Loni Lebanoff

Loni Lebanoff is the visionary founder and CEO of CogniTutor, an innovative education company that's transforming how students and adults learn across multiple states and has expanded internationally in 2025. After three years of neuroscience research, Loni partnered with the world's top two researchers in "Learn to Learn" education to create CogniTutor's groundbreaking curriculum, which focuses on critical thinking and life skills rather than traditional test preparation.
Since founding CogniTutor in 2015, Loni has pioneered a revolutionary approach to education that achieves remarkable results where traditional methods fail. The company's first student, Sarah, couldn't pass her state test from 3rd grade through 10th grade—but after just six sessions focusing on life skills and critical thinking (without ever studying for the test itself), she nearly achieved a perfect score. This breakthrough led schools and districts to seek CogniTutor's services, and the results continue to speak for themselves:
• 90% success rate with students schools couldn't reach in a full year—achieved in just one week (15 hours) of workshops
• Students like Darius, a foster youth two grade levels behind with a learning disability, whom teachers had given up on, increased his learning by two full grade levels in just six months
• Schools have increased their budgets through improved student performance and grade-level advancement
Today, CogniTutor serves foster youth, students with special needs, and learners of all types through tutoring and innovative, art-based learning methods. The company has expanded to serve adults through partnerships with businesses for professional development and language learning. Loni has built strategic partnerships with schools, school districts, nonprofits, state organizations, and scholarship programs.
Beyond education, Loni is a real estate investor providing affordable housing to communities and collaborating with major U.S. land developers to create solutions for foster youth, trafficking victims, and underserved populations.
Recently, Loni competed on The Blox, a business reality TV show featuring 100 competitors selected from over 100,000 applicants. The episode is streaming on Amazon Prime.
Through CogniTutor, Loni has inspired tens of thousands of people—students, parents, tutors, team members, and partner organizations—with one core belief: All children and adults have tremendous potential. Let's give them that chance!