Monetization

AI-Powered Research

Deal Sourcing

Strategic Judgment

Pitch Deck Building

Business-Case Building

Khan Academy Monetization Strategy & Partnerships

100M people a year learn free on Khan Academy. Someone pays for that. Use AI to source and pitch the deals that fund it next.

7 weeks

Live Sessions Start

October 5, 2026

Start Onboarding Today

Somebody pays for every free lesson you’ve ever watched. It probably never crossed your mind, and that’s the point: more than 100 million people a year learn on Khan Academy without paying, because a small team keeps finding partners who will. The College Board pays to keep free SAT practice current. Microsoft donated the cloud credits behind Khanmigo. Each deal was found, argued for, and negotiated, and in this externship you join the team that does it. The work is strategy: over seven weeks you’ll take apart Khan Academy’s real partnerships, study how Wikimedia, Coursera, Duolingo and Mozilla earn from free reach, and find the deals you believe Khan Academy should do next. Perplexity researches, Claude drafts, you decide. By the end you’ll have a portfolio piece: an executive pitch deck arguing for your deals, what each side gets, what each could earn, the risks, and which to pursue first. It’s proof of the thing employers know they can’t train into a new hire: a perspective nobody else in the room has.

Project Output

‍

Tear Down a Flagship Partnership: Reverse-engineer the College Board deal into its value exchange, revenue logic, and why it endures.
Benchmark the Peers: Study how Wikimedia, Coursera, Duolingo and Mozilla turn free reach into revenue, and which models fit a nonprofit.
Source Two Real Deals: Find two partnerships you are convinced Khan Academy should do next, and build the case for each.
Pitch the Recommendation: Build an executive pitch deck covering both deals, and name which to pursue first.

Get Started with Onboarding Today Before Live Sessions Begin

Join this 7-week Externship with Khan Academy to research partnership strategy for one of the world's most impactful education platforms.

Start Project Today

This Externship has passed

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Skills You'll Gain

Deconstructing a real partnership into its value exchange, revenue logic, and the reasons it endures.

Benchmarking how peer organizations monetize free reach, and judging which models translate to a mission-driven nonprofit.

Sourcing real partnership opportunities across a field and screening out the dead ends fast.

Building a light, assumption-visible business case with a reach-to-revenue estimate, no financial modeling required.

Communicating a partner recommendation in an executive-ready pitch deck a partnerships lead can act on.

Using Perplexity for cited research and Claude or ChatGPT for synthesis, while owning the judgment yourself.

Your Schedule

7 weeks

Project 1

—

Reverse-Engineer Khan Academy's Flagship Partnerships

Project 2

—

Benchmark How Peers Turn Free Reach Into Revenue

Project 3

—

Source Two Deals Khan Academy Should Do Next

Project 4

—

Build & Present Your Executive Pitch Deck

About Khan Academy

The Home Depot is not accepting or considering any applications for this Externship through other channels.

Meet Your Host

Dr. Sarah Thaler

Senior Strategic Partnerships Manager, Khan Academy

Dr. Sarah Thaler is the Senior Strategic Partnerships Manager at Khan Academy, where she helps manage partnerships with organizations like College Board, Google, and Microsoft to support innovative education initiatives. She has extensive experience in strategic planning, complex program management, and customer engagement across the K-12 and higher education sectors. Prior to her current role, she spent nearly a decade at the College Board, where she oversaw high stakes, large-scale state and district assessment contracts for the SAT Suite of Assessments. Her background also includes leadership positions in school districts as a Director of Instructional Services and Curriculum and Assessment Coordinator. Dr. Thaler began her career in the classroom, teaching high school science and leading school transformation initiatives.