Chicago Education Advocacy Cooperative

What Chicago Education Advocacy Cooperative does

Chicago Education Advocacy Cooperative (ChiEAC), founded in January 2020 by Dr. Benjamin Drury and Merary Flores Galindo, is an Illinois-domiciled nonprofit (EIN 84-4211875) that delivers education advocacy, student-support, and workforce-pathway services to Chicago students and families, with emphasis on K-12, first-generation college students, and migrant or otherwise marginalized learners. Its two operational anchors are ELEVATE, which builds custom professional internships, mentorship, and college/career guidance for rising scholars (cumulative 85 internships, 300+ mentorship hours, 90% skill-gain rate, 70% job-or-grad placement within six months), and IMPACT, a first-responder advocacy program providing emergency interventions, housing assistance, school enrollment, mental health sessions, and legal clinic support (150+ families supported, 250+ emergency interventions, 50+ IEPs successfully advocated).

The organization operates two additional program layers: the ChiEAC Data Science Alliance, which matches international analytics students with real-world projects to build organizational data capacity, and Shared Capacity, a collaborative initiative that has produced a portfolio of roughly 25 AI-powered tools spanning student-success prediction (EDU-RISK, RETENTIONIQ, UPLIFT), community wellness (Voces en Calma, Comunidad Saludable, SweatSignal), civic technology (Explore Chicago AI, City Pulse, Know Your Rights simulator), and a paid cybersecurity certification (Zero Trust Academy at a $25 fee).

Revenue is generated almost exclusively through individual donations processed via Zeffy at tiered amounts ($25-$500), with the founders stating the organization has never relied on grants to deliver services. The core team is 10-12 people supported by a volunteer network, and an advisory board drawn from Hope Chicago, Urban Alliance, National Louis University, Indiana University Northwest, and the University of Chicago provides referral and co-development capacity. Geographic scope is currently Chicago-focused with no public plans for geographic expansion, though the AI tool portfolio is browser-deployed and not location-bound.

Name

Chicago Education Advocacy Cooperative

Legal name

Chicago Education Advocacy Cooperative

Website

https://chieac.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2020

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

ChiEAC is a Chicago-based nonprofit delivering education advocacy, custom internships (ELEVATE), first-responder family support (IMPACT), and a portfolio of AI-powered community tools for underserved students, families, and migrant populations.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Education Advocacy Services

NAICS

Educational Support Services (611710), Social Advocacy Organizations (8133), Human Rights Organizations (813311), Educational Support Services (61171)

SIC

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

akta.pro primary industry

NGO/Nonprofit Education Programs & Service Delivery (EDADALAC)

akta.pro secondary industries

Youth Mental Health, Counseling & Wellbeing (Education-Linked) Nonprofits (BPAGADAK), School Climate, Culture & Belonging Initiatives (DEI-Aligned) (EDAKAMAM), Inclusive Education (Disability, Gender Equity, Marginalized Learners) (BPADAKAI)

Keywords

• Education advocacy services
• Student support programs
• Workforce development
• First-generation college support
• Community education cooperative

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, Technology or R&D, Marketing or Sales, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: ChiEAC relies primarily on individual donations from the community. They accept donations through Zeffy platform at various levels ($65 for phone/data, $25 for transit, $100 for ELEVATE program, $150 for IMPACT program, $200 for mental health sessions, $500 for legal help). The organization was founded using retirement savings of Dr. Drury ($35k) and has never relied on grants to provide services.
2. Certification Fees: One-time $25 certification fee for Zero Trust Academy program, providing ChiEAC Certified Access Governance Professional credential with digital certificate and LinkedIn-ready certification.
3. Volunteer Services: Organization relies heavily on volunteer power to deliver services. Volunteers assist with mentoring, event assistance, and various support functions, reducing operational costs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Chicago Education Advocacy Cooperative (ChiEAC) is a Chicago-based nonprofit that delivers free education advocacy and direct support services to students and families through two core programs: ELEVATE, which creates custom professional internships, mentorship, and college/career guidance for rising scholars, and IMPACT, which provides first-responder advocacy including housing assistance, school enrollment, mental health support, legal clinic services, and emergency resource distribution for underserved and migrant families.

Product overview

ChiEAC is a Chicago-based education nonprofit offering a portfolio of programs and AI-powered digital tools. The core programs are ELEVATE (professional development and internships for students) and IMPACT (first-responder advocacy for families), supplemented by the Data Science Alliance (talent platform for international data professionals) and Shared Capacity (collaborative solutions incubator). Under Shared Capacity, ChiEAC has developed over 25 specialized tools including EDU-RISK AI and RETENTIONIQ for student success prediction, Zero Trust Academy for cybersecurity certification, PDF RAG Assist and Know Your Rights simulator for document/interactive learning, EthicAI for algorithmic fairness auditing, and various community wellness and analytics platforms.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• ELEVATE: Custom professional development program for rising scholars providing internship opportunities, mentorship, and career guidance in education, social work, STEM, and nonprofit management.
• IMPACT
• ChiEAC Data Science Alliance
• Shared Capacity

Products and services

• ELEVATE Program Professional development program that creates custom internship opportunities, provides mentorship, tutoring, and hosts workshops for rising scholars. Since 2020, has created 85 custom internships and delivered 300+ hours of mentorship with 90% of participants gaining career-relevant skills.
• IMPACT Program First-responder advocacy service providing emergency interventions, housing assistance, school enrollment support, mental health resources, IEP advocacy, and legal clinic services for underserved students and families. Has supported 150+ families and managed 250+ emergency interventions.
• ChiEAC Data Science Alliance Professional development platform connecting international students with degrees in business analytics, machine learning, and AI to real-world projects, enabling skill development and career advancement while providing ChiEAC with data science capabilities.
• Shared Capacity Chicago-based collaborative initiative connecting data experts with nonprofits, small businesses, and community leaders to co-create practical data-driven solutions, functioning as a solutions incubator and delivery platform.
• Zero Trust Academy ChiEAC-certified cybersecurity training program focused on Access Governance and Zero Trust architecture with 8-module curriculum, hands-on labs, and certification exam leading to ChiEAC Certified Access Governance Professional credential at a $25 one-time fee.
• EDU-RISK AI Education intelligence tool combining academic indicators with AI-powered emotional sentiment analysis from student voice check-ins to identify dropout risk before academic failure occurs.
• UPLIFT AI for Student Success Full-stack AI-powered student support platform managing academic stress, time planning, study organization, and wellness check-ins with role-based access control and AI-powered guidance.
• RETENTIONIQ Intelligent early-warning platform combining academic indicators with real-time sentiment analysis using Random Forest modeling and NLP to identify student dropout risk for colleges and universities.

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 1,600 students served since 2020
• +11 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability12 records

Feature6 records

Partnerships

Seven partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Hope ChicagocoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChiEAC Advisory Board member Mercedes Terrazas serves as Program Manager at Hope Chicago, where she leads institutional partnerships and coordinates strategies to support student success, persistence, and degree completion for Hope Scholars.
• Partnership for College CompletioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMercedes Terrazas previously served as Equity Program Manager at the Partnership for College Completion, coaching colleges on equity-focused reforms and promoting evidence-based practices to improve outcomes for underrepresented students.
• Urban AlliancecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerMariana Jimenez, ChiEAC Director of Community Partnerships, currently serves as High School Internship Program Manager at Urban Alliance in Chicago, where she oversees workforce development programming connecting high school students with meaningful internship experiences.
• Notaría Pública No. 11 (Durango, Mexico)minorStrategic or Co-development PartnerMerary Flores-Galindo, Co-Founder and Executive Director, has professional experience as a paralegal with Notaría Pública No. 11 in Durango, Mexico, providing cross-border legal advocacy perspective.
• National Louis UniversitycoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChiEAC Advisory Board member Dr. Veronica Wilson serves as Executive Director of Undergraduate Student Success at National Louis University, working on equitable educational outcomes for students.
• Indiana University NorthwestcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChiEAC Advisory Board member Dra. Amy Diaz serves as Interim Vice Chancellor for University Advancement and External Affairs at Indiana University Northwest, a federally designated Hispanic Serving Institution.
• University of Chicago Crown Family School of Social WorkcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerChiEAC Advisory Board member Natalie Fick is a first-year Master of Social Work student at UChicago Crown Family School, focusing on increasing access to culturally-responsive mental health services.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights6 records

Emerging players

• Per Scholas: Nonprofit providing tuition-free technology workforce training and job placement for adults from underserved communities; comparable to ChiEAC on the upskilling-and-placement trajectory and on building employer pipelines for nontraditional talent.

Direct peers

• College Possible: National nonprofit deploying near-peer coaches to help low-income and first-generation students earn college degrees; comparable to ChiEAC's ELEVATE program in serving first-gen scholars through mentorship and structured pathways.
• Bottom Line: Nonprofit providing one-on-one college access and success coaching to first-generation students from low-income backgrounds; directly comparable to ChiEAC ELEVATE in mission, mentorship model, and outcome-driven college persistence work.
• Cara Collective: Chicago nonprofit ending homelessness and poverty through employment, social enterprise, and community support; highly comparable to ChiEAC's IMPACT program in combining wraparound family advocacy with workforce pathways in the same city.
• Hope Chicago: Chicago-based nonprofit providing scholarships, persistence support, and degree-completion services to students and parents; ChiEAC advisory board member Mercedes Terrazas runs institutional partnerships at Hope Chicago, making it a directly comparable scholar-support peer.
• Urban Alliance: National workforce-development nonprofit that places high school students from underserved communities into paid internships with corporate partners; ChiEAC's Mariana Jimenez serves as its Chicago Internship Program Manager, making Urban Alliance both a direct peer in ELEVATE-style internship programming and a tight operational partner.
• iMentor: Nonprofit pairing low-income students with volunteer mentors for college readiness and success; mirrors ChiEAC's volunteer-powered, relationship-driven mentorship approach within the ELEVATE program.
• Partnership for College Completion: Illinois nonprofit that coaches colleges on equity-focused reforms and promotes evidence-based practices to improve outcomes for underrepresented students; ChiEAC's Mercedes Terrazas previously led equity programming here, making it a close peer in equity-focused college completion advocacy.

Broad incumbents

• Year Up: Large national workforce-development nonprofit providing young adults with training, internships, and corporate placements; broader and more established than ChiEAC but overlapping on the internship-to-employment pathway serving underserved talent.

Others

• Latino Policy Forum: Chicago-based policy and advocacy organization advancing equity and educational opportunities for the Latino community; comparable to ChiEAC's immigrant/migrant advocacy mission, but operating primarily through policy and research rather than direct service.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/chieac
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/chicago-education-advocacy-cooperative

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles10 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 Chicago Education Advocacy Cooperative