Our Investment in Hilight
Hilight is a social platform that empowers schools and districts to share and celebrate the work their teachers and other school staff.
The Long Term Impact team is excited to announce our investment in Hilight. Hilight is a social platform that empowers schools and districts to share and celebrate the work their teachers and other school staff are doing every day. The company allows school staff to recognize each other for being awesome in ways big and small. It also empowers administrators to surface things that are already working so that they can be shared more widely.
The founders of Hilight are Claire Smith, a veteran educator who previously taught middle school math in Louisiana, and Krissy Taft, an accomplished software engineer. Research shows that the #1 indicator of student success is what is known as Collective Teacher Efficacy - when a team of teachers not only believes they can make a positive impact but also see evidence that they are making a positive impact. Hilight is strategically designed to boost Collective Teacher Efficacy so that students and teachers can both get the support they need now more than ever before. Daniel Jhin Yoo, Justin Su, and I believe that supporting our educators in this manner is a critical need.
In the wake of Covid, school morale is at an all-time low. Teachers and other school staff feel more overwhelmed and underappreciated than ever. This has translated directly into higher teacher turnover in many schools throughout the country at a time when students, who themselves are struggling, need more support. Hilight combats this negative trend by providing school administrators with a critical tool for making their staff feel seen, valued, and connected.
At Long Term Impact, we focus on supporting pre-seed founders who have built impactful products and are committed to building sustainable, high-impact businesses that contribute to a more equitable public school system. We believe strongly in the work that Claire and Krissy are doing, and we couldn’t be more thrilled to support them on their journey.
