Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth

What Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth does

Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth (LLAH) is a Chicago-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization (EIN #01-0844012) founded in 1995 by the Chicago Bar Foundation and the Chicago Bar Association. It originally operated as a grantmaking entity and transitioned in 2016 to a direct-service organization through the launch of Lend-A-Hand Tutoring, a free, one-to-one, literacy-focused tutoring and mentoring program for Chicago elementary school students. Tutoring sessions are delivered every Tuesday evening at the Chicago Bar Association building (321 S. Plymouth Court, 4th Floor), with students bused in from two partner public charter schools: Montessori School of Englewood and Betty Shabazz Academy. More than 80% of volunteer tutors are lawyers drawn from the Chicago legal community, and the board is composed predominantly of partners and attorneys from major Chicago law firms. In 2024, the organization introduced a specialized curriculum for students with learning differences such as dyslexia, with Executive Director Kathryn McCabe completing Orton-Gillingham certification in 2025 via the Children's Dyslexia Center in LaGrange, Illinois.

LLAH generates no fee-based revenue; operations are funded entirely through private donations, corporate and law-firm sponsorships, and an annual Spring Awards Celebration fundraising gala held at the Four Seasons Hotel Chicago. The 2021 virtual event raised nearly $85,000 and the 2023 in-person event raised more than $240,000 with over 325 guests. A $2 million cy pres award received in November 2006 and a $100,000 gift from the Hon. Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Trust in 2003 provided historical capital. The organization maintains a small paid staff of 8-10 (Executive Director, Program Manager, Program Coordinator, Administration, Graphic Design & Social Media, Special Events Coordinator, and interns) and a volunteer board plus auxiliary board drawn from Chicago's legal community. The 2021 conclusion of the legacy grants program and the Demetrio Award consolidated the organization's focus on the direct-service tutoring model.

Name

Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth

Legal name

Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth

Website

https://lawyerslendahand.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

1995

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth is a Chicago 501(c)(3) nonprofit that provides free one-to-one literacy-focused tutoring and mentoring to elementary school students from two partner charter schools, delivered by volunteer lawyers every Tuesday at the Chicago Bar Association.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Youth Education Nonprofit

NAICS

Exam Preparation and Tutoring (611691), Educational Services (611)

SIC

Services-Educational Services (8200)

akta.pro primary industry

Reading Intervention & Remediation (Decoding, Fluency, Comprehension) (EDAKAJAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Literacy & Numeracy Intervention (Reading/Math Support) (EDAJALAD), Remedial & Academic Intervention Programs (Reading/Math Recovery) (EDAJAGAC)

Keywords

• Youth literacy tutoring
• Volunteer mentoring programs
• Nonprofit education services
• Dyslexia intervention programs
• Community-based tutoring

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Donations and Charitable Contributions: The organization is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit funded entirely by private donations. Donations may be made online, via check, or in honor/memory of someone. EIN #01-0844012.
2. Event Fundraising and Sponsorships: Annual Spring Awards Celebration generates significant fundraising. The 2021 virtual event raised nearly $85,000; the 2023 event raised more than $240,000. Corporate sponsors at various tiers (Law Leaders, Philanthropic Patrons, Supporting Sponsors) contribute to events.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth provides free one-to-one literacy-focused tutoring and mentoring to Chicago elementary school students from under-served communities, delivered every Tuesday evening at the Chicago Bar Association. The program pairs each student with a volunteer tutor (more than 80 percent of whom are lawyers) for individualized reading instruction, and includes a specialized curriculum for students with learning differences such as dyslexia using the Orton-Gillingham approach.

Product overview

Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth is a direct-service nonprofit organization offering a single core program: Lend-A-Hand Tutoring at the CBA, which provides free one-to-one literacy-focused tutoring to Chicago elementary school students on Tuesday evenings. The organization also manages three annual awards—the Abraham Lincoln Marovitz Philanthropic Award, the My Hero Award, and the Thomas A. Demetrio Award of Excellence—presented at its Spring Awards Celebration fundraising event. This is a direct-service non-profit organization, not a software product company.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Lend-A-Hand Tutoring at the CBA Free one-to-one literacy-focused tutoring and mentoring program for Chicago elementary school students from Montessori School of Englewood and Betty Shabazz Academy, delivered every Tuesday evening from 5:30-7:00 p.m. at the Chicago Bar Association. Students are transported by bus to the downtown location for individualized reading sessions with volunteer tutors, and a specialized Orton-Gillingham curriculum is used for students with learning differences such as dyslexia.

Quantifiable outcome

• Thousands of youth impacted through grants program and ongoing tutoring

Named customers2 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

Feature1 record

Partnerships

17 partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Chicago Bar Association (CBA)coreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1995The CBA is the primary hosting partner for Lend-A-Hand Tutoring. All tutoring sessions take place at the CBA building (321 S. Plymouth Court). CBA provides significant marketing and administrative support, and allowed LLAH to renovate space on the fourth floor in 2020 for the tutoring center and office.
• Chicago Bar FoundationcoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1995The Chicago Bar Foundation worked with the CBA in 1995 to create Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth as an organization. This was the founding institutional partnership that established LLAH.
• Montessori School of EnglewoodcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublic charter school and primary school partner for Lend-A-Hand Tutoring. Students from this school participate in weekly literacy-focused tutoring sessions at the Chicago Bar Association.
• Betty Shabazz AcademycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerPublic charter school in the Greater Grand Crossing community that partners with LLAH. Students from this school participate in the Lend-A-Hand Tutoring program, receiving free one-to-one literacy-focused tutoring.
• Cooney & ConwayminorGTM or Marketing PartnerLaw firm sponsor (Law Leader tier) for the 2026 Spring Awards Celebration.
• Corboy & DemetriominorGTM or Marketing PartnerLaw firm sponsor (Law Leader tier) for the 2026 Spring Awards Celebration. Founder Thomas A. Demetrio established LLAH and continues to fund the Demetrio Award of Excellence.
• Benesch LawminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPhilanthropic Patron sponsor for the 2026 Spring Awards Celebration.
• Burns NolandminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPhilanthropic Patron sponsor for the 2026 Spring Awards Celebration.
• Cavanagh Law GroupminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPhilanthropic Patron sponsor for the 2026 Spring Awards Celebration.
• Clifford Law OfficesminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPhilanthropic Patron sponsor for the 2026 Spring Awards Celebration.
• Power RogersminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPhilanthropic Patron sponsor for the 2026 Spring Awards Celebration.
• Riley Safer Holmes & CancilaminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPhilanthropic Patron sponsor for the 2026 Spring Awards Celebration.
• Salvi Schostok & PritchardminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPhilanthropic Patron sponsor for the 2026 Spring Awards Celebration.
• Taft Stettinius & HollisterminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPhilanthropic Patron sponsor for the 2026 Spring Awards Celebration.
• Perkins CoieminorGTM or Marketing PartnerPhilanthropic Patron sponsor for the 2026 Spring Awards Celebration.
• Holland & KnightminorGTM or Marketing PartnerSupporting Sponsor for the 2026 Spring Awards Celebration.
• Children's Dyslexia Center in LaGrange, IllinoisminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvided the Orton-Gillingham certification training for Executive Director Kathryn McCabe in 2025, requiring 45 hours of classroom instruction and 100 hours of practicum work.

Scale indicators6 records

Recent moves11 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Regional players

• Access Living: Chicago-based disability services nonprofit that received the Thomas A. Demetrio Award of Excellence in 2021 for mentoring work; comparable geographically and in mission emphasis on serving people with disabilities (relevant to LLAH's learning-differences focus).

Broad incumbents

• Jumpstart: National early-literacy nonprofit mobilizing college students and community volunteers to work one-on-one with preschool children; broader geographic scope and earlier age band but operates an essentially identical volunteer literacy model as LLAH.

Direct peers

• SMART (Start Making a Reader's Tomorrow): Volunteer-driven, one-on-one literacy mentoring nonprofit pairing community volunteers with elementary students; uses a similar volunteer-tutor delivery model and literacy focus as LLAH, though a different regional market.
• Reading Partners: National nonprofit mobilizing volunteer tutors for one-on-one literacy instruction to elementary students from low-income communities; same volunteer-led, literacy-focused nonprofit model as LLAH, just at national scale.
• America Needs You (Illinois): Illinois-based youth mentorship and college access program recognized with the Demetrio Award in 2017; similar volunteer/mentor-driven model for under-served youth in Chicago.
• Cluster Tutoring: A Chicago-based nonprofit providing individualized literacy tutoring to elementary students, directly comparable to LLAH; notably, Executive Director Kathryn McCabe led Cluster Tutoring for 15 years before joining LLAH, and Cluster received the Demetrio Award in 2016.
• Chicago Lawndale AMACHI Mentoring Program: Chicago-area mentoring program for youth with incarcerated parents, recognized with the Demetrio Award of Excellence in 2018; operates in a directly adjacent space of volunteer mentoring for Chicago youth.
• Big Brothers Big Sisters of Metropolitan Chicago: Chicago nonprofit matching volunteer mentors with youth from under-served communities; matches the community-based mentoring approach of LLAH and serves overlapping partner schools and populations in Chicago.
• Children's Dyslexia Center – LaGrange, Illinois: Suburban Chicago nonprofit providing Orton-Gillingham tutoring to children with dyslexia; the same instructional methodology LLAH has now adopted and the source of McCabe's 2025 certification, making it a near-direct methodological peer.
• Chicago Lights Tutoring: Chicago-based community tutoring program serving elementary students from under-resourced neighborhoods, recognized with the Demetrio Award of Excellence in 2019 and therefore operating in the same local tutoring space as LLAH.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/lawyers-lend-a-hand-to-youth

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles5 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

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Frequently asked questions about Lawyers Lend-A-Hand to Youth