The Bloom Project

What The Bloom Project does

The Bloom Project, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization headquartered in Indianapolis, Indiana, with a satellite office in Fort Wayne. Founded by Arnetta Scruggs in honor of her late grandfather Ezell "Bloom" Stephens, the organization provides free group mentoring, college preparation, service learning, character development, and career exploration services to young males ages 12–18. Its operating model is community-led, relying on word-of-mouth referrals and direct partnerships with schools, churches, fraternal organizations, and corporate sponsors rather than any software or technology platform; program delivery is conducted in-person at fixed community sites on monthly schedules in each city.

The organization offers four core programs: Project King (a monthly leadership development and college preparation workshop series), Royal MENtality (a college and career readiness track for high school freshmen through seniors aligned to the 21st Century Scholars program), the annual Kings Feast Symposium (a career and educational institution expo), and a Mentor Program that recruits and retains professional male mentors. Underlying delivery is human-intensive with no disclosed proprietary technology product, AI/ML components, patents, or app platform; the closest thing to "infrastructure" is a partnership network spanning Indianapolis Colts players, Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Boys & Girls Club, YMCA, trade unions, and local professional firms.

Revenue mechanics are philanthropic rather than commercial: programs are free to participants, and funding flows from individual donations, corporate sponsors, foundation grants (notably Lilly Endowment, The Mind Trust, United Way of Central Indiana, CICF Racial Equity Fund, and MHS Indiana), and event-based fundraising. The customer base is dual-sided: youth participants (free service recipients) and institutional donors/grantmakers who underwrite operations. There is no pricing model, no fee-for-service revenue, and no disclosed financial figures in the source data.

Name

The Bloom Project

Legal name

Bloom Project, Inc.

Website

https://bloomprojectinc.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2014

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

The Bloom Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides free group mentoring, college preparation, service learning, and career exploration to young males ages 12–18 in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Indiana.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Development Services

NAICS

Child and Youth Services (62411), Educational Support Services (611710)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

Youth Mentoring & Positive Youth Development Nonprofits (BPAGADAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Youth-to-Adult Transition & Life Skills (Independent Living, Soft Skills) (EDAAAFAN)

Keywords

• Youth mentoring services
• College preparation programs
• Character development education
• Career exploration workshops
• Community service learning

Headquarters

HQ city

Indianapolis

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Grants: 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization funded primarily through charitable donations from individuals, corporations, and foundation grants. The organization receives support from partners including Lilly Endowment and The Mind Trust.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

The Bloom Project is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides free group mentoring, college preparation, service learning, character development, and career exploration services to young males ages 12–18 in Indianapolis and Fort Wayne, Indiana. Its program portfolio includes Project King (monthly leadership development workshops), Kings Feast Symposium (annual career and education expo), Royal MENtality (college and career readiness program with the Passport Program), and a formal Mentor Program. All programs are delivered at no cost to youth participants through direct in-person and community partnership-based delivery.

Product overview

The Bloom Project is a nonprofit mentorship organization offering a single integrated program portfolio of four core offerings: Project King (group mentoring), the annual Kings Feast Symposium (career expo), Royal MENtality (college and career readiness with Passport Program), and its Mentor Program. These programs work together to prepare young males ages 12-18 for secondary education and career pathways through mentoring, college preparation, service learning, and character development.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• Project King: A monthly leadership development and college preparation program for minorities aged 12-18.
• Royal MENtality
• Kings Feast Symposium

Products and services

• Project King A monthly leadership development and college preparation group mentoring program for young males ages 12-18 that develops youth leadership potential, academic and career opportunities through character building workshops, college preparation workshops, service-learning projects, career exploration, and social events. Delivered free of charge at community sites.
• Kings Feast Symposium An annual symposium providing male youth participants with exposure to career and educational institutions through networking opportunities with professionals from industries including law, medicine, engineering, and trade professions.
• Royal MENtality A college and career readiness program for freshmen through seniors that provides workforce readiness skills, professional development, academic support, college essay preparation, campus tours, and job shadowing opportunities. Includes the Passport Program aligned with the 21st Century Scholars Track Program.
• Mentor Program A formal group mentoring program that recruits and retains professional males with diverse backgrounds to serve as mentors. Mentors commit to monthly discussions, workshops, service projects, and community partnership events with youth mentees.

Quantifiable outcome

• 95% of youth participants attend post-secondary education after high school (program goal)

Named customers8 records

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

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

• Indianapolis Colts / Zaire FranklincoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with Indianapolis Colts player Zaire Franklin providing youth participants access to financial literacy programs, Defensive Line Christmas sponsorship, and professional athlete mentorship and networking opportunities.
• Boys & Girls Club of IndianapolismajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity partnership with local Boys & Girls Club chapter for youth development collaboration.
• City of Hope IndianapolismajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with City of Hope organization supporting community wellness initiatives.
• Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. - Iota Lambda ChaptermajorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSorority partnership supporting the organization's mission and College Application Process (CAP) program.
• Central Midwest Carpenters UnionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTrade union partnership providing career exploration and vocational training exposure for youth participants.
• Curlin-Clay LawminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal law firm providing legal profession career exploration and mentorship opportunities.
• YMCA of Greater IndianapolisminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerPartnership with YMCA for youth programming and community development.
• New Covenant ChurchminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerChurch partnership for community outreach and youth engagement events.
• Believe In A DreamminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerYouth empowerment organization with shared mission goals.
• Moore AccountingminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerAccounting firm providing financial profession career exploration opportunities.
• Midwest Financial Credit UnionminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCredit union partnership for financial literacy education and career exposure.
• Pike High SchoolminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerLocal high school partnership for student enrollment and school-based programming.

Scale indicators2 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Central Indiana: Regional affiliate of the national Big Brothers Big Sisters network, providing one-to-one and group mentoring for youth in Indianapolis and surrounding Indiana counties. Directly comparable in offering relationship-based mentoring that pairs adult volunteers with young people, with overlapping school, church, and corporate partner ecosystems.
• Indianapolis Urban League: Indianapolis affiliate of the National Urban League, delivering education, workforce, and youth development programs for African American families in Marion County. Comparable target population, comparable mission around college access and career readiness for Black youth, and competes directly for the same regional foundation dollars.
• 100 Black Men of Indianapolis: Indianapolis chapter of a national organization focused on mentoring and education for African American youth. Operates in the same Indianapolis geography as Bloom Project and runs comparable mentorship, college preparation, and career exposure programming for a similar demographic, making it the closest direct peer.
• Boys & Girls Club of Indianapolis: Local youth development organization serving Indianapolis youth through after-school programming, mentoring, and college/career readiness. Listed as a Bloom Project partner, but it operates near-identical youth development programming in the same city, serving overlapping demographics and competing for the same pool of foundation grants and corporate sponsors.

Broad incumbents

• National 100 Black Men of America: National umbrella for 100 Black Men chapters, including the Indianapolis chapter above. The parent organization pursues the same mission (mentoring, education, economic empowerment for African American youth) at scale across many U.S. cities and sets the standard for replication of the model that Bloom Project operates locally.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of America: National parent organization supporting hundreds of local mentoring affiliates. Its research, mentor-matching infrastructure, and outcomes reporting set the industry benchmark for youth mentoring organizations like Bloom Project, and it competes for the same pool of institutional grants at the national level.
• Kappa League (Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity): National youth development initiative of Kappa Alpha Psi Fraternity, providing college and career preparation for young men of color in chapters across Indiana and beyond. Operates a near-identical mentorship-plus-college-readiness model for the same demographic and channels participants through similar school, church, and Greek-letter community partnerships.
• Boys & Girls Clubs of America: National youth development organization with thousands of club locations delivering mentoring, college readiness, and career exploration programming. The Indianapolis affiliate already partners with Bloom Project, and the national body is the category-defining incumbent that small community-based programs are benchmarked against for outcomes reporting.

Emerging players

• Jack and Jill of America: National family organization providing programming for African American youth ages 6-18 with significant emphasis on college preparation, leadership, and career exposure. Overlaps on the college-readiness and character-development functions of Bloom Project but delivers through a family-membership model rather than a community-based mentoring model.

Others

• Pathway to College (Mind Trust): An Indianapolis-based education reform organization that directly funds Bloom Project (a documented $50,000 grant). As a grantmaking intermediary rather than a direct service provider, it is not a competing peer but the logical institutional connector for funders evaluating both organizations.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/BloomProjectInc
• YouTubeyoutube.com/watch?v=8JlEU8AFfhc
• Facebookfacebook.com/bloomprojectinc
• Instagraminstagram.com/bloomprojectinc

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles7 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds1 record

Investors1 record

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about The Bloom Project