Learn Fresh

Nick Monzi is CEO and Co-Founder of Learn Fresh, a national education nonprofit dedicated to enhancing students’ STEM and social-emotional achievement through sports and entertainment. Since the organization's founding, he has worked with global corporations, leading urban school districts, and national and regional afterschool program providers to develop the Learn Fresh community program model, which has served over 250,000 students through initiatives with 25 professional sports teams. He has also driven the invention of three new sports-based academic programs, which have been funded and supported by team and league partners across the United States.

Nick earned a bachelor's degree in Entrepreneurship and Marketing Management from Syracuse University, and completed his master's degree at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. In addition to his entrepreneurial pursuits, he has been an active arts and music educator for over a decade. He is the son of a teacher.

Learn Fresh works to solve racial and socioeconomic achievement gaps in math and STEAM education by improving engagement in math and social-emotional education among low-income students and students of color. We empower educators to use our products and programs in order to increase student proficiency and engagement in STEAM and social-emotional education. Our programs include NBA Math Hoops, First & 10, and Math Hits—all use a sports game, curriculum, and community program model to boost engagement and achievement in math at no cost to students, teachers, or schools. The programs leverage brands (NBA, WNBA, NFL, MLB) as a hook to engage students and to provide a uniquely fun, effective, and culturally-relevant learning environment. Our model embodies the “it takes a village” philosophy, and is effective in any educational context and highly adaptable to different subjects, grade levels, and engagement pieces, with massive potential to scale nationally and internationally.

The National Assessment for Educational Progress (NAEP) reported that 59% of fourth grade students in the United States are not proficient at mathematics, with 74% of low-income fourth graders falling below a national level of proficiency (2019). Additionally, a nationwide Gallup poll from 2016 found that student engagement rates dropped from 75% in fifth grade to 45% in eighth grade. Research has consistently indicated that student interest in learning is a strong indicator of academic success, and middle school math achievement is a strong predictor of high school completion rates. 

Globally in 2015, an estimated 617 million children and adolescents of primary and lower secondary school age–more than 50 percent–were not achieving minimum proficiency levels in reading and mathematics. The UN has called to eliminate gender disparities in education and ensure equal access to all levels of education and vocational training for vulnerable peoples by 2030. There is a clear need for effective math-based interventions that boost academic engagement through learning that is relevant, challenging, and fun. Our programs directly target low-income students and students of color, leveraging brands in sports and entertainment to engage students in STEAM and social-emotional learning. 

Learn Fresh model case study: NBA Math Math Hoops uses NBA and WNBA brands as a hook to engage students with fundamental math and social-emotional learning through physical and digital games, integrated curriculum, and a community program structure. The NBA Math Hoops game simulates the real game of basketball: students complete core math operations and analyze the real statistics of NBA and WNBA players. The NBA Math Hoops curriculum is mapped to Common Core State Standards and the CASEL framework for social-emotional learning.

 NBA Math Hoops is implemented across school-day classrooms, out-of-school programs, and at home. Community partners such as school districts, Boys & Girls Clubs, and state afterschool networks help recruit educators. We train the educators to implement the board game and curriculum with students over the course of a 12-unit season, and produce extracurricular events and experiences such as culminating Regional Championships and the NBA Math Hoops National Championship. 

Our other programs, Math Hits and First & 10, use the same program model in partnership with MLB and NFL teams, respectively. Future products in development include a parallel soccer program and a STEAM program called EcoTour, which leverages a performing artist’s tour to teach environmental sustainability.

Our programs target students historically underrepresented in STEM fields, specifically girls, students of color, and students from low-income communities. 93 percent of our program educators serve primarily low-income students and 80 percent of our students are from communities of color. We engage educators directly in the constant refinement of our experiences, including through the Learn Fresh All-Star Educator program.

 Learn Fresh programs lead to academic and social-emotional growth while providing exciting and inspiring learning opportunities. Program data from 2019 showed 35 percent gains on a math fluency assessment and 18 percent gains on a NAEP-aligned assessment testing for high-order math skills. Program participants were 30 percent more likely than a control group to demonstrate growth in core social-emotional skills such as persistence, grit, and the ability to set goals and overcome challenges. 

Extracurricular events, including championship tournaments and STEM activations, comprise a substantial part of the program’s broader impact, and often leads to transformative gains. In 2019, 100% of 2017 National Championship participants reported that their NBA Math Hoops experience continues to make them more confident in STEM classes and working in teams. Additionally, every student indicated that they still view the National Championship as a life-changing experience.

Learn Fresh creates exciting, engaging, and relevant learning opportunities for students, targeting low-income communities and communities of color. These students face significant educational opportunity gaps, and have been historically underrepresented in STEM careers and fields of study. Our programs emphasize core values including aspiration, community, grit, innovation, and integrity, leveraging game-based products and authentic experiences to expose students to STEM career opportunities and show them how their learning applies in the real world. NBA Math Hoops is now the largest education program supported by the NBA/WNBA, and we are poised for drastic scale.

Learn Fresh launched as a nonprofit in 2012. Our founding program, NBA Math Hoops, was originally developed by Tim Scheidt, a math teacher in Rhode Island, and Jim Fina, a publishing executive. Together they built the board game and curriculum that are central to the program. In 2010, they teamed up with Big Picture Learning and Bill Daugherty, an entrepreneur and sports executive, who helped bring the NBA and Hasbro on board to establish Math Hoops as an NBA-branded program. After a series of pilot tests, Learn Fresh launched the first season of NBA Math Hoops programming in partnership with the Cleveland Cavaliers with 500 students in Ohio. Three core partnerships have formed the basis of the program model since its launch:

 1) Hasbro manufactures all our physical board games and donates them in-kind to Learn Fresh; concurrently supports the development of our digital games.

 2) While we are an independent nonprofit outside of the NBA, the NBA, NBPA, WNBA, and WNBPA provide us with royalty-free licenses that permit use of team and league brands, player images, and player likenesses. 

 3) Getty Images provides us with a royalty-free license that allows unlimited use of photos in our products and branding.

My mother was a teacher. Growing up, I gained an appreciation for education as a practice and an art, while inheriting the tireless work ethic of both my parents. I have always valued travel and global exploration—it’s difficult for me to stay in one place for very long—and I’m motivated to build things that anyone in the world can access and find relevant. In my personal and professional travels, I have found that it’s rare for products or systems to be designed to operate effectively across borders, communities, cultures, and contexts. Access to education is a pressing global issue, and while Learn Fresh’s work is rooted domestically here in the U.S., the global state of education—particularly that in developing countries—offers a context where our model could be even more impactful. I am proud of the progress we have made to this point, but I view this as just the beginning. The true power of Learn Fresh is in the mindset and the model: the idea that strong communities, cross-sector partnerships, and great design can inspire students and educators to deeply love and appreciate how and where they learn.

As CEO of Learn Fresh, I bring my experience as an educator, designer, and management expert together to craft sustained, innovative learning experiences for students. I have overseen the refinement of the core NBA Math Hoops product while spearheading the design of new programs, two of which are in operation through the First & 10 and Math Hits programs. I have led the development of the community program model over the past seven years, working with a small team of educators dedicated first and foremost to the students and educators we serve. We’ve operated with a growth mindset and a “deliver no matter the obstacles” philosophy, implementing a vast network of program sites and ambitious schedule of events each season at minimal cost. 

 I’ve learned how to balance the often competing needs of different stakeholders, whether it’s a major urban school district, the NBA, or the students and educators that we serve. We have navigated our core partnerships over time to build trust through results, careful strategy, and meticulous operation. The results speak for themselves: since 2012, we have served over 250,000 students in grades 4-8 through partnerships with 25 NBA and WNBA teams, including 100,000 students served during the 2019-20 season. We have trained over 4,000 educators, and 93 percent of those educators serve primarily low-income students. We have begun implementing NBA Math Hoops in Australia in partnership with the NBL, and plan to expand programming in Africa through the NBA Africa initiative. 

As schools shut down in March due to the COVID-19 crisis, in-school and afterschool Learn Fresh programming came to a halt, and we were forced to cancel all in-person program events. We moved quickly to help serve the immediate needs of our students, raising over $100,000 in just a few weeks to ship NBA Math Hoops board games to families in need of in-home learning resources, ultimately equipping over 5,000 families across 47 US and Canadian states and territories. The second level of our COVID response focused on pivoting to digital programming: We secured $250,000 from AT&T to launch additional development of the NBA Math Hoops mobile app, partnered with AT&T and the NBA to launch a social media series providing math lessons in conjunction with NBA and WNBA stars, and secured $175,000 in funding from Intel and Hasbro to develop a digital version of the NBA Math Hoops board game. 

 Personally, I am shaped by the inherent struggles of a childhood in a single-parent household, as well as my formative experience as a member of Drum Corps International, which shaped my work ethic, commitment, and leadership philosophy.

Learn Fresh’s COVID-19 response and subsequent statement on the Black Lives Matter movement demonstrate our leadership in the corporate and professional sports spaces, where we are shaping the narrative around education and community engagement. Our rapid and targeted response to COVID-19 was faster and more comprehensive than most peer organizations in the STEM education space; through March and April, the NBA/WNBA and many team partners turned to us for leadership on ways to serve their communities during the pandemic. Following the murder of George Floyd, Learn Fresh released a statement reaffirming our commitment to the Black community and calling on ourselves and our partners to listen, learn, and improve the ways that we serve, support, and raise up Black communities through our work. In this instance, corporate partners again turned to us for guidance on how to respond to the moment. Our statement and presence in virtual forum spaces in the weeks since has served as a blueprint for both language and action on this issue. Additionally in September, we will launch a new fellowship for educators of color who wish to lead the creation of culturally inclusive curricula.

Learn Fresh programs have come to represent some of the most impactful, community-based math interventions serving elementary and middle school students. Beyond the innovative nature of our game products, our focus on social-emotional learning and developing the “whole child” as part of an academic program is unique and unprecedented in the professional sports realm, and one that has begun to change the narrative around education programs in the space. In particular, we have shaped the narrative around education in the NBA by thoroughly establishing a quality standard for team community education programs: NBA Math Hoops has become the largest and only league-adopted education program in the NBA. Team-sponsored education programs in this space are traditionally high-visibility but lightweight and low-impact; in contrast, we have built a truly top-to-bottom program that delivers results for students and communities, and excellent exposure and optics for teams and leagues.

Our model is transferable to other products and programs and effective in any educational context because the basic tenants apply universally: leveraging the power of brands, engaging community partners, and supporting educators to make fundamental education more engaging. From a tactile standpoint, all of our games are accessible for any group of students, and they are effective regardless of gender and race. And while our current program offerings are focused on STEM and social-emotional learning, our solution is “topic-neutral,” in the sense that game-based learning can be applied to many different academic subjects, and the “hook” or “student passion point” is entirely adaptable. 

Learn Fresh programs build students’ math and social-emotional skills through engagement with robust math-based board games and curriculum. The NBA Math Hoops board game engages students in high-volume repetition of calculations and problem-solving using real NBA/WNBA player statistics through consistent gameplay over a 12-unit season, focusing on building fundamental math skills such as arithmetic, decimals, fractions, percentages, and statistical reasoning; and social-emotional competencies such as grit, self and social-awareness, self-management, evidenced-based decision-making, and teamwork.

Over the course of a five-year period, regular program evaluations by the American Institutes of Research have shown consistent gains among students participating in NBA Math Hoops across major demographic groups (female, male, Black, Latino, White), as well as consistent improvement in the program’s impact each year. After normalizing the data, students across all demographics completing the full program experience in 2018 improved by 0.46 standard deviations against the mean, which equates to 23% percent mathematical gains for students who completed the program and assessments, while a control group from the same classrooms and buildings demonstrated gains of just 7%. 

Extracurricular events, including regional championship tournaments and STEM activations, comprise a substantial part of the program’s broader impact, and students often report transformative gains in their academic outlook. 100% of 2019 National Championship participants reported that their overall experience with NBA Math Hoops continues to make them more confident in STEM classes and has made them more comfortable working in teams. Additionally, every student indicated that they still view the National Championship as a life-changing experience.

Learn Fresh will serve approximately 150,000 students during the 2020-21 school year. We hope to scale that to 250,000 students for the 2021-22 school year, and 2.5 million low-income students and students of color within 5 years.

In the next year, we hope to hire two new program staff and one new development staff, and to complete development of two digital products: an overhaul of the NBA Math Hoops mobile app and development of a robust, digital version of the NBA Math Hoops board game. We will prepare to implement a full-scale RCT impact study of NBA Math Hoops, and to continue development of the new EcoTour STEAM program.

In five years, we plan to have introduced two more new programs, to be serving 2.5 million students in the U.S. in partnership with all NBA and WNBA teams, and to have expanded programming scale in Europe, Africa, and Australia. We hope also to have completed the RCT with NBA Math Hoops students, and to have built a robust research base on the program’s impact. 

Some of our capacity to scale physical programming and host in-person events in the next two years will depend on the trajectory of the COVID-19 pandemic. As mentioned, we had to shut down all in-person programming in March, and we are preparing for various combinations of in-person and digital programming for the upcoming 2020-21 school year. Our digital strategy will allow us to continue scaling our impact and number of students served, particularly as there is a heightened need for high-quality remote learning products that are free to students and teachers.

We have pivoted quickly to launch significant development of digital learning products in response to the pandemic in support of virtual/remote instruction and learning. Since April, we have worked in partnership with NBA teams across the country to launch a series of virtual Math Hoops tournaments for families. The single-elimination tournaments are hosted over video chat and facilitated by Learn Fresh staff. After regional tournaments are completed in May and June, families nationwide will compete in a Virtual National Championship through the end of the summer. 

With support from Hasbro, we are building out a digital version of the NBA Math Hoops board game. This will allow for unlimited digital distribution to educators across each region that we serve, online trainings for educators, and continued access to the physical board game for interested educators. This season, we will also be working to facilitate virtual field trips, which will be made available to the most engaged schools and programs, and which will feature opportunities to engage sponsors and STEM institutions in the local community. 

With support from AT&T, we have also launched additional development of the NBA Math Hoops mobile app, which will evolve into a comprehensive K-8 learning tool for students globally. The product is available at no cost across all mobile platforms, and mimics basketball mini-games like a three-point or slam dunk contest to teach foundational skills. 

In addition to our core partnerships with Hasbro, the NBA/WNBA and league player associations, and Getty Images, we currently implement Learn Fresh programming in partnership with 25 individual teams across the NBA, WNBA, MLB, and NFL. Our implementation partners include hundreds of local education providers nationwide, from major urban school districts to state afterschool networks, Boys & Girls Clubs, charter school networks, city parks and recreation departments, and community organizations—these partners assist in recruiting educators and facilitating programming in classrooms and out-of-school time environments through our community program model.

NBA Math Hoops, like all Learn Fresh programs, operates in a community program model. Individual NBA and WNBA teams provide a combination of funding, marketing, and in-kind support for program events, and local foundation and corporate partners round out funding for each region. Implementation partners such as school districts, state afterschool networks, and community organizations assist in recruiting educators locally, marketing the program as a free, fun, and effective math and social-emotional intervention that boosts student engagement and achievement in partnership with local NBA and WNBA teams. Our capacity to market the program drives demand.

Educators attend in-person and remote training sessions hosted by Learn Fresh, where they learn to implement the program directly in classrooms and out-of-school time environments, provide all program materials, and provide consistent support and engagement over the course of the season for all program educators through an online program management system, mid-season checkpoints, and in-person program events. We collaborate with community partners to host culminating Regional Championship events in every major region. All Learn Fresh programming is implemented at no cost to students, teachers, and schools in our target demographic (low-income communities, communities of color). 

We are funded through our core partnerships and through a combination of team contracts, local and national foundation and corporate partners, and small and large-dollar individual donors. In addition to expanding our fundraising operations in the coming few years, we are preparing to begin offering the NBA Math Hoops board game for retail sales, which will be used to subsidize future scale of the program, and allow us to continue providing programming/materials at no cost to students, educators, or schools in our target demographic. 

Learn Fresh Top Sources of Funding (June 2019-July 2020)

1. Sixers Youth Foundation - $325,000 (November 2019)
2. Overdeck Foundation - $300,000 (January 2020)
3. AT&T - $250,000 (June 2020)
4. State Farm - $235,000 (June/August 2019)
5. Blitzer Family Foundation - $100,000 (January 2020)
6. Intel - $100,000 (June 2020)
7. Hasbro - $70,000 (June 2020)
8. Detroit Pistons/Flagstar Bank - $60,000 (Multiple)
9. National Basketball Association Players Foundation - $50,000 (January 2020)
10. Golden State Warriors/Accenture - $38,000 (Multiple)
11. Cleveland Cavaliers/Rocket Mortgage - $35,000 (Multiple)
12. LA Clippers - $35,000 (December 2019)
13. Oakland Athletics - $35,000 (December 2019)
14. Portland Trail Blazers - $27,000 (Multiple)
15. Campus Apartments - $25,000 (March 2020)
16. Sacramento Kings - $25,000 (November 2019)
17. Skillman Foundation - $25,000 (April 2020)
18. New York Mets - $20,000 (January 2020)

We are targeting $1,00,000 in new commitments (grants/donations) in the next 12 months. This would allow Learn Fresh to onboard two new program staff members, onboard one new development staff member to expand fundraising and marketing capacity of the organization, conduct a full-scale, national Randomized Controlled Trial research study on the impact of NBA Math Hoops, and further the development of digital products and curriculum. This would provide capacity to serve 250,000+ additional students in 2021-22 through core programming, and allow us to expand our first international projects for NBA Math Hoops.

$2.8 million

The timing of the Elevate prize would be ideal for us, as it would coincide with a complete overhaul of the Learn Fresh brand. This brand overhaul which will include a new organization website (launching end of July 2020), logo, and visual brand assets. The prize would also coincide with the launch of two major digital program products, including the NBA Math Hoops mobile app, and the NBA Math Hoops digital board game, as well as new digital training tools for remote educator onboarding, all of which will be introduced in Fall 2020 programming, and all of which will provide new and improved marketing and branding opportunities while drastically increasing our capacity to scale. 

$300,000 would help us to accomplish specific goals toward scaling our impact, namely hiring two new program staff and a development staff. This added capacity will be crucial for managing increased scale, which will come with the launch of new digital program offerings during this upcoming school year. 

The professional management services would be most crucial for us with regards to marketing, which remains an acknowledged weakness. As part of the brand overhaul mentioned above, we are actively seeking pro-bono marketing consultants to help us best leverage the massive potential of the Learn Fresh brand (and its proximity to major sports brands like NBA/WNBA, MLB, NFL), and to deepen our impact nationally and internationally.