Three Years of KnoPro: Striding Toward Universal Work-Based Learning Access  

Like many great products, KnoPro, NAF’s one-of-a-kind work-based-learning edtech platform began as a solution to a problem: How do we build up a high school students’ resume and skills before he or she graduates? This year, NAF celebrates the platform’s third birthday on September 27. Its mission centers on an essential goal: making meaningful, career-connected experiences a standard part of the high school journey. That commitment stands in response to the stark data that only 2% of U.S. high school students complete an internship, according to a broad survey conducted in 2020 by American Student Assistance (now Britebound). KnoPro was created for the other 98%. 

For Lindsey Dixon, NAF’s Vice President of Product and Innovation who spearheaded the founding of KnoPro, that mission is rooted in both personal experience and decades spent working in education. 

“I always joke, but it’s not a joke, that when I left high school, I only had Chuck E. Cheese on my resume,” Dixon shared. “And that did not open that many doors for me.” 

Her experience later as a high school teacher in the Bronx reinforced the need for greater access to professional experiences. Many of her students were preparing to enter the workforce without internships, professional connections, or the opportunity to gain the kinds of experiences that can help young people envision new career possibilities. 

Stepping into the field of edtech, Dixon’s career began exploring how technology could help close that skills, social capital, and experience gap—without placing the opportunity behind a paywall wherever possible. 

Beyond the Traditional Internship 

KnoPro Challenges provide students with opportunities to engage in meaningful, project-based work that builds career skills and gives them tangible experiences to highlight on resumes and in interviews. 

Through month-long Challenges and daily Skillbuilders, students work on tackling real-world issues and devise solutions through one of three approaches: creating a product, developing a business, or designing a marketing campaign. Students can work on these real-world projects in teams or solo, and during or after school or even at home. KnoPro requires no downloads or special software or hardware, just access to the internet, and a desire to solve problems in the world. 

The goal goes beyond completing an assignment. Challenges—sponsored by industry leaders, including Lenovo, KPMG, and Delta Dental—present students with genuine industry challenges and ask them to propose unique solutions. Students cultivate experience in communication, collaboration, problem-solving, and social awareness—key transferable skills that employers increasingly value. What’s more, the reward is more than real feedback from industry leaders and meaningful recognition, but also cash prizes for winners that can be harnessed for future readiness. For students who have limited access to traditional internships, these projects can offer a starting point for developing confidence and professional identity. 

“Every single high school student in America has a resume-worthy work-based learning experience by the time they graduate high school,” Dixon said, describing the organization’s long-term vision. 

KnoPro currently supports approximately 60,000 students and teachers in all 50 U.S. states and additional territories, with a goal of reaching 500,000 and beyond over the next five years. 

Growing Through Partnerships 

Partnerships have played an important role in KnoPro’s development, from its earliest stages to its expanding network of education and corporate organizations. 

Lenovo was an early supporter, helping KnoPro develop its concept, explore value for students and partners, and secure funding during the organization’s seed and pilot stages. The company has continued as a returning partner, leading Challenges including 2025’s Gaming for All and 2024’s Tech for All: Creating Fair Workpaces, and our upcoming tech challenge in fall 2026. 

Since then, KnoPro has expanded its collaborations to include nonprofit and after-school organizations, as well as education platforms that can introduce more students to work-based learning. 

A partnership with The Possible Zone in Boston helped demonstrate how KnoPro’s month-long Challenges could be adapted into a semester-based, after-school learning experience. 

KnoPro has also partnered with Britebound through its EvolveMe platform, incorporating skill builders designed to provide students with additional career-readiness activities. Another partnership with Project Lead the Way (PLTW) in the works will integrate KnoPro Skillbuilders and industry Challenges into the PLTW ecosystem. 

When a Project Becomes a Path Forward 

For some students, KnoPro’s impact extends beyond skill development and career exploration. The projects can help students overcome factors that may affect their future plans, discover new interests, and pursue opportunities they may otherwise have considered out of reach. 

Dixon shared the story of a student who won $3,000 in a KnoPro Challenge. The prize money helped the student purchase a used car needed to commute to college, making the difference in whether they could attend. 

In another example, a group of students from Porterville High Schools’ Academy of Health Sciences, developed an AI-based concept focused on farmworker safety, particularly field farm workers for KnoPro’s The Future of Health: Tech that Saves Lives Challenge. The students conducted user interviews, prototyped their solution, and explored challenges such as heat exposure and access to water. 

After the project received an honorable mention and a $500 prize, a local newspaper covered the students’ work. The attention led companies and funders to reach out about potentially providing guidance and seed funding to help develop the idea further. 

For KnoPro, these stories demonstrate how a student project can become the beginning of a longer journey—one that continues beyond the platform and into a student’s community, education, or career. 

Students have also reported becoming more confident in their ability to participate in future academic and professional environments. By developing business models, working with financial models, using spreadsheets, and presenting ideas, students build experiences they can carry into their next steps. 

Looking Ahead: Scaling Impact and Deepening Employer Engagement 

As KnoPro looks toward its next stage of growth, the organization is exploring ways to strengthen its skills-development capabilities and provide greater value to students, teachers, districts, and employer partners. 

One potential area of development is helping students better understand their own skills. Future enhancements could offer more personalized insights into the Skillbuilders students have completed, highlight areas of strength, and encourage them to continue developing skills in areas they may be discovering for the first time.  

KnoPro is also considering how it can help teachers and districts better understand students’ skill gaps and areas of development as skills-based hiring becomes increasingly relevant. 

Employer engagement represents another area of opportunity. KnoPro’s partners already contribute by co-creating content and curriculum, creating welcome videos, and serving as judges for student projects. The organization hopes to expand these opportunities in ways that can reach more students while remaining scalable. 

With its growing student population and partnerships across education and industry, KnoPro is continuing to explore how employers can support meaningful work-based learning experiences for young people. 

Dixon is optimistic for the next phase of expansion but is confident the underlying goal will endure: giving students opportunities to explore careers, develop skills, and build experiences that help them move forward with greater confidence. 

For students who might otherwise graduate with little professional experience to draw upon, KnoPro offers a way to begin building that experience—one project at a time.  

Learn more about KnoPro’s latest Challenge (running through October 11): Healthcare is Hiring, sponsored by Covista. In this Challenge, students will dream up a bold solution to help fix the healthcare worker shortage and improve the future of care.  

Other opportunities for Fall 2026 include: 

Aerospace Engineering: Next-Gen Flight Challenge 

Sept. 21 – Oct. 25 

Sponsored by RTX 

 Future Tech: Build What’s Next Challenge 

 November 2026 

 Sponsored by Lenovo