TEEEM Triples Reach with 100 Schools as its Changemaker Movement Grows Nationwide & Abroad

As Gen Z Seeks Purposeful Learning, Schools Turn to TEEEM as Model for Teaching Real-World Impact

RIDGEWOOD, NJ (May 2025) — In an education landscape hungry for purpose-driven, real-world learning, TEEEM (The Empathy Equality Entrepreneurship Mission) – a nonprofit teaching empathy and social entrepreneurship – has emerged as a standout model for empowering students to become global citizens and changemakers. 

Over the past school year, the nonprofit has tripled in size, expanding from working with 35 schools in just New Jersey to 100 K–12 schools and approximately 2,000 students across 11 states and three countries.

Highlights of this milestone year include:

• Expansion beyond New Jersey into 11 states (Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Oklahoma, Rhode Island, South Carolina, South Dakota, and Tennessee) and three countries (Canada, Ecuador, and New Zealand).

• Students raised over $90,000 through their social entrepreneurship events. With TEEEM’s matching contributions, total donations will reach more than $350,000, supporting communities in Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ecuador, Kenya, Peru, Uganda, Ukraine, and the U.S. (South Dakota).

• The launch of TEEEM’s Humanitarian Travel Program in the U.S. and abroad. NJ students traveled with TEEEM to meet the community they work with in Oglala Lakota Nation on South Dakota’s Pine Ridge Reservation and to Honduras, where they helped build a retirement center. Upcoming humanitarian trips are planned to Asheville, NC (July 2025); Kenya (Aug 2025), Ecuador (Spring Break 2025) and Peru (Summer 2026).

• Extending TEEEM’s impact beyond K-12 education with library and university collaborations. The Ridgewood, NJ Public Library became TEEEM’s first community-based partner, offering an opportunity for adults to also work with TEEEM. A collaboration with Seton Hall University resulted in graphic design students designing interactive mobile app prototypes for TEEEM and four of its nonprofit partners.

At the heart of TEEEM’s work is its mission to cultivate student changemakers — young people equipped with the empathy, leadership, and real-world skills needed to make a difference locally and globally.

“Schools across the country are looking for meaningful ways to teach empathy, leadership, and real-world problem-solving—and that’s exactly what TEEEM offers,” said Taylor D’Alessio, Executive Vice President. “We’ve seen an incredible surge in interest because educators and students are eager to be part of a movement that empowers the next generation to make meaningful change.”

TEEEM provides schools with free curriculum and flexible programming that integrates empathy and social entrepreneurship into classrooms and clubs. Students are paired with one of TEEEM’s eight global partner communities and are challenged to lead service projects that directly address critical issues such as education, clean water, healthcare, and gender equity.

TEEEM’s annual event, A Taste of TEEEM, will be held on May 21, 2025, at The Terrace at Biagio’s in Paramus, NJ. The evening will showcase student-led projects, recognize award winners, and celebrate a record-breaking year of impact.

With more students, schools, and communities joining the movement, TEEEM is redefining what education can look like in a global, empathy-driven future.

About TEEEM
TEEEM (The Empathy Equality Entrepreneurship Mission) is a nonprofit providing K-12 schools and universities with free resources to equip students with real skills to make a real impact through its Social Entrepreneurship and Empathy Programs. By connecting schools with under-resourced communities worldwide, students gain hands-on experience in leadership and global citizenship while tackling modern challenges. TEEEM can be infused into a class or club at any level and can be customized for each school, empowering the next generation with the skills and mindset to drive meaningful change—one project at a time. TEEEM is currently working with 100 schools throughout the U.S. and Canada, reaching 2,000+ students, and helping communities in eight countries: Burkina Faso, Cambodia, Ecuador, Kenya, Peru, Uganda, Ukraine, and the United States.

To learn more, visit www.TEEEM.org or follow @TEEEMglobal on Instagram and Facebook.

TEEEM Schools attending A Taste of TEEEM include:

Bergen County

• Benjamin Franklin Middle School (Ridgewood)

• Cliffside Park High School

• Elmwood Park High School

• Fair Lawn High School

• Fairleigh Dickinson University (Teaneck Campus)

• Hackensack High School

• Indian Hills High School (Oakland)

• Lodi High School

• Lyndhurst Middle School

• Northern Highlands Regional High School (Allendale)

• Pascack Hills High School (Montvale)

• Ramapo High School (Franklin Lakes, Oakland, Wyckoff)

• Ramapo Indian Hills (Franklin Lakes, Oakland, Wyckoff)

• Ramapo Ridge Middle School (Mahwah)

• Ramsey High School

• Ridgewood High School

• River Dell High School (Oradell, River Edge)

• The Village School (Waldwick)

• Waldwick High School

• Warren Point Elementary School (Fair Lawn)

• Willard Elementary School (Ridgewood)

Essex County

• Millburn High School

• Montclair High School

• West Orange High School

Morris County

• Mount Olive High School (Flanders)

• Roxbury High School (Succasunna)

Somerset County 

• Cedar Hill Prep School (Somerset)

• Somerset County Vocational & Technical Schools (Bridgewater)

Middlesex County

• The Wardlaw + Hartridge School (Edison)