What Lindbergh Foundation does

The Lindbergh Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN 13-2882090) founded in 1977 by Neil Armstrong, General James Doolittle, and other aerospace pioneers to honor Charles and Anne Morrow Lindbergh's legacy of balancing technological advancement with environmental stewardship. Headquartered in St. Louis (relocated in 2024), the foundation operates a portfolio of STEM education and aviation innovation programs. Core products include the Spirit of St. Louis Air Races (a grades 6-12 student aviation competition), the EPIC STEM Challenge (electric aircraft design competition developed with Starfish Education and scaled in St. Louis via the Saint Louis Science Center), the e-Spirit of St. Louis (a 95% student-led all-electric aircraft built with Embry Riddle Aeronautical University's Eagle Flight Research Center), the Forever Flight Alliance (a joint initiative with the XPRIZE Foundation to decarbonize aviation via incentive prizes, with partners including the Prince Albert II of Monaco Foundation, NBAA, CAAFI, and Lee Enterprises Consulting), and the Lindbergh Innovation Forum.

The foundation does not develop proprietary technology products; instead it functions as a facilitator and convener for innovation through prizes, grants, educational programs, and signature events. Its most ambitious near-term initiative is the Spirit of St. Louis 100th Anniversary Charter Flight (May 15-22, 2027), a six-day all-business-class private jet expedition from St. Louis to Paris commemorating Charles Lindbergh's 1927 transatlantic flight.

Revenue is generated entirely through donations, corporate sponsorships, and event participation. Donor tiers include the Spirit of St. Louis 100 Year donation ($10,580 one-time), Centennial Circle ($3,550 recurring over 3 years), and named giving levels from Bronze ($10,000-$24,999) to Platinum ($100,000+). Named corporate sponsors include Boeing, Seyer Industries, Starrag, and Morgan Stanley. The foundation's primary "customers" are philanthropic donors, corporate sponsors, students reached through educational partnerships, and aviation industry leaders participating in Forever Flight Alliance brain trust meetings held at NBAA events.

Name

Lindbergh Foundation

Legal name

The Charles A. and Anne Morrow Lindbergh Foundation

Website

https://lindberghfoundation.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1977

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Lindbergh Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that runs STEM education programs and aviation innovation initiatives, including student electric aircraft competitions, the Forever Flight Alliance with XPRIZE for sustainable aviation, and a 2027 centennial charter flight commemorating Lindbergh's transatlantic crossing.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Aviation Nonprofit and STEM Education

NAICS

Grantmaking and Giving Services (8132), Other Technical and Trade Schools (611519), Environment, Conservation and Wildlife Organizations (813312), Religious, Grantmaking, Civic, Professional, and Similar Organizations (813)

akta.pro primary industry

Aviation & Aerospace (EDABALAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Sustainable Customer Products & Programs (green fares, corporate SAF programs, transparency) (THABANAL), STEM Competitions & Olympiads (Science Bowls, STEM Challenges) (EDAMABAL)

Keywords

• STEM aviation education
• Aviation decarbonization prizes
• Nonprofit foundation programs
• Student flight competitions
• Sustainable aviation fuels

Headquarters

HQ city

Los Angeles

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: The foundation raises funds through individual donations, major gifts, and planned giving. Donor tiers include Spirit of St. Louis 100 Year donors ($10,580), Centennial Circle members ($3,550 recurring over 3 years), and various named giving levels from Bronze ($10,000-$24,999) to Platinum ($100,000+).
2. Event Revenue: Revenue generated from ticket sales and participation fees for events including the 100th Anniversary Charter Flight (exclusive all-business-class private jet expedition), galas, and the Spirit of St. Louis Air Races student competition.
3. Corporate Sponsorships: Corporate partners and foundations sponsor programs, events, and initiatives. Sponsors include Boeing, Seyer Industries, Starrag, Morgan Stanley, and various private foundations at tiered contribution levels.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Lindbergh Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that delivers aviation-focused STEM education programs, incentive prizes, and commemorative events. Its primary offerings include the Spirit of St. Louis Air Races (student aviation competition for grades 6-12), the EPIC STEM Challenge (electric aircraft design competition), the e-Spirit of St. Louis electric aircraft project (with Embry Riddle), the Forever Flight Alliance (incentive-prizes partnership with XPRIZE to decarbonize aviation), the Spirit of St. Louis 100th Anniversary Charter Flight (St. Louis to Paris private jet journey in 2027), and the Lindbergh Innovation Forum.

Product overview

The Lindbergh Foundation is a nonprofit organization (501(c)(3)) dedicated to balancing civilization's technological needs with protecting the natural environment. The Foundation offers a portfolio of programs centered on STEM education and aviation innovation, including the Spirit of St. Louis Air Races (student aviation competition), EPIC STEM Challenge (electric aircraft design competition), e-Spirit of St. Louis (all-electric aircraft project with Embry Riddle), Forever Flight Alliance (XPRIZE partnership for aviation decarbonization), and the Spirit of St. Louis 100th Anniversary Charter Flight (commemorative journey). The Foundation also operates the Lindbergh Innovation Forum as a global platform for aviation innovation. These programs work together to inspire and accelerate innovators who create solutions to environmental problems through STEM Education, prizes, awards, and events.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Forever Flight Alliance: A joint program with the XPRIZE Foundation to make aviation permanently sustainable using incentive prizes.
• EPIC STEM Challenge
• Spirit of St. Louis Air Races
• e-Spirit of St. Louis

Products and services

• Spirit of St. Louis Air Races The Lindbergh Foundation's inaugural student aviation competition for students in grades 6-12. The program blends STEM learning, creativity, and character through designing, building, and flying aircraft in a dynamic flight-focused experience, recognizing flight performance, creative design, craftsmanship, and student reflections.
• Forever Flight Alliance A joint program with the XPRIZE Foundation to make aviation permanently sustainable using an all-industry approach with incentive prizes. Focuses on mapping and accelerating pathways to Net Zero-Carbon aviation, identifying breakthrough technologies in zero carbon fuels, advanced energy storage, and atmospheric carbon removal.
• EPIC STEM Challenge Electric Propulsion Innovation Challenge - a multi-day STEM challenge engaging students to design, create, and fly fully electric aircraft, with awards based on glide performance. Developed by Starfish Education and popularized in the Pacific Northwest where thousands of students have participated since 2015.
• e-Spirit of St. Louis An all-electric aircraft project built in partnership with Embry Riddle Aeronautical University's Eagle Flight Research Center. The project is 95 percent student-led and serves as a test bed for engineering, research, development, and testing of electric aircraft systems.
• Spirit of St. Louis 100th Anniversary Charter Flight A once-in-a-century six-day journey from St. Louis to Washington DC to New York to Paris aboard an exclusive all-business-class private jet expedition, commemorating Charles Lindbergh's legendary 1927 transatlantic flight. Scheduled for May 15-22, 2027.
• Lindbergh Innovation Forum A global platform to promote innovation in aviation, from a name synonymous with aviation transformation.

Quantifiable outcome

• SAF demand in US ramping from 5M gallons/year (2021) to 35B gallons/year by 2050
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers1 record

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Eleven partnerships are on record, tiered core, major and minor.

• Saint Louis Science CentercoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 29 July 2024Partnership to bring the EPIC STEM Challenge to St. Louis, engaging the Science Center's Youth Exploring Science (YES) students to design, create, and fly fully electric aircraft. Students who complete the challenge serve as peer-mentors for summer camp programs in 2025.
• Lee Enterprises ConsultingmajorStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 May 2023Bioeconomy consulting firm with 150 bioeconomy experts joined the Forever Flight Alliance to help develop aviation sustainability prizes. Provides expertise in identifying barriers to production, scaling and use of SAF for aviation; economic and policy expertise; and objective definition of prize rules and success metrics.
• Commercial Aviation Alternative Fuels Initiative (CAAFI)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 19 October 2022Alliance partner focused on identifying barriers to scale and widespread adoption of Sustainable Aviation Fuels (SAF), working with the Forever Flight Alliance Brain Trust.
• Prince Albert II of Monaco FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 May 2022Key supporting partner of the Forever Flight Alliance. Joins as a sponsor to help accelerate innovation in sustainable aviation through prize incentives.
• National Business Aviation Association (NBAA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 23 May 2022Strategic partner in the Forever Flight Alliance, hosting Brain Trust meetings at NBAA BACE to seed Alliance's Prize process formulation and foster accelerated commercialization of sustainable aviation solutions.
• XPRIZE FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerJoint program: Forever Flight Alliance - a global initiative to make aviation permanently sustainable using incentive prizes. The alliance maps pathways to net-zero aviation, creates incentive prizes for transformational breakthroughs, and convenes solution-seekers across multiple disciplines, industries, and countries. Founded at the 95th anniversary of Charles Lindbergh's 1927 flight (May 23, 2022) at EBACE in Geneva.
• Starfish EducationmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCreator of the EPIC (Electric Propulsion Innovation Challenge) STEM curriculum. Since 2015, thousands of students have designed and flown electric aircraft in annual competitions. Starfish Education specializes in STEM curriculum design and community outreach for K-12 organizations.
• Seyer IndustriesmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal aerospace supplier and sponsor of the EPIC STEM Challenge. Contributes to inspiring the next generation of engineers in St. Louis.
• StarragmajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerGlobal manufacturing leader sponsoring the EPIC STEM Challenge as part of St. Louis's growing position as an innovation leader in advanced aerospace manufacturing.
• Embry Riddle Aeronautical University (Eagle Flight Research Center)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership to build the e-Spirit of St. Louis, an all-electric aircraft that serves as a 95 percent student-led test bed for engineering, research, development and testing of electric aircraft systems. The project demonstrates quiet electric flight capabilities.
• National Park ServiceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerThe genesis of the e-Spirit of St. Louis project came from the National Park Service asking Erik Lindbergh to demonstrate quiet electric flight above the Grand Canyon.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Direct peers

• FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology): A leading K-12 STEM education nonprofit running robotics competitions with a similar donor-and-sponsor-supported, event-driven model to the Lindbergh Foundation's EPIC STEM Challenge and Air Races programs.
• AOPA Foundation: The charitable arm of the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association funds aviation education, scholarships, and safety programs. Like the Lindbergh Foundation, it is a 501(c)(3) sustaining itself through donations and corporate sponsorships while pursuing general aviation and pilot pipeline development.
• Civil Air Patrol: The civilian auxiliary of the US Air Force runs cadet aerospace education programs for youth and operates a national aviation STEM pipeline. Comparable in mission to the Lindbergh Foundation's youth aviation programs, though funded through government channels.
• Experimental Aircraft Association (EAA): EAA is an aviation-focused nonprofit that operates EAA AirVenture Oshkosh, Young Eagles, and STEM education programs. The Lindbergh Foundation participates in EAA AirVenture as an activation venue, and both organizations share the same donor pool of aviation enthusiasts and corporate sponsors pursuing youth aviation engagement.
• National Aviation Hall of Fame: A Dayton-based nonprofit honoring aviation pioneers through enshrinement and education, with a similar donor-supported model and Lindbergh among its inductees. It shares the foundation's aviation heritage recognition mission and corporate sponsor relationships in aerospace.
• Academy of Model Aeronautics (AMA): A nonprofit that supports model aviation as a STEM gateway for youth and adults. Its education mission and member-supported funding structure parallel the Lindbergh Foundation, though its focus is recreational rather than sustainable aviation innovation.

Broad incumbents

• XPRIZE Foundation: The largest prize-based innovation nonprofit and the Lindbergh Foundation's primary partner in the Forever Flight Alliance. XPRIZE operates incentive competitions across multiple domains, providing the prize design infrastructure that the Lindbergh Foundation itself does not build.
• Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum: A federally chartered museum and educational institution that preserves aviation heritage and runs STEM programming at vastly larger scale. It is the dominant institutional custodian of Lindbergh-era artifacts and a benchmark for aviation-themed public engagement.

Emerging players

• Conrad Challenge: A student STEM innovation competition with aviation and aerospace categories, supported by NASA and corporate sponsors. It overlaps the EPIC STEM Challenge target audience of grades 6-12 student innovators and competes for the same pool of corporate STEM sponsors.

Others

• NBAA (National Business Aviation Association): The leading business aviation trade association that hosts NBAA BACE, where the Lindbergh Foundation announces Forever Flight Alliance milestones. NBAA is an ecosystem partner and platform provider rather than a direct nonprofit peer, but it shares the foundation's sustainable aviation advocacy agenda.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/@TheLindberghFoundation
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/the-charles-a.-and-anne-morrow-lindbergh-foundation
• Xx.com/airshepherd
• Facebookfacebook.com/airshepherd

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles12 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Lindbergh Foundation