San Francisco, (July 23, 2025) – Ernst & Young LLP (EY US) has named Sam Chaudhary, co-founder and CEO of ClassDojo, one of the 2025 Entrepreneur Of The Year® Bay Area Award winners.

Now in its 40th year, Entrepreneur Of The Year is the preeminent competitive award for entrepreneurs and leaders of high-growth companies. Past winners include industry-defining founders such as Reid Hoffman (LinkedIn), Howard Schultz (Starbucks), and Eric Yuan (Zoom). Sam Chaudhary now joins their ranks, recognized for his role in transforming education for tens of millions of families and children around the world.

“From day one, Sam has had a sweeping vision to transform education at scale,” said Hemant Taneja, CEO at General Catalyst, and ClassDojo Board member. “He and the team have stayed resolutely focused on their mission—and in doing so, built a generational, serially compounding business. ClassDojo’s impact and scale are a direct result of Sam’s clarity of purpose about giving every child an education they love. We’re proud to have been early backers and are thrilled to see him recognized with this honor.”

The Entrepreneur Of The Year program honors founders, CEOs, and visionary leaders who demonstrate bold thinking, resilience, and a capacity to build category-defining companies.

Chaudhary co-founded ClassDojo with computer scientist Liam Don, launching what began as a simple communication tool to connect teachers with students and families. Today, ClassDojo reaches 45 million children, across 90% of U.S. elementary schools and in 180 countries, making it one of the largest education platforms in the world.

What sets ClassDojo apart is its pioneering business model: the platform remains free for all, funded by optional extras for families. This makes it accessible for every child in the world. The company has been recognized by Inc., Fast Company, and Forbes for its human-centered approach to technology and its long-term commitment to teachers, children, and families.

About ClassDojo

ClassDojo is on a mission to give every child on earth an education they love. Its flagship app is the #1 communication app for children, teachers, and families globally; they use it to stay connected, sharing through the school day with photos, videos, messages, and activities. ClassDojo serves over 95% of K-8 schools in the U.S. and over 51 million kids in classrooms in 180 countries every month. The company has been recognized by Forbes, Inc. and Fast Company for innovation and is a top 100 Y Combinator company. To learn more, visit classdojo.com, Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, or read about ClassDojo’s thesis.

About Entrepreneur Of The Year

Founded in 1986, Entrepreneur Of The Year has celebrated more than 11,000 ambitious visionaries who are leading successful, dynamic businesses in the US, and it has since expanded to nearly 60 countries globally.

The US program consists of 17 regional programs whose panels of independent judges select the regional award winners every June. Those winners compete for national recognition at the Strategic Growth Forum® in November where National finalists and award winners are announced. The overall National winner represents the US at the EY World Entrepreneur Of The Year™ competition. Visit ey.com/us/eoy.

About EY

EY is building a better working world by creating new value for clients, people, society and the planet, while building trust in capital markets.

Enabled by data, AI and advanced technology, EY teams help clients shape the future with confidence and develop answers for the most pressing issues of today and tomorrow.

EY teams work across a full spectrum of services in assurance, consulting, tax, strategy and transactions. Fueled by sector insights, a globally connected, multi-disciplinary network and diverse ecosystem partners, EY teams can provide services in more than 150 countries and territories.

All in to shape the future with confidence.

EY refers to the global organization, and may refer to one or more, of the member firms of Ernst & Young Global Limited, each of which is a separate legal entity. Ernst & Young Global Limited, a UK company limited by guarantee, does not provide services to clients. Information about how EY collects and uses personal data and a description of the rights individuals have under data protection legislation are available via ey.com/privacy. EY member firms do not practice law where prohibited by local laws. For more information about our organization, please visit ey.com.

Everyone remembers a time in school when they broke a rule. Turning the behavior card from green to red, moving a clip down or signing the behavior book. In today’s classroom, public shaming and humiliation are out as we see a rise in Positive Behavioral Interventions and Supports known as PBIS. With PBIS, behavior management is a target: students are responsible for their individual behaviors and their positive behavior has a ripple effect that impacts their classroom and ultimately their school. As schools adopt PBIS, the question becomes: How do I manage PBIS? The answer: ClassDojo.

Positivity through points

At our school, students are extrinsically motivated by praise and positive ClassDojo points, which in turn fosters intrinsic motivation. Meaning, eventually, students don’t even rely on the extrinsic motivation of points. We pair points with an extrinsic incentive by giving students a menu or choice board to trade in points they earn. Students save and spend, and as a teacher, I can “redeem points” on ClassDojo when students are ready to “cash in.” There are many free incentives that don’t cost a penny, like: • Choose a virtual field trip • Play games on a tablet or Chromebook • Read a story to a class • Listen to a children’s podcast like The Mister Kay Show

I like to set a classwide goal too so our entire class can earn an incentive together. Some schools even celebrate individual student milestones or whole class points totals school-wide with a movie, dress down, or field day!

Confidentiality is key

Let’s go back to that classroom moment where you “got in trouble” and had to put your name in the behavior book or change your card. How did that feel? Most people would say they felt embarrassed, upset, or even angry. It might be a vivid memory for you, even today! That’s why confidentiality is key for students to succeed, and ClassDojo puts that control into your hands.

Students get confidentiality and you get behaviors documented in ClassDojo. Consider changing the “needs work” value to 0 to create a neutral point. You can give students warnings and still document behavior that you can easily share at home. Try turning off points totals and the points award banner. You can still view point totals on your side and can periodically share with students how many points they have. You can even encourage students to log in to view their points on their own so they can set goals and earn incentives.

School-Wide ClassDojo & PBIS

A major bonus is that administrators and other school staff can participate as well by joining your class as a co-teacher. Counselors, specials and intervention teachers, your school site secretary or nurse, all can access your class to help award positive feedback from anywhere in the school. Imagine your school librarian is awarding your class points from the Library! Or, your principal is walking in the hallway, and gives points to your students. Having autonomy between all three areas (student, classroom, school) allows students to take ownership of their behavior and understand accountability school-wide.

Be consistent

Just like with everything, consistency is the key to success with ClassDojo and PBIS. You might see results immediately or it may take some time. You are the expert of your classroom and know when and how to adjust to your students’ needs based on what is best for them. Just remember with consistency you’ll see that positive ripple flow from every student, to your classroom, throughout your entire school community. So, let’s start with that first drop to start your ripple!

I have a confession: I used to be jealous of teachers who were organized enough to keep track of behavior with marbles and tally marks. I would try using tally marks on the whiteboard to point out positive behaviors and erasing tallies for less desirable behaviors. I would always start out strong, but inevitably it would lose its allure. I’d give points sporadically, never being truly consistent, and in the end, it really didn’t mean much to my students.

I wanted it to work, it just didn’t work for me.

Then, I found ClassDojo.

Forget buying marbles and wasting your Expo markers on tally marks, ClassDojo’s point system allows you to personalize points for your unique group of students, allowing for specific and timely feedback. Do you need to give points for “Always keeping their water bottle in their cup holder?” Probably not, but I do. And, how about the student who always has that water bottle rolling across the floor? In my class, they might get a neutral “needs work” point. These gentle reminders not only help me to be everywhere in my classroom at once, better yet, this is where the accountability factor comes in!

Reflection is vital to growth, so at the end of a busy day full of learning, students get a chance to log in to ClassDojo themselves. Logging in independently gives them the opportunity to see their feedback total and reflect back on the day. Not only do they see the positive, neutral, or “needs work” but they see the reason for each. Better yet, students in my class complete a Google form where they “check out” at the end of the day. They answer questions like:

• What did you accomplish today that made you feel proud?
• Was there something you could have done differently?
• Did you get a point deduction? If so, is there anything you want me to know about it, or one of their neutral points?

Having students self-reflect on their actions at the end of the day, or even the end of the week has really helped build a strong classroom community. Their points are private to them - I never open the classroom view in front of my class, it stays minimized or in a different tab. I don’t share the results of their reflection forms, but instead, review their responses and use them to inform my teaching and what we talk about during our morning meeting. Using ClassDojo in this way has taught me a lot about my students, and more importantly, has taught my students a lot about themselves!

My classroom is filled with positivity, even when students don’t know who is being awarded. The happy chime helps every kid sit up a little taller and the gentle cue signaling a neutral point keeps everyone on task. They even get excited for each other when they know a classmate has been rewarded. This magic combination makes me want to (and more importantly, remember to) keep up with it for my students, even during a busy day full of learning.

Seven years ago, my co-founder Liam and I launched ClassDojo from the studio apartment we shared. Today, ClassDojo serves tens of millions of children in over 180 countries every day, and growing fast. This year, we’re working on sharing a bit more about what ClassDojo is all about.

Kyle Crater is the principal of Amanda E. Stout Elementary in Pennsylvania’s Reading School District. Many of the families in Kyle’s district don’t speak English – which makes it harder for them to be involved in what’s happening in the classroom and school.

It’s a challenge that many teachers and principals face across the U.S. – as well as around the world. Today, more than 15 percent of adults in the U.S. don’t speak English at home. For one in four school-aged students, either they or their parents were not born in the U.S.

We developed Translate over three years ago to help solve this problem. And the idea came from you! (Like all the best ideas do, ha!) But when we created it – in 36 hours no less – we had no idea how impactful it could be. Every week, over 270,000 (yes, a quarter of a million!) messages are translated through ClassDojo in the U.S. Translate may feel like a small thing, but it’s been making a big difference.

Turning a classroom into a successful and productive learning environment isn’t done through just one thing, but there is one thing that I’ve seen affect it more than most: helping my students build up stronger relationships with each other. These relationships will turn a classroom full of individual students into a supportive family, one where students can be found helping one another and celebrating each other’s accomplishments on a daily basis.

There are two “big ideas” that have worked for me and I hope will for you too: The Shout Out Door and a Book Recommendation area.

Today, we’re introducing ClassDojo Beyond School to our community. It’s our first-ever product just for families, and we’re excited to share more about it!

ClassDojo Beyond School started just like everything we do at ClassDojo – by listening to teachers and families. Over the years, we’ve spoken with thousands of families and we heard a common theme: families want to help their children learn and grow. This became particularly apparent when we released the Big Ideas series on Growth Mindset, Empathy, and Mindfulness. Teachers were sharing these videos home, and families kept emailing us asking for more!

We realized that we think a lot about the formal learning experiences happening inside classrooms, but children spend a significant portion of their day at home, and that time is full of opportunities for small, informal learning experiences. From that, an idea was born: ClassDojo Beyond School. ClassDojo Beyond School helps families turn those opportunities into amazing learning experiences they can share in together.

Did you know that Sunday was National Parents Day? It really should have been a national holiday, but we’ll settle for a congressional resolution.

Hat’s off and hi-fives to all the parents out there doing whatever it takes for their kiddos! The juggle is real.

Any parent will tell you (or shout from the rooftops): a little bit goes a long way. So to celebrate the occasion, we went through our Summer Kindness Series submissions from families to highlight some of the brilliant ways kids are showing their parents a little TLC this summer.

Well, here’s a little something delightful.

It’s end of year time for schools in many countries, and that also means its one of the busiest times at ClassDojo! We’re so lucky we get to interact with this amazing community every day.

One of our favorite things is when we hear directly from you! Emails, posts, pings, likes, shares, shoutouts, and tags – they’re all the best! And we read every single one of the messages we get. From tales of classroom kindness to seeing Mojo mania, the #classdojolove is what keeps our coffee pot warm and our team inspired.

In ClassDojo’s first week in 2011, our founders Sam and Liam were really excited to see 80 teachers use ClassDojo in their classrooms (you know who you are!). Today, we’re humbled to see how our community has grown to millions more in over 180 countries. Teachers, parents, and students everywhere use ClassDojo to build stronger relationships with each other, working together to improve education in their communities. This is the heart of our mission.

These relationships require trust. That’s why every ClassDojo product is designed with privacy and security first; we have a fundamental belief in doing what’s right for you, our community.

Protecting your privacy is fundamental to the trust we need to improve education together, and we work extremely hard every day to earn yours. That’s why we made this Privacy Center to provide even more transparency and peace of mind over how ClassDojo protects your privacy and security, and gives you control over your information. Here are a few highlights from it:

1. Control: we believe your information is yours, so in our privacy policy, we’ve legally committed to never selling or renting it to anyone. We never share any student personal information with advertisers or marketers.

2. 12-month deletion: we protect students with our industry-leading policy. We don’t keep student personal information schools don’t need and we delete students’ feedback points after 12 months.

3. Privacy: ClassDojo is compliant with COPPA, FERPA, is certified by TRUSTe, and will be compliant with GDPR when it goes into effect in Europe on May 25th, 2018. ClassDojo is also a signatory to the Student Privacy Pledge, agreeing to a set of principles intended to safeguard student privacy, including responsible stewardship, protection, and transparent handling of student personal information.

If you ever have questions, please drop us a note any time on privacy@classdojo.com. We’re here to help! 🙂

Thank you for being part of our community – we can’t wait for all that’s to come!

— The ClassDojo Team

**FAQs on ClassDojo’s privacy practices**

What is personal information?
Basically, personal information is information that can be used to identify or contact a particular individual or a particular device. You can see our definition here.

What personal information do you collect about students?
No part of our mission requires sensitive information about students, so we don’t collect any. We ask for the minimum necessary information from students to provide and improve the service and for educational and safety purposes: often just a name. We don’t need or ask for anything else, such as gender, social security number, email, address, or student ID. Please see our privacy policy for more details on information collected directly from students.

How long is student information stored?
We protect students with our industry-leading policy: we don’t keep student personal information schools don’t need and we delete students’ feedback points after 12 months.

Will my information ever be sold or rented to other organizations?
No. On ClassDojo, your personal information is yours. ClassDojo never sells or rents personal information to any third parties, for any reason.

Does ClassDojo share student information with Facebook?
No.

Will ClassDojo ever sell advertising targeted at my child?
No, we will never share student personal information to advertisers or marketers.

ClassDojo is a free app. How does the company make money?
ClassDojo has grown through incredible love and word-of-mouth, and is funded by investors who believe in our mission. We plan to make money through premium features we’re developing that parents and schools can pay for. Everything currently available on ClassDojo will remain free for teachers.

What happens when you work with third parties?
We do not sell or rent any information to third parties. Like every company, we work with selected third-party service providers to help provide our service – for example, we work with a service to help us send emails, instead of building that service ourselves.

Where we work with third parties, we mandate that they comply with our Privacy Policy and have contractual commitments ensuring comprehensive data protection and security protocols that satisfy all our requirements (GDPR, FERPA, COPPA, etc.). Additionally, these service providers will not have the right to use your personal information beyond what is necessary for us to provide the services.

Here is a full list of the third-party services that help us provide you with ClassDojo’s service.

How and where is information stored?
ClassDojo’s servers are in highly secure, military-grade data centers that are access-controlled. ClassDojo uses bank-grade security at the software and network level to ensure all information is transmitted securely.

In Europe, will ClassDojo be in compliance with GDPR when it goes into effect on May 25, 2018?
Yes. ClassDojo is compliant with all applicable privacy laws, is certified under the EU-US and Swiss-US Privacy Shield, and will be in compliance with the European Union’s General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) when it comes into effect on May 25, 2018. We’ll update you when any changes occur, and they will be reflected in our Privacy Policy.

In the US, how does ClassDojo comply with the Child Online Privacy Protection Act (COPPA)?
ClassDojo has been granted the iKeepSafe COPPA Safe Harbor seal signifying our website and apps have been reviewed and approved for having policies and practices surrounding the collection, use, maintenance and disclosure of personal information from children consistent with the iKeepSafe COPPA Safe Harbor program guidelines. For additional information, please see our COPPA consent FAQ for schools and our FAQ for parents.

In the US, how does ClassDojo comply with FERPA?
Although FERPA is a law that applies to schools receiving funding from the Department of Education and does not apply directly to education technology vendors, ClassDojo’s practices fully support a school’s FERPA requirements and ClassDojo has earned a FERPA seal from iKeepSafe, an experienced privacy protection organization. Download our FERPA primer here for a helpful resource!

What about privacy outside the U.S. and Europe?
ClassDojo is used in over 180 countries, so we are always improving how we operate given where teachers are. For example, we comply with Canada’s Personal Information Protection and Electronic Documents Act (PIPEDA).

If you have questions about your specific country, please contact us at privacy@classdojo.com.