AGORA FOUNDATION
AGORA FOUNDATION is a nonsectarian 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Ojai, California that delivers great books seminars, online intensives, and civil discourse panels to lifelong learner adults and high school teachers, funded by subscriptions, donations, and foundation grants.
- Company typePrivate
- Founded2014
- HeadquartersOjai, United States
- Headcount—
- GTM typeB2C
- OfferingServices
What AGORA FOUNDATION does
AGORA FOUNDATION (legal name: The Agora Foundation) is a nonsectarian 501(c)(3) nonprofit educational organization headquartered in Ojai, California. Founded in 2014 (per legal entity records; the firmographic data also references 2007), it provides great books seminars, online intensives, and public panels supporting liberal education and civil discourse. The foundation has facilitated over 1,650 great books seminars and teacher trainings and produced 39 panels, gatherings, and video interviews since 2014, covering literature, philosophy, political science, theology, history, art, and psychology across Eastern and Western traditions.
Its core offerings include in-person Great Books Seminars (one-, two-, and four-day formats), Online Great Books Seminars (14 per month), Online Intensives on specific authors and texts (Jane Austen, Buddhism, Finnegans Wake, Shakespeare, Epistemology, War and Peace, Moby Dick, Don Quixote, Brothers Karamazov, etc.), and the Ojai Chautauqua panel series promoting civil discourse on controversial subjects. The technology platform is a Wix-hosted website with an Interactive Curriculum Resource — a searchable database of thematic pairings, summaries, opening questions, and PDF downloads — plus a media archive of hundreds of audio/video recordings.
The business model blends three revenue streams: per-event tuition ($125 per seminar, $20 per panel), a recurring subscription product (Community of Lifelong Learners at $40/month or $450/year for onsite-and-online access, $25/month or $250/year online-only), and tax-deductible donations plus grants from institutional funders including The Ahmanson Foundation, Southern California Edison, The Shanbrom Family Foundation, Ventura County Community Foundation, WRG Foundation, and the Constance Eaton and William Hart Fund. Two primary customer segments are served: lifelong learner adults pursuing intellectual engagement alongside careers and families, and high school teachers trained through the Teachers for Lifelong Learning Program in the Socratic seminar method.
AGORA FOUNDATION firmographics
Firmographics- Name
- AGORA FOUNDATION
- Legal name
- The Agora Foundation
- Website
- https://agorafoundation.org
- Company type
- Private
- Founded year
- 2014
- Operating status
- Operating
- Short description
- AGORA FOUNDATION is a nonsectarian 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Ojai, California that delivers great books seminars, online intensives, and civil discourse panels to lifelong learner adults and high school teachers, funded by subscriptions, donations, and foundation grants.
- Ownership category
- akta.pro rank
AGORA FOUNDATION industry classification
Industry- Product category
- Liberal Arts Continuing Education
- NAICS
- Educational Services (611), Educational Support Services (611710), Educational Support Services (61171)
- SIC
- Services-Educational Services (8200), Services-Membership Organizations (8600)
- akta.pro primary industry
- Online/Hybrid Lifelong Learning Platforms & Open Enrollment Programs (EDAAAEAL)
- akta.pro secondary industries
- Learning Content Bundling & Subscription Passes (All-Access Libraries) (MPACALAL), Workshops, Webinars & Live Masterclasses (MPACALAD)
Keywords
Where AGORA FOUNDATION is headquartered
LocationHeadquarters
- HQ city
- Ojai
- HQ country
- United States
- HQ region
- North America
Offices2 records
Markets served
AGORA FOUNDATION business model
Business model- GTM type
- B2C
- Offering type
- Services
- Cost components
- Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure, Others
Revenue model
- Subscription Revenue: Monthly and annual subscription plans providing unlimited access to onsite and online seminars, Ojai Chautauqua panels, and digital resources. The Community of Lifelong Learners subscription offers tiered pricing for onsite/online combined access and online-only options.
- Individual Seminar Fees: Per-event tuition fees for great books seminars ($125 normal tuition), online intensives, and Ojai Chautauqua panels ($20 normal tuition), with discounts for subscribers.
- Donations and Grants: Tax-deductible donations from individuals and grants from foundations including The Ahmanson Foundation, Southern California Edison, The Shanbrom Family Foundation, and others support operations as a 501(c)(3) nonprofit.
Pricing tiers
| Model | Billing | Price |
|---|---|---|
| Subscription | Monthly | Onsite and Online Monthly Subscription |
| Subscription | Annual | Onsite and Online Annual Pre-pay |
| Subscription | Monthly | Online Only Monthly Subscription |
| Subscription | Annual | Online Only Annual Pre-pay |
| Subscription | Annual | School/District Discounted Subscription |
Go-to-market motion1 record
Distribution channels3 records
Marketing channels5 records
AGORA FOUNDATION product offering
Product offeringCore offering
The Agora Foundation is a nonsectarian 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides great books seminars (in-person and online), focused online intensives on individual authors and works, and the Ojai Chautauqua panel series promoting civil discourse on controversial subjects. It runs the Community of Lifelong Learners subscription giving unlimited access to seminars, panels, and a digital curriculum resource database, and operates the Teachers for Lifelong Learning Program to train high school teachers in the Socratic seminar method.
Product overview
AGORA FOUNDATION is a nonsectarian 501(c)3 non-profit educational organization offering great books seminars and civil discourse programs. Its core offerings include in-person and online Great Books Seminars (one-, two-, and four-day formats), Online Intensives on specific authors and topics, the Ojai Chautauqua panel series for civil discourse, and the Teachers for Lifelong Learning Program. The organization operates the Community of Lifelong Learners subscription service ($40/month or $450 annual) providing unlimited access to seminars and a digital resource library with hundreds of audio/video recordings and an Interactive Curriculum Resource database organized by themes, authors, and texts. The organization has facilitated over 1,650 seminars and produced 39 panels since 2014.
Differentiator
Problem solved
Functional benefit
Brands
- Teachers for Lifelong Learning Program: Training program for high school teachers in the seminar approach to learning and civil discourse
- Ojai Chautauqua
- Community of Lifelong Learners
Products and services
- Great Books Seminars (In-Person) One-, two-, and four-day in-person great books seminars held at the Ojai Library and other local venues in Ojai, California, covering literature, philosophy, political science, theology, history, art, and psychology from ancient and modern texts worldwide. Normal onsite tuition is $125 per one-day seminar.
- Online Great Books Seminars Biweekly or monthly virtual great books seminars including Finnegans Wake by James Joyce, Mahatma Gandhi Essential Writings, Shakespeare, and Epistemology, hosted on a video conferencing platform with 14 sessions per month and registration-based access.
- Online Intensives Focused online programs on individual authors and works, including Jane Austen, Buddhism, War and Peace, Moby Dick, Don Quixote, Brothers Karamazov, Hegel's Philosophy of Religion, Anna Karenina, The Laws of Plato, and Crime and Punishment, with subscriber discounts available.
- Ojai Chautauqua Panels Community panel discussions promoting civil discourse on controversial and complicated subjects, featuring diverse viewpoints from community members and experts, hosted at venues such as El Roblar Hotel in Ojai, with 4 panels per year and $20 normal tuition.
- Teachers for Lifelong Learning Program Training program for high school teachers in the Socratic seminar approach to learning and civil discourse, supported by The Ahmanson Foundation, Southern California Edison, The Shanbrom Family Foundation, Ventura County Community Foundation, WRG Foundation, and Constance Eaton and William Hart Fund.
- Community of Lifelong Learners Subscription Monthly or annual subscription providing unlimited attendance at onsite one-day seminars ($125 value each), unlimited Ojai Chautauqua panels ($20 value each), unlimited online seminars ($25 value each), and full access to digital resources including the Interactive Curriculum Resource and media archive; tiered at $40/month or $450/year for onsite+online and $25/month or $250/year for online-only, with discounted school/district subscriptions.
- Interactive Curriculum Resource Searchable online curriculum database for facilitators, teachers, and students allowing queries by theme, author, text, or sample series, with brief summaries, sample opening questions, and PDF downloads of each text; built to support the Socratic seminar method.
- Free Onsite Community Seminar Series Free ongoing community seminar series held at the Ojai Library, including the Eastern Classics series covering Taoism (Tao Te Ching), Confucius, Buddhism, and Hinduism, open to attendees who may join intermittently.
- Media Archive Free online collection of hundreds of video and audio recordings of past seminars, Ojai Chautauqua panels, and video interviews available for viewing and listening, hosted on the foundation's website and YouTube channel.
Quantifiable outcome
- Over 1,650 great books seminars and teacher trainings facilitated
- +1 more outcomes
Companies that use AGORA FOUNDATION
Customer profileSegments2 records
Ideal customer profiles2 records
AGORA FOUNDATION technology and API
TechnologyTechnology focussed No
API detail
- Has API
- No
- API docs
- API detail
Core technology
AI maturity
App detail
Feature3 records
AGORA FOUNDATION partnerships and signals
Strategic signalPartnerships
Five partnerships are on record, tiered supporting and core.
- Ojai Valley Chamber of CommercesupportingLocal business organization partnering with the foundation for community events and economic development through education.
- Rotary Club of OjaisupportingLocal service organization providing support for community educational programming.
- City of OjaisupportingMunicipal government partner supporting local educational initiatives and civil discourse programming.
- Ojai Valley Land ConservancycoreEnvironmental organization partnering with Agora Foundation for conservation-related panels and educational events, such as the Aldo Leopold A Sand County Almanac celebration.
- Oak Grove SchoolsupportingLocal educational institution hosting joint seminars and events with the foundation.
Scale indicators6 records
Recent moves6 records
Expansion highlights6 records
AGORA FOUNDATION competitors and assessment
Company assessmentOthers
- Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI): Nonprofit that runs lectures, seminars, and teacher programs on Western classics and great books. Comparable as a donor-supported organization promoting humanities education among educators and adult learners.
Emerging players
- Circe Institute: Classical education nonprofit supporting teachers and schools implementing liberal arts curricula. Adjacent in the humanities/classical-education ecosystem and overlapping audience of classical-curriculum teachers.
- The Great Courses / Wondrium: Subscription video-learning platform with broad catalog including literature and humanities. Competes for the same discretionary adult-learning subscription dollar but with professor-led lecture format rather than Socratic seminars.
Broad incumbents
- Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes (OLLI): Network of university-affiliated lifelong learning programs for adults 50+. Closest institutional analog in adult continuing/lifelong learning mission, though with broader subjects and university-hosted delivery model.
- St. John's College: Great-books undergraduate institution with campuses in Annapolis and Santa Fe. Implements the same seminar/curriculum model but as a degree-granting college rather than an adult continuing-education nonprofit.
- MasterClass: Premium subscription learning platform with craft, humanities, and writing content. Competes in the broader adult-content-subscription category with substantially stronger marketing and production budget.
- Hillsdale College (with Hillsdale Online Courses): College promoting classical liberal arts education that offers free online courses on great books and the Western tradition. Competes for the same adult humanities-learner audience with free, larger-scale content.
Direct peers
- Gutenberg College: Portland-based liberal arts college where all students take a unified Great Books program. Comparable in pedagogy and canon, but operates as a small degree-granting institution rather than a subscription-based adult-learning nonprofit.
- The Great Books Foundation: National nonprofit founded on shared inquiry method around classic texts. The most directly comparable organization in mission, methodology, and target audience of adult humanities learners and K-12 teachers.
- Catherine Project: Nonprofit running free, volunteer-led online reading groups on great books. Direct peer in online Socratic-format humanities seminars for adult lifelong learners.
Market position
Strengths5 records
Weaknesses5 records
Competitive moat4 records
Key risks5 records
Key highlights6 records
Customer concentration
AGORA FOUNDATION social profiles
Digital presenceAGORA FOUNDATION financial estimates
Financial estimateRevenue estimate
Valuation estimate
AGORA FOUNDATION leadership team
Management profileNumber of profiles
Profiles1 record
AGORA FOUNDATION funding detail
Funding detailFunding overview
Funding rounds
Investors
Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
AGORA FOUNDATION M&A and investment
M&A and investmentM&A
Investments
M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →
Frequently asked questions about AGORA FOUNDATION
What does AGORA FOUNDATION do?
The Agora Foundation is a nonsectarian 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides great books seminars (in-person and online), focused online intensives on individual authors and works, and the Ojai Chautauqua panel series promoting civil discourse on controversial subjects. It runs the Community of Lifelong Learners subscription giving unlimited access to seminars, panels, and a digital curriculum resource database, and operates the Teachers for Lifelong Learning Program to train high school teachers in the Socratic seminar method.
Is AGORA FOUNDATION a public or private company?
AGORA FOUNDATION is a private company. It is classified as nonprofit foundation owned and is currently operating.
When was AGORA FOUNDATION founded?
AGORA FOUNDATION was founded in 2014.
Where is AGORA FOUNDATION based?
AGORA FOUNDATION is headquartered in Ojai, United States, in the North America region.
How does AGORA FOUNDATION make money?
Three revenue lines are on record. Subscription Revenue is the primary driver. The others are individual Seminar Fees and donations and Grants.
Who are AGORA FOUNDATION's main competitors?
Intercollegiate Studies Institute (ISI) is listed as an others. Emerging players are Circe Institute and The Great Courses / Wondrium. Broad incumbents are Osher Lifelong Learning Institutes (OLLI), St. John's College, MasterClass and Hillsdale College (with Hillsdale Online Courses). Direct peers are Gutenberg College, The Great Books Foundation and Catherine Project.
Does AGORA FOUNDATION have an API?
No public API is recorded for AGORA FOUNDATION.
What industry is AGORA FOUNDATION in?
AGORA FOUNDATION's product category is Liberal Arts Continuing Education. Its primary akta.pro industry code is EDAAAEAL, Online/Hybrid Lifelong Learning Platforms & Open Enrollment Programs, with a secondary code of MPACALAL, Learning Content Bundling & Subscription Passes (All-Access Libraries). Its NAICS code is 611 and its SIC code is 8200.