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Private company

LENA Foundation

American non-profit organization

The Language Environment Analysis (LENA) Foundation is an American nonprofit organisation which provides tools for measuring children's language acquisition and exposure. Specifically, the LENA system consists of a digital language processor which is worn by a child and records and analyses their auditory environment, using propriety software. It then presents a summary of child-adult conversation, such as conversation turns and word counts.2 Wikipedia text CC BY-SA 4.0

Last updated Oct 21, 2026.

Overview

2009Founded1

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The Language Environment Analysis (LENA) Foundation is an American nonprofit organisation which provides tools for measuring children's language acquisition and exposure. Specifically, the LENA system consists of a digital language processor which is worn by a child and records and analyses their auditory environment, using propriety software. It then presents a summary of child-adult conversation, such as conversation turns and word counts.2

How it started

History

The LENA Foundation was established in 2009 by Terrance and Judith Paul, founders of Renaissance Learning, Inc., with the purpose of aiding children with disabilities and assisting with early learning. They were inspired by the book "Meaningful Differences in the Everyday Experience of American Children" by Dr. Betty Hart and Dr. Todd Risley.

A pilot version of the LENA system was launched in February 2006. The LENA Research Foundation was registered as a tax-exempt 501(c)(3) nonprofit in September 2010. The organisation was renamed simply LENA in 2018 and adopted the tagline "Building brains through early talk."

LENA has been used for parental feedback, linguistics or paediatrics research, and for specific clinical cases.

Scientific background

In 2018, research using the LENA system showed that there was a link between children's conversational turns and activation of Broca's area (a part of the brain responsible, although not necessarily essential, for language processing).

From Wikipedia’s article on LENA Foundation, shared under CC BY-SA 4.0.2

Timeline

  1. 2009Founded Founded1

Funding

Where the company's money came from, by calendar year: private offerings filed with the SEC, federal grants, loans, contracts and other assistance from USAspending.gov, and PPP loans from the SBA. Each bar links to the records below.

Money received by year$1.4M 2020–2021
Money received by yearMoney received by year, 2020–2021: $1.4M in all. PPP loans $1.4M.$0$200K$400K$600K$800K2020 · PPP loans: $695.4K20202021 · PPP loans: $693.2K2021
Figures by year
YearPPP loansTotal
2021$693.2K$693.2K
2020$695.4K$695.4K

PPP loans

Paycheck Protection Program loans of $150,000 and up, approved April 2020 to July 2021, from the SBA3. Matched to this company by name and state.

  1. Apr 10, 2020$695.4K PPP loan (first draw) from WoodTrust Bank3To LENA FOUNDATION, Boulder CO; $702.9K forgiven May 24, 2021
  2. Mar 23, 2021$693.2K PPP loan (second draw) from WoodTrust Bank3To LENA FOUNDATION, Boulder CO; $701.0K forgiven May 16, 2022

Sources

The numbers on this page point here. Each one links to the record it came from.

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