Our Impact
Since 2011, Propeller has incubated and accelerated 263 ventures through the Impact Accelerator and Social Venture Fund. Collectively, they have generated over $292 million in external financing and revenue and created 485+ full- and part-time jobs. Our businesses and nonprofits overall have an 84 percent survival rate, compared to the national average of 56 percent.

As a result of our work with ventures in the education focus area, Propeller has influenced the following outcomes:

• An increase of $25mm (2015) to $43mm (2019) in Medicaid dollars flowing to schools to pay for social workers and school psychologists
• Shifting the healthy school food RFP criteria and serving healthy school meals to 22,000+ public school children annually
• 15 charter school boards engaging in policy changes to further racial equity and inclusion at the board level
• 300+ schools streamlined professional support for teachers through a K-12 classroom observation and coaching platform
• 8,047 individuals and students using a career technical education matching portal resulting in 867 connections

Education Focus Area
Propeller works to narrow New Orleans’ achievement gap by addressing the factors that emerge to impact success throughout a young person’s educational career. Starting in early childcare, Propeller small businesses and nonprofits are supporting parents and caretakers and helping education providers streamline their administration and maximize funding. From K-12, entrepreneurs are working at the systems level to ensure student success, from improving student health with vision and hearing screenings, increasing Medicaid funding for behavioral health, and increasing the quality of healthy school lunches to partnering with RTA to ensure students have easy affordable transportation between school, home, and after-school enrichment programs. Propeller ventures also work with young adults who have left or completed high school to create pathways to postsecondary education and fulfilling careers.

Propeller’s Education Accelerator focuses on supporting entrepreneurs bringing equitable, culturally relevant practices and policies to local education systems and skill development opportunities. Propeller prioritizes solutions that specifically address the following issues in the education focus area:

• Access to quality early childhood education
• Development of equitable, culturally relevant practices, policies, and approaches in education systems across New Orleans
• Expanded pathways to vocational education and job skill development for New Orleanians

To date, Propeller has accelerated 55+ education-focused ventures by providing access to contacts, contracts, community, capital, mentors, and subject matter experts (financial modeling, graphic design, customer pipeline, marketing, fundraising, etc.). This support has resulted in notable success for these entrepreneurs. Below are some of our notable Alumni.

Propeller Ventures working in this Sector

Small Royalty

Dionne Phillips

Areas of focus: Education

Monarch Learning Academy

Kynisha Jackson

Areas of focus: Education

Kingdom Culture

Kisha Brown

Areas of focus: Education

Kid’s Kingdom Academy

Lynette Rivers

Areas of focus: Education

Community Connection Programs

Jewel Chavis

Areas of focus: Education

Little Steps Learning Center

Lakisha Mcleod & Aronisha Mickell

Areas of focus: Education

ALAS

Lisa María Rhodes & Yasmin Falcon Morales

Areas of focus: Education

Be Loud Studios

Alex Owens, Diana Turner

Areas of focus: Education

Ngombo Cafe and Sanctuary

jackie sumell, Jerome Morgan, Christin Wagner, Robert Jones

Areas of focus: Education

Reunion Shoe Company

Dan Fowler

Areas of focus: Education

Turning Tables

Toure Folkes

Areas of focus: Education

WhereWeGo

Leah Lykins and Ben Ifshin

Areas of focus: Education

Electric Girls

Jillian Sandoval

Areas of focus: Education

Cipher 360

Kristyna Jones and Larry Irvin

Areas of focus: Education

STEM Library Lab

Todd Wackerman, Sarah Sievert

Areas of focus: Education

Navigate NOLA

Dr. Danielle K. Wright

Areas of focus: Education

Legacy Leadership Academy for Girls

Ronicka Briscoe

Areas of focus: Education

Early Partners

Kim Frusciante

Areas of focus: Education

Excellent Readers

Dwann Wagner

Areas of focus: Education

ALAS

Lisa Maria Rhodes

Areas of focus: Education

Beautify

Kiyann Clanton, Maya Sewell

Areas of focus: Education

WhereWeGo

Ben Ifshin, Leah Lykins

Areas of focus: Education

KNOW Card Games

Freddi W. Evans

Areas of focus: Education

The New Orleans Council for Community & Justice

Jordan Bridges

Areas of focus: Education

Irene Morgan Schools

Adrienne Wallace, Melanie Dukes, Malaika Hankins, Ella Every-Wortman

Areas of focus: Education

Start the Adventure in Reading

Veronica Reed & Amanda Chittenden

Areas of focus: Education

KID smART

Elise Gallinot Goldman

Areas of focus: Education

Crescent City Corps

Brent Godfrey

Areas of focus: Education

Goshin-Kai Academy

Andre Maximum

Areas of focus: Education

Erosync

Alfred Matthews III, Jared Bluford

Areas of focus: Education

The Juror Project

William Snowden

Areas of focus: Education

STEM Library Lab

Todd Wackerman, Sarah Sievert

Areas of focus: Education

Wilcox Academy of Early Learning

Rochelle Wilcox

Areas of focus: Education

STEM NOLA

Dr. Calvin Mackie

Areas of focus: Education

Kids of Excellence Child Development Center

Kristi Givens & Precious Acker

Areas of focus: Education

Dancing Grounds

Laura Stein & Jeremy Guyton

Areas of focus: Education

College Beyond

Paris Woods & Sarah Payne

Areas of focus: Education

Whole Village Art Therapy

Holly Wherry

Areas of focus: Education

TrainingGrounds

Christine Neely & Melanie Richardson

Areas of focus: Education

826 New Orleans

Douglas Keller & Aubrey Edwards

Areas of focus: Education

College Beyond

Paris Woods & Sarah Payne

Areas of focus: Education

Kids of Excellence Child Development Center

Kristi Givens & Precious Acker

Areas of focus: Education

The Southern History Project

Sheila Sundar

Areas of focus: Education

Electric Girls

Flor Serna & Maya Ramos

Areas of focus: Education

Youth Rebuilding New Orleans

William Stoudt

Areas of focus: Education

XS Martial Arts Dojo & Save One Now Acquisition

Jason B. Horne & Monica F. Horne

Areas of focus: Education

Whetstone Education

Libby Fischer

Areas of focus: Education

TrueSchool

Maggie Riddell & Gabrielle Alicino

Areas of focus: Education

Royal Castle Child Development Center

Pearlie Harris & Tim Harris

Areas of focus: Education

Operation Spark

John Fraboni & Max Gaudin

Areas of focus: Education

YEP Design Works

Alberta Wright

Areas of focus: Education

unCommon Construction

Aaron Frumin

Areas of focus: Education

RisingFoundations

Kelly Orians & Calvin Duncan

Areas of focus: Education

Upturn Arts

Dana Reed

Areas of focus: Education

The Beautiful Foundation, Incorporated

Lauren Perry

Areas of focus: Education

Adinkra NOLA

Elizabeth Fletcher

Areas of focus: Education

Coordinated Care for the Whole Child

Connie Bellone

Areas of focus: Education, Health

Brothers Empowered 2 Teach

Kristyna Jones and Larry Irvin

Areas of focus: Education

Million Dollar Scholar

Ras Asan and Derrius Quarles

Areas of focus: Education

Live Oak Wilderness Camp

Jack Carey, Bene Webster, Caleb Dufresne, Iris Howorth, Jeremy Guyton, Lucy Scholz, Oskie Creech, and Team

Areas of focus: Education

Center for Restorative Approaches

Troi Bechet

Areas of focus: Education

The Cookbook Project

Adam Aronovitz and Alissa Bilfield

Areas of focus: Food, Education

TrueSchool

Amy Vreeland

Areas of focus: Education

Broadmoor Arts & Wellness Center

Emily Wolff

Areas of focus: Health, Education

New Orleans Master Crafts Guild

Jonn Hankins

Areas of focus: Economic & Workforce Development, Education

Good Citizen

Nolan Marshall, Jr. & Nolan Marshall III

Areas of focus: Education

Youth Rebuilding New Orleans

William Stoudt

Areas of focus: Education