Our Story
From a Classroom in Denver to a Community Movement
Tim Tennant — Founder
Some ideas begin with a business plan.
Biz4Ed began with a classroom.
My passion for education and community has shaped my entire career. I spent seven years teaching in Denver Public Schools and Jeffco Public Schools. My first teaching assignment was at Remington Elementary, where nearly 98% of students qualified for free or reduced-price lunch.
It was there that I had the privilege of working for my first principal, Susana Cordova, who instilled a belief that has never left me:
Teaching extends far beyond the classroom.
She challenged us to be more than teachers. We were called to be advocates for our students, their families, and the communities they called home.
One experience changed me forever.
Many of my students had never been to the Colorado mountains or experienced activities many Colorado families take for granted. I reached out to local businesses and community organizations, hoping someone might help. What happened next was remarkable.
Businesses donated transportation, lift tickets, ski rentals, lessons, and lunch so every child could experience a day on the slopes.
Watching an entire community rally around a classroom taught me something I'll never forget:
Amazing things can happen when everyone is rowing in the same direction.
That day planted a question that would stay with me for years.
Why does supporting schools have to depend on asking the same families for more money?
Life eventually took me in a different professional direction. When my wife, Betsy, and I started our family, she chose to stay home after dedicating her career to serving students with Severe Emotional Disorders. I moved into the restoration industry, where I spent the next fifteen years as a Project Manager.
But the question never left.
As our three children grew up, and with nieces and nephews attending school at the same time, it felt like someone was always selling cookie dough, wrapping paper, discount cards, or another fundraising catalog. We'd support their schools. Our family would support ours. Friends and neighbors did the same.
Everyone wanted to help.
But I couldn't help wondering why so much of that money left our communities instead of strengthening the businesses and schools right in our own neighborhoods.
In 2012, I made my first attempt to build what would eventually become Biz4Ed.
The timing wasn't right.
The technology wasn't ready.
And, truthfully, neither was I.
I didn't spend the next fourteen years building Biz4Ed every day. I spent those years living it.
Every school I worked with...
Every business owner I met...
Every homeowner I helped...
Every fundraiser my family participated in...
Each experience added another piece to the puzzle.
Some ideas fade with time.
This one became part of who I am.
Eventually I realized the answer had been there all along.
Families already spend money every day on restaurants, home services, healthcare, personal care, and countless other local businesses.
What if those everyday purchases could strengthen the businesses making them and generate sustainable funding for local schools?
That idea became Biz4Ed.
Today, Biz4Ed exists to bring schools, families, and local businesses together in a way that benefits everyone. Schools receive sustainable funding. Businesses build lasting customer relationships. Families support the schools they love simply by shopping with businesses that give back.
I've come to believe something simple: a rising tide raises all ships.
That's the vision behind Biz4Ed.
Because when communities work together, everyone wins.
Cole Cochran — Chief Technology Officer
I come from a family of educators. My mom has been a Special Education teacher for years, and it's the kind of job that doesn't really end when the school day does. My dad was a head college football coach who also taught adult studies classes most nights. For a while, our house was basically a second home for players who couldn't afford the dorms. My aunts and uncles did the same kind of thing, several of them teaching summer school on top of the regular year. My sister and a cousin ended up teaching too.
I saw what that actually looked like up close: all the hours, the stress, how much people gave just to keep things running for kids who needed it.
So when it came time to pick a career, teaching was pretty much the last thing on my list.
But growing up around it gave me a lot of respect for the people who do it, and I've always wanted to support local schools somehow, even from outside the classroom.
I was always the type to teach myself things. STEM was the subject I actually cared about in school, and it was usually the first thing to get cut when budgets got tight. That stuck with me, and I ended up studying it at the University of Texas, where I've been doing something with tech ever since.
Coming on as CTO at Biz4Ed made sense because of my family's background in education, not despite it. I watched people who cared about kids never have enough resources to actually do the job right. Biz4Ed is my shot at getting real support to the programs schools keep having to fight for.
I'm not a teacher, but I grew up close enough to one to know what's actually at stake.
Amazing things can happen when everyone is rowing in the same direction. I'm glad to be pulling an oar.
Ready to row with us?
Join the businesses, schools, and families building this together.