cutting-edge research about what engages girls in STEM. NGCP serves as a key national collaboration partner, facilitating SciGirls gender equity training across regional and local girl-serving STEM programs globally and enabling role model outreach through the FabFems database.
• 33 Local Collaboratives (41 States) 33 Local Collaboratives operating across 41 U.S. states serve as NGCP's primary regional infrastructure, each led by a Leadership Team that receives resources, mini-grants, training, and support to facilitate collaboration among girl-serving STEM organizations in their geographic region.
• Global Girls Collaborative Global Girls Collaborative is NGCP's international arm that supports gender equity in STEM worldwide by sharing resources and news internationally, with an active network operating in Australia.
• GSK Science in the Summer GSK Science in the Summer is a free informal science summer program for youth grades 2-6 that aims to increase interest and confidence in doing science and pursuing STEM careers. NGCP supports the National Network to collectively reach upwards of 23,400 youth each summer in collaboration with The Franklin Institute and GSK.
• Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA is a nationwide project engaging girls and their families in authentic STEM experiences and current NASA science. NGCP partnered with NASA's Universe of Learning, providing implementation stipends to informal education organizations to host events using NASA's free resources.
• CryptoClub CryptoClub is a project that develops educational materials for educators, harnessing the allure of secret messages to teach cryptography and mathematics to youth.
• Youth Advisory Board The Youth Advisory Board is a group of high school students from diverse regions, backgrounds, and STEM interests that helps guide NGCP's initiatives and direction by providing youth perspective on programs and priorities.

Quantifiable outcome

• 42,500 organizations connected across 41 states serving 20.2 million girls and 10 million boys
• +6 more outcomes

Named customers5 records

Segments5 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature6 records

Partnerships

18 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Arizona State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2021NGCP collaborates with ASU and SciStarter on the National Citizen and Community Science Library Network, funded by IMLS. ASU serves as a key research and implementation partner in scaling libraries as community hubs for citizen science.
• SciStartercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 May 2021NGCP partners with SciStarter (an online citizen science hub) and Arizona State University to lead the National Citizen and Community Science Library Network, funded by IMLS. Since 2021, the Library Network has grown to over 700 members, and NGCP has provided 20 national webinars on citizen science strategies.
• Florida State UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Led the NSF-funded Research in Service to Practice Project 'BRITE Girls Online STEM Practices' (NSF), in partnership with NGCP and Smart Girls HQ, with external evaluation by SJLR Solutions. FSU partnership produced the Brite Practices and Brite Practice Guide for Educators — research-based guidance for supporting STEM identity development online.
• Smart Girls HQ (now Ingenia Learning)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2020Partner in the NSF-funded Brite Girls Online STEM Practices project alongside Florida State University and NGCP. Ingenia Learning (formerly Smart Girls HQ) exists to connect classrooms to industry before students opt out, building experiential learning programs that make STEM relevant and actionable.
• The Franklin InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerLong-standing strategic partner for over a decade. Co-leading Leap into Science (NSF-funded) and GSK Science in the Summer programs. Combined, these programs serve over 58,000 participants across 30+ states, with half being girls and women. The Franklin Institute received NGCP's Excellence in Collaboration award in 2023.
• Lyda Hill PhilanthropiescoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPrimary partner for the IF/THEN Initiative, which NGCP collaborates on to develop the IF/THEN Collection — the largest free resource dedicated to increasing access to authentic images of real women in STEM. NGCP manages asset requests, supports ASTC grantees, and has awarded $100,000 in grants to Collaboratives to promote Collection use.
• World Science Festival and The Hello StudiosminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerInitial pilot partners for the Brite program in summer 2020. The World Science Festival provided the venue and audience for the pilot, which offered a high-quality online suite of activities centered on collaborative learning with female role models.
• SJLR SolutionsminorImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerExternal evaluator for the 2021 Brite program, producing the Brite 2021 Evaluation Findings Report. Also external evaluator for the NSF-funded Brite Girls Online STEM Practices project.
• Million Girls Moonshot (MGM)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNGCP is an implementation partner of MGM, a movement striving to inspire and prepare the next generation of innovators by engaging one million more girls in STEM learning through afterschool and summer programs. NGCP has provided 23 professional development workshops and developed the Access to STEM Framework for statewide afterschool networks.
• Education Development Center (EDC)coreImplementation/ SI/ Consulting PartnerNGCP's evaluation team, providing formative and summative evaluation of the NGCP model at national and Collaborative levels. EDC collects data from tri-annual reports, annual surveys, mini-grant reports, and webinar surveys to assess NGCP's effectiveness and impact.
• Ingenia LearningcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartner with NGCP and STEM Next Opportunity Fund on the 'Building AI Literacy for Inclusion in STEM' initiative. Ingenia Learning (formerly Smart Girls HQ) is an experiential learning design company building programs that make STEM relevant, applied, and actionable. Has reached 25,000+ students nationwide.
• NASA's Universe of LearningcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNGCP partnered with NASA's Universe of Learning on Girls STEAM Ahead with NASA, a nationwide project engaging girls and their families in authentic STEM experiences and current NASA science. Provided implementation stipends to informal education organizations to host events using NASA's free resources.
• PBS Kids / SciGirlscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNGCP is the key national collaboration partner for SciGirls, the Emmy award-winning PBS Kids TV show and outreach program. NGCP has facilitated SciGirls gender equity training across regional and local girl-serving STEM programs globally, and enabled role model outreach through the FabFems database. NGCP co-hosted multiple SciGirls webinars on STEM identity, equity, and engagement strategies.
• 33 Local Collaboratives (41 States)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRegional girl-serving STEM collaborative networks spanning 41 U.S. states. Each Collaborative is led by a Leadership Team and receives NGCP resources, mini-grants, training, and support to build capacity and facilitate collaboration among girl-serving organizations in their region.
• FabFemscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAn international database of female STEM professionals managed by NGCP. Connects young women with role models during critical career transition points. Serves as the primary pipeline for role model connections across all NGCP programs including SciGirls, Brite, and IF/THEN initiatives.
• Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNGCP partnered with ASTC member museums to implement IF/THEN Collection resources in science center programming. ASTC grantees received support from NGCP for incorporating diverse STEM role models into youth programs.
• Global Girls CollaborativecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNGCP's international arm operating on a global basis, supporting gender equity in STEM worldwide through sharing resources and news internationally. NGCP also has a network operating in Australia.
• Million Women MentorsminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerNGCP is a Founding Partner of the Million Women Mentors initiative, which mobilizes corporations, government, nonprofits, and higher education groups around mentoring girls and young women in STEM fields.

Scale indicators19 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Black Girls Code: Black Girls Code is a nonprofit dedicated to increasing the number of women of color in the tech sector through workshops, summer camps, and after-school programs. Like NGCP, it focuses on girls underrepresented in STEM and delivers hands-on programming with role-model exposure, though it is more narrowly focused on technology and on Black girls.
• PBS Kids SciGirls: SciGirls is an Emmy Award-winning PBS Kids TV show and outreach program that connects NGCP with educator training and role model outreach. Both share the mission of engaging girls in STEM using research-based, gender-inclusive strategies; SciGirls is more media-driven and NGCP is more network-driven.
• National Center for Women & Information Technology (NCWIT): NCWIT is a non-profit community of more than 1,400 universities, companies, non-profits, and government organizations working to increase women's participation in computing. Like NGCP, it operates as a network-of-networks and develops research-based resources for educators and practitioners focused on gender equity in STEM.
• Girls Who Code: Girls Who Code is a national nonprofit working to close the gender gap in technology through after-school clubs, summer programs, and college-loops for girls. Like NGCP, it targets girls in STEM (especially computing) and serves as a network connector, though more focused on direct program delivery than network coordination.
• Girls Inc. Girls Inc. is a national nonprofit inspiring all girls to be strong, smart, and bold through afterschool and summer programs, with STEM as one of several focus areas. Comparable to NGCP in mission scope (girls' empowerment) but broader than just STEM and operating through local affiliates.
• Society of Women Engineers (SWE): SWE is a global professional society and network empowering women in engineering and technology. Like NGCP, it works to advance women in STEM through programming, partnerships, and resources, though it skews more toward collegiate and professional women rather than K-12 girls.
• TechGirlz: TechGirlz is a nonprofit that inspires middle school girls to pursue technology through free workshops, summer camps, andTeach Days. Like NGCP, it focuses on engaging girls in STEM with curriculum and role-model exposure; smaller in scale and more focused on technology specifically.
• Million Girls Moonshot / STEM Next Opportunity Fund: Million Girls Moonshot (MGM) is a movement funded by STEM Next to engage one million more girls in STEM through afterschool and summer programs. NGCP is a core implementation partner for MGM and developed its Access to STEM Framework — they share mission (girls in STEM) and overlapping programmatic scope.

Broad incumbents

• Girl Scouts of the USA: Girl Scouts is the preeminent U.S. girls' youth organization with extensive STEM programming (STEM badges, robotics, cybersecurity). While not solely focused on STEM, it shares NGCP's mission to empower girls and has massive scale (millions of members), competing for the same girls and STEM equity funding dollars.
• Association of Science and Technology Centers (ASTC): ASTC is a global membership organization for science centers and museums, including members that partner with NGCP through the IF/THEN initiative. Both are nonprofit networks serving STEM engagement audiences, but ASTC focuses on the broader science center community while NGCP focuses specifically on girl-serving STEM programs.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat6 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ngcproject
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCQit07cAU9fE-rwv9nSA40g
• Facebookfacebook.com/ngcproject
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/National-Girls-Collaborative-Project-4344096
• Instagraminstagram.com/ngcproject

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about National Girls Collaborative