About Us
At TalkingPoints, we believe in something simple yet powerful: every family wants the best for their child—and when families and schools work together with trust and intention, incredible things happen.
We’re a nonprofit education technology organization on a mission to unlock every student’s potential by activating one of the most underutilized forces in education: effective family engagement.
Our platform brings the principles of Universal Family Engagement to life by removing barriers and building trust-based, two-way partnerships between schools and families—regardless of a family’s language, background, or circumstance. We equip educators with tools, guidance, and confidence to connect with every family with empathy and purpose.
Our story
Heejae Lim founded TalkingPoints based on her experience growing up as a Korean immigrant student and seeing her mother make a difference in her education because she had the ‘voice’ to do so. Every parent’s love for their children is universal; the difference between Heejae’s mother and her friends’ parents wasn’t love, but the skills and tools to partner with their children’s schools.
Our mission
Our mission is to drive student success by unlocking the superpower of families to fuel their children’s learning. We do this by building effective family-school partnerships through accessible technology.
Our vision
We imagine a world where every student, regardless of their background, has the support they need to thrive. That starts with making family engagement a core pillar of the education system.
When families and educators work together—not just occasionally, but as a practice—the impact is transformational. For students. For educators. For communities.
Our history
TalkingPoints began with a simple belief: every family deserves the opportunity to meaningfully engage in their child’s education.
Since 2015, that belief has grown into a national movement—powering over 1 billion conversations, supporting more than 9 million family members, educators, and students each year, and earning the trust of 1 in 4 schools and districts across the U.S.
2025
- 9 million+ students, families and educators engaged
- Expanded advisory board
- New Attendance Improvement solution doubles down on tackling chronic absenteeism
- AI-based features launched to support academic improvement
- District emergency alerts and broadcast notifications launched
- TalkingPoints releases a National Benchmark Survey highlighting the latest trends in family engagement
2024
- TalkingPoints highlighted as a research-based intervention in Johns Hopkins Evidence for ESSA & National PTA’s Family Engagement Solutions
- Quasi-experimental research shows TalkingPoints use led to an average 24% decrease in absenteeism rates in Tulsa Public Schools
- Reached 8 million+ students, families and educators
- Surpassed 1 billion messages exchanged
- TalkingPoints launches R&D arm and introduces new AI-based features that guide family engagement best practices to improve student outcomes
- TalkingPoints a Common Sense Education Selection for Best Overall Family Communication Platform for Teachers and Schools for 4th consecutive year
2023
- TalkingPoints surpasses 6.5 million students, families and educators served
- 100+ languages supported
- Charity Navigator awards TalkingPoints with 4-star rating
- Harvard’s Dr. Karen Mapp, author of Dual-Capacity Framework, joins advisory board
- TalkingPoints uses AI-based research to analyze 40 million messages to explore school and family conversation dynamics
2022
- Heejae named a TED Fellow, recognizing her as a global changemaker in education
- TalkingPoints awarded a transformational gift from MacKenzie Scott to support platform expansion
- More than 5 million students, educators and families served
- 3rd party research study shows causal impact of TalkingPoints on improved academic and attendance outcomes in large, urban district
- Recognized by Digital Promise as an Edtech Product with Research-Based Design
- Heejae named one of 32 Inspiring Nonprofit Leaders Who Will Impact the World
2021
- More than 3 million students, educators and families served
- TalkingPoints is first nonprofit to get GPT-3 license from OpenAI
- Expanded features to remove barriers and build capacity for families and educators
- TalkingPoints recognized as a high-impact education nonprofit by Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and NewSchools Venture Fund
2020
- TalkingPoints becomes a lifeline during COVID-19 pandemic and offers free access for high-needs schools and districts
- 2 million+ families and educators exchanged 100 million+ messages
- 100+ languages supported
- 98% of teachers and 94% of families find TalkingPoints helpful during distance learning
- TalkingPoints earned Common Sense Education top pick and Google Education partner for distance learning
2019
- 500,000+ students, families and educators exchanged 20 million+ messages
- Launched educator dashboards and analytics tools (Research partnerships with MIT J-PAL and the University of Chicago)
- 96% of teachers report positive changes in student performance, behavior, attendance
- 97% of teachers meet their family engagement goals through TalkingPoints
- Heejae Lim awarded the Echoing Green fellowship
- Heejae named a Roddenberry Fellow
- Winner: Google AI Impact Challenge
2018
- 250,000+ students, families and educators exchange messages
- 30+ languages supported, including specific dialects
- 3rd party research shows 87% of families are more involved after TalkingPoints, 100% for non-English-speaking families
- Recognized by Fast Company as a World Changing Idea in Education
2017
- 100,000 families and educators exchange 2 million+ messages
- Built and began training custom AI/machine learning translation model
- 4x increase in homework return rates, higher for at-risk students
- 80% of teachers see improvement in student behavior and performance
2016
- Two-way text messaging available in 20+ languages to support real-time engagement between families and educators
- 3,000 students and families served
- Heejae Lim honored in Forbes 30 Under 30 in Education
2015
- Heejae Lim founds TalkingPoints as a nonprofit organization and co-designs first product with teachers after winning Teacher’s Choice Award – Startup Weekend Oakland
- Early supporters include NewSchools Venture Fund, Google, Stanford University, Walton Family Foundation, Milken-Penn Education.
- Heejae honored as a Stanford Social Innovation Fellow
Our future
We’re building a future where Universal Family Engagement isn’t the exception—it’s the norm. Through ongoing research and learning alongside our partners, we’re creating the blueprint for technology-powered family-school partnerships that turn family engagement into a daily, scalable driver of student success.
Get involved
TalkingPoints is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization. Contributions are tax-deductible. EIN: 47-4616102.