L3C Ed Startup Uses Technology And Gamification To Expand Its Reach

About four years ago, Brooke McKean and Jeffery Beckham Jr. were working as president and CEO, respectively, at Chicago Scholars, a 30-year-old education nonprofit based in Chicago. But, while the organization had made great strides achieving its mission to help under-resourced students get into and through college and establish themselves in careers, they determined that the organization served just 1 out of 8 eligible students in the city.

What they needed was a way to boost that reach and do so nationally.

The most efficient solution and the one that could be scaled most easily was to build a tech platform. Their answer was REACH Pathways, an app that aims to provide college and career resources to what they call “high-performing under-resourced students” (HiPURS), combining AI, Tik Tok-inspired videos, gamification, and tailored advice.

In 2021 they launched a pilot app, spinning it out into a separate for-profit a year later. They decided to structure the venture as an L3C (low-profit limited liability company), a legal form of business entity that mandates companies adopting it have a social mission as the primary objective.

And another thing: Not all that long after, new AI capabilities burst on the scene. “The proliferation of AI gave us a strong tool to scale our curriculum,” says Beckham.

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What It Does

How does it work? The app includes step-by-step pathways tailored to students’ stated goals. Users start by setting up a profile and then asking a question like, “I just got to college, what do I do?” or “I want to know what to do when I feel like an imposter at work.” The platform then responds, helping to drill down further and send the student on “quests” to be able to access resources and next steps. A quest could be, for example, “set up office hours with a professor” or “visit a career resource office.”

If a student, say, wants to know about participating in office hours, they’ll watch a video on the subject and review a guide on making the most of the experience. The quests also help to gamify the app and make it seem more video game-like. When they complete the right tasks, they earn “gems,” though sometimes they have to provide proof they’ve done what they said they did.

For each quest, there’s a Tik Tok-style video tutorial featuring advice from another student or young professional. “They don’t want to hear from us. They want to hear from each other,” says McKean. (She and Beckman also receive advice from a group of paid student advisors).

Students can choose soft skills, like initiative, collaboration and teamwork, or self-reflection and awareness, from a skills tree. Those soft skills have specific quests.

There’s also a resume builder that helps students create a resume, and then apply for internships, jobs, and scholarships from the app. (Companies can post jobs on the platform).

Companies pay a licensing fee to use the platform and post jobs, while colleges are charged what McKean describes as a small subscription fee so they can provide their students access to REACH. The app has gained 1,000 users since its most recent update in September, according to McKean.

Next Steps

Next up will be a way for mentors and volunteers to interact with students and more ways to win and redeem gems. They’re also talking to employers about creating their own customized pathways to their industries, to help students understand what relevant careers involve.

Beckham and McKean figure their connection to Chicago Scholars gives them a significant head start. “We’re taking 30 years of research-based curriculum through Chicago Scholars and expanding it to students across the country,” says Beckham. Adds McKean, “Most edtech startups don’t have the built-in user and customer base that we do.”