Success Bound

What Success Bound does

Success Bound is a Chicago, Illinois-based non-profit organization that provides a free, adaptable middle grades curriculum for grades 6 through 8, grounded in the science of adolescent development. The curriculum supports school counselors and educators in guiding students through career exploration, self-discovery, and postsecondary planning. Success Bound reports reach to 50,616 students across 337 schools in 5 districts, with named implementation partners including Chicago Public Schools, Aurora Public Schools (Colorado), and Indianapolis Public Schools (Indiana), along with the YMCA and the University of Chicago.

The organization originated as the 6to16 initiative within the Lefkofsky Family Foundation from 2014 to 2017, was rebranded as Success Bound in 2018-2019, and was spun off to operate as an independent non-profit in 2024. The curriculum is delivered digitally with Google Drive integration, indicating a lightweight, accessible distribution model. Curriculum design is informed by alignment with recognized frameworks including AMLE middle grades standards and CASEL social-emotional learning competencies, and has been evaluated in partnership with the American Institutes for Research.

Success Bound's business model is freemium: the core curriculum is provided at no cost to schools and districts, so direct customer revenue is not the primary monetization mechanism. Instead, the organization is sustained by philanthropic grant funding, most recently anchored by its founding relationship with the Lefkofsky Family Foundation prior to the spin-off. The organization operates with a small team of 1-10 employees, consistent with a lean non-profit structure that prioritizes curriculum dissemination over direct sales. No AI, machine learning, or advanced personalization capabilities are described in the available data.

Name

Success Bound

Legal name

Success Bound Inc.

Website

https://successbound.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Success Bound is a Chicago-based non-profit that provides a free, science-based middle grades (6-8) curriculum to schools, reaching over 50,000 students across 337 schools in five districts.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

K-12 Educational Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (6117), Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

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

akta.pro secondary industry

Study Skills & Academic Success Guides (Students) (EDAGAIAJ)

Keywords

• Middle grades curriculum
• Social emotional learning
• College career readiness
• Educator professional learning
• Postsecondary preparation

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Operations

Revenue model

1. Grant Funding (Implied): As a nonprofit organization that launched separately from the Lefkofsky Family Foundation in 2024-2025, Success Bound appears to operate primarily through grant funding and philanthropic support. The curriculum is provided free to partner schools, districts, and organizations.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Success Bound provides a free, adaptable middle grades curriculum (grades 6-8) based in the science of adolescent development, delivered through a digital portal integrated with Google Drive. The curriculum includes lesson plans, slide decks, and customizable student worksheets covering self-exploration, academic success, life skills, and postsecondary pathway exploration. The organization complements this curriculum with Professional Learning services and Implementation Support for schools, districts, and community organizations.

Product overview

Success Bound is a single unified educational offering centered on the Success Bound Curriculum—a free, adaptable middle grades curriculum for grades 6-8 based in the science of adolescent development. The curriculum helps students explore their identity, develop academic and life skills, and plan for postsecondary pathways. It is delivered through a digital curriculum portal and complemented by Professional Learning services for educator development and Implementation Support for schools and districts. The company also provides Sample Lessons for preview purposes.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Success Bound Curriculum A free, adaptable middle grades curriculum for grades 6-8 based in the science of adolescent development. Helps students explore identity, develop academic and life skills, and plan for postsecondary pathways. Designed for school counselors, educators, and administrators.
• Professional Learning Adult professional learning opportunities for educators including strategic planning and support, capacity building, and training/consulting delivered through workshops, webinars, and self-paced modules. Aimed at enhancing teaching practices and adolescent development support.
• Implementation Support Tailored support for schools, school districts, and organizations implementing the postsecondary program, including strategic planning, action plans, and systems for continuous improvement.

Quantifiable outcome

• Success Bound school partners increased the percent of students earning a 3.0 or higher GPA when implementing recommended best practices
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature3 records

Partnerships

14 partnerships are on record, tiered flagship, core and minor.

• YMCAflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Partnership launched in 2024-2025 as part of Success Bound's expansion into community organizations.
• Indianapolis Public Schools (Indiana)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2024Expansion partner starting 2024-2025.
• Aurora Public Schools (Colorado)flagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2023Expansion partner starting 2023-2024, representing Success Bound's growth beyond Chicago.
• University of ChicagocoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Partnered with the Lefkofsky Family Foundation from 2014-2017 to develop and pilot the 6to16 curriculum in Chicago Public Schools. Research partner for curriculum development.
• Chicago Public SchoolscoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 2018Original pilot partner with 36 schools from 2014-2017. Expanded partnership in 2018-2019 to relaunch 6to16 as Success Bound initiative. CPS Success Bound launched in 2023-2024.
• American Institutes for Research (AIR)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerConducted independent evaluation of Success Bound in May 2020, interviewing school counselors, principals, and teachers in 18 Chicago schools to assess implementation impact.
• Association for Middle Level Education (AMLE)coreStrategic or Co-development PartnerRachel Graham serves as national board member and chair of policy committee. Success Bound references AMLE's frameworks including 'The Successful Middle School: This We Believe' position paper.
• Youth GuidanceminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRachel Graham serves on Youth Guidance's Working on Womanhood Advisory Council.
• Mikva ChallengeminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerRachel Graham serves as board member.
• CASELcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSuccess Bound curriculum aligns with CASEL's framework for social and emotional learning. Presented at SEL Exchange conference in November 2024.
• Washington Township Public SchoolsflagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSchool district partner listed on partners page.
• High JumpminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerCommunity organization partner.
• TranscendminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerEducation innovation organization partner.
• LEARN Charter School NetworkflagshipChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorCharter school network partner with Success Bound implementation at South Chicago Campus.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Xello: Xello (formerly Career Cruising) is a college, career, and future-readiness platform widely used by K-12 districts. It directly competes with Success Bound's postsecondary pathways and future-readiness themes, serving similar middle and high school counselors.
• Naviance (PowerSchool): Naviance, owned by PowerSchool, is the dominant college and career readiness platform for K-12 districts. It overlaps directly with Success Bound's college/career exploration curriculum and shares the same school counselor buyer.
• Move This World: Move This World delivers K-12 social-emotional learning curriculum and professional development through a video-based platform. It competes for the same SEL budget line and CASEL-aligned framework that Success Bound targets in middle schools.
• CharacterStrong: CharacterStrong provides K-12 SEL and character education curriculum paired with professional learning for staff. It is a direct competitor to Success Bound's curriculum-plus-professional-learning bundle targeting middle school counselors and administrators.
• Panorama Education: Panorama Education is a leading K-12 SEL, college, and career readiness platform used by large districts. It overlaps with Success Bound on the SEL and postsecondary readiness use cases and competes for the same district-level buyer.
• 7 Mindsets: 7 Mindsets provides a K-12 SEL and social-emotional learning curriculum with a focus on mindset and life skills. It directly mirrors Success Bound's life-skills, self-exploration, and future-readiness themes for middle school students.
• Common Sense Education: Common Sense Education provides free and paid digital citizenship, SEL, and life-skills curriculum for K-12 schools. It competes for the same free-to-schools middle grades SEL curriculum budget and serves similar counselor and administrator buyers.

Broad incumbents

• Nearpod: Nearpod (owned by Renaissance) is a broadly used K-12 digital curriculum and lesson delivery platform. It overlaps with Success Bound on digital lesson plans and slide decks but as part of a much wider instructional portfolio rather than a focused middle-grades curriculum.

Emerging players

• Purpose Prep: Purpose Prep is a smaller SEL and character-education curriculum provider focused on elementary and middle school. It is an emerging competitor with overlapping themes of identity, life skills, and postsecondary readiness.

Others

• Transcend: Transcend is an education innovation organization that partners with schools and districts to design next-generation middle and high school models. It is listed as a Success Bound partner and serves as a peer in the middle-grades redesign and SEL ecosystem.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/successboundorg
• Facebookfacebook.com/successbound.org
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/successbound

Compliance1 record

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 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 Success Bound