Top 20 Training

What Top 20 Training does

Top 20 Training LLC is a privately-held social-emotional learning (SEL) company headquartered in St. Paul, Minnesota, operating with a 7-person team. It commercializes a proprietary 'Top 20' framework built around Thinking, Learning, and Communicating (TLC) principles, packaged through named models (Above/Below the Line, The Frame, Cornerstones, the E.Q. Formula) and distributed via live seminars, books, K-12 curricula, posters, journals, and online parenting courses. The primary customer base is K-12 schools and districts, with secondary reach into parents and families through e-commerce and the Spark and Stitch Institute partnership, and a smaller workplace/corporate training vertical. Revenue mechanics blend professional services (custom on-site seminars and turn-key workshops via The Master Teacher partnership at $300/workshop) with one-time content sales (books at $23, K-6 curriculum at $350-$700 per grade, full K-6 set at $2,450) and subscription/group licenses on online parenting courses ($10-$60 per seat). The company markets through a Wellness Wednesday blog, The Inside Ride podcast, email newsletter, organic social on Facebook and X, and earned media appearances.

Name

Top 20 Training

Legal name

Top 20 Training LLC

Website

https://top20training.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2008

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Top 20 Training is a small, privately-held St. Paul-based SEL company that delivers live training seminars, books, and K-12 curriculum built on its proprietary Top 20 thinking framework to schools, families, and workplaces.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social-Emotional Learning Training and Curriculum

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), All Other Schools and Instruction (61169), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro industry

PRIMARYEDAMAIAC

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) & Emotional Regulation Programs

Education/Supplemental & Enrichment Programs (Arts, STEM, Language)/Life Skills & Personal Development (Study Skills, Executive Function, SEL)

SECONDARYEDAJAMAJ

Student Safety, Wellbeing & SEL Technology (Monitoring, Reporting)

Education/K–12 / Primary & Secondary Education/K–12 Educational Technology Solutions

SECONDARYEDACAOAG

Family/Parent-Focused SEL & Home Practice Programs

Education/Early Childhood Education/Social and Emotional Learning Programs

SECONDARYEDAGAMAE

Social-Emotional Learning (SEL) & Behavioral Intervention Materials (PBIS, Social Skills)

Education/Educational Publishing & Learning Content/Instructional Materials for Special Education

SECONDARYEDACAIAI

Social-Emotional Learning & Classroom Climate Training

Education/Early Childhood Education/Early Childhood Teacher Training & Professional Development

Keywords

• Social-emotional learning
• Professional development training
• K-12 SEL curriculum
• Workplace culture training
• Parenting education programs

Headquarters

HQ city

St Paul, Minnesota

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Supply Chain, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Live Training Sessions: Custom-designed training seminars delivered to schools, businesses, and organizations. Sessions are high-energy presentations covering Top 20 concepts for professional development.
2. Books and Publications: Sale of books including Top 20 Teens, Top 20 Parents, Top 20 Teachers, Rebalanced Thinking Rebalanced Living, and Why Students Disengage. Priced at $23 per book with bulk discounts available.
3. Curriculum and Training Materials: Teacher's manuals, K-6 interactive curriculum, classroom posters, and morning announcement calendars sold through the online store.
4. Online Parent Courses: Partnered with Spark and Stitch Institute to offer self-paced online parenting classes ($45-$89 per course) with group license options for schools and organizations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Top 20 Training designs and delivers social-emotional learning (SEL) training seminars, books, and curriculum materials built on its proprietary Top 20 framework of Thinking, Learning, and Communicating (TLC) principles. The company provides high-energy, custom-designed live and online professional development sessions to K-12 schools, businesses, and families, supported by a retail catalog of books, K-6 and 7-12 curricula, teacher's manuals, posters, journals, and partner-delivered online parenting courses.

Product overview

Top 20 Training is a social-emotional learning company offering a comprehensive suite of training, books, and curriculum materials centered on its proprietary Top 20 thinking framework. The core product is live and online professional development seminars designed to shift individuals from 'Bottom 80' to 'Top 20' thinking modes. The portfolio includes five books (Top 20 Teens, Top 20 Parents, Top 20 Teachers, Why Students Disengage, and Rebalanced Thinking), curriculum materials for grades K-12 including the K-6 Interactive Curriculum and Teacher's Manuals for different grade bands, teacher's manuals, morning announcement calendars, and classroom/home/school agreement posters. Online parenting classes are offered in partnership with Spark & Stitch Institute. The company also produces The Inside Ride podcast and a weekly Wellness Wednesday blog as content extensions. The training emphasizes four cornerstones: Help Others Succeed, Communicate You Matter, Honor the Absent, and See the Problem/Own the Problem.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Top 20 Training Seminars High-energy, custom-designed social-emotional learning seminars delivered live or online to schools, businesses, and organizations for professional development.
• The Inside Ride Podcast Podcast featuring insights from Top 20 Training facilitators on current education issues through an SEL lens.
• Online Parenting Classes (Spark & Stitch Institute Partnership) Self-paced online parenting courses including CONNECTED, WHY DO THEY ACT THAT WAY, and SAY YES TO NO, offered through a partnership with Spark & Stitch Institute with individual and group license options.
• Top 20 Teens (3rd Edition) Book presenting Thinking, Learning and Communicating (TLC) skills for teenagers, teaching self-smart, school-smart, and people-smart concepts.
• Top 20 Parents Book providing principles and strategies for parents of children eight and younger to develop happiness, responsibility, and emotional health.
• Top 20 Teachers (2nd Edition) Book celebrating teachers' ability to develop student potential through Top 20 concepts for safe school culture and effective teaching.
• Why Students Disengage in American Schools Book by Paul Bernabei and Kevin Brennan examining causes of student disengagement in K-12 education and presenting practical strategies.
• Rebalanced Thinking, Rebalanced Living Book translating Top 20 principles for adult readers, focusing on mindfulness and inner life through social-emotional learning.
• K-6 Interactive Curriculum (Full Set) Complete set of SMART Board or PowerPoint curriculum for grades K-6 covering nine Top 20 topics to expand learning habits and minimize negative mental habits.
• K-6 Interactive Curriculum (Single Grade) Individual grade-level SMART Board or PowerPoint curriculum for grades K-6 available for single-grade purchase.
• Top 20 Teens Teacher's Manual (Grades 7-12) Teacher manual with detailed lesson plans for 30 Top 20 concepts for grades 7-12, including PowerPoint slides, objectives, activities, and handouts.
• Top 20 TLC Teacher's Manual (Grades 3-6) Teacher manual with detailed lesson plans for 30 Top 20 concepts for grades 3-6, including PowerPoint slides, games, and activities.
• Creating a Culture of Learning Turn-key workshop featuring video clips by Paul Bernabei, Willow Sweeney, and Tom Cody on Creating a Culture of Safety and Trust, Keep Stupid in the Box, Know How to See Things Differently, Learn From Mistakes, and Live Above the Line.
• Top 20 Morning Announcement Calendar Calendar providing 181 daily school announcements covering 20 Top 20 topics across the school year.
• Classroom Posters (Full Set) Full set of 27 motivational posters reinforcing Top 20 SEL curriculum concepts for classrooms, hallways, and bulletin boards.
• Classroom Posters (Individual) Individual motivational posters available in 27 designs covering Top 20 concepts such as Above/Below the Line, Conflict Resolution, You Matter, and Help Others Succeed.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,000,000 educators and over 100,000 students and parents have been trained through the program

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature4 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Spark and Stitch InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2021Top 20 Training partnered with Dr. Dave and Erin Walsh of Spark and Stitch Institute to offer online parenting classes. The partnership delivers courses including CONNECTED (digital citizenship), WHY DO THEY ACT THAT WAY (teen behavior), and SAY YES TO NO (setting boundaries). Spark & Stitch provides the platform and course content while Top 20 Training facilitates school group licenses and promotional distribution. Use code TOP20 for 10% off individual courses.
• The Master TeacherminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerTop 20 Training partnered with The Master Teacher to create turn-key workshops under the Creating a Culture of Learning brand. Workshops include modules on Creating a Culture of Safety and Trust, Keep Stupid in the Box, Know How to See Things Differently, Learn From Mistakes, and Live Above the Line. Each workshop features video clips and content by Top 20 facilitators.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Capturing Kids Hearts: Capturing Kids Hearts delivers in-person professional development and school culture transformation training to K-12 educators. Closely matches Top 20 Training's high-energy live training model for school districts focused on culture and teacher behavior change.
• 7 Mindsets: 7 Mindsets offers a school-based SEL and mindset curriculum with online portal, professional development, and structured lessons for K-12. Comparable in targeting K-12 SEL buyers with a packaged curriculum-plus-training offering similar to Top 20 Training's bundle.
• Committee for Children: Committee for Children is a leading nonprofit developer of SEL curricula (most notably Second Step) for K-8 schools. It is the most directly comparable competitor to Top 20 Training given its school-district sales motion, structured lesson plans, and teacher training programs covering social-emotional skills.
• CharacterStrong: CharacterStrong provides K-12 SEL and character development curricula and professional development for schools, including live training and digital resources. Comparable to Top 20 Training's combination of live seminars, teacher manuals, and character/SEL curriculum products.
• Second Step (SEL program): Second Step is a widely adopted K-8 SEL curriculum sold to school districts with teacher training and classroom materials. It competes head-to-head with Top 20 Training's K-6 Interactive Curriculum and shares the same district-purchaser, teacher-manual-based GTM.
• Move This World: Move This World provides video-based SEL curriculum and professional development for PreK-12 schools. Comparable to Top 20 Training as a school-district SEL curriculum and training provider with structured classroom materials.

Broad incumbents

• RULER (Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence): RULER is an evidence-based SEL approach developed at Yale, offered to schools through training and curriculum. It is a broader, research-backed incumbent competing for the same K-12 SEL training and curriculum budget that Top 20 Training targets.

Emerging players

• Purpose Prep: Purpose Prep offers SEL programming and teacher training for K-8 schools with curriculum kits and live facilitator support. Comparable in product scope (SEL curriculum + teacher PD) though smaller scale than Top 20 Training.

Others

• Spark and Stitch Institute: Spark and Stitch Institute is Top 20 Training's actual partner for online parenting courses, providing the Kajabi-hosted delivery platform and co-developed content (Connected, Say Yes to No, Why Do They Act That Way). It is comparable as an ecosystem participant delivering parenting education, but as a partner rather than competitor.
• The Master Teacher: The Master Teacher is Top 20 Training's partner for the Creating a Culture of Learning turn-key workshop product. It is a teacher professional development publisher/distributor comparable in addressing K-12 PD needs via workshop content, but as a distribution partner rather than direct competitor.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/top20training
• Facebookfacebook.com/top20training
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/top-20-training

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

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 Top 20 Training