Pascal Siakam’s PS43 Foundation runs the Siakam Ed Tech Engine, an accelerator program supporting startups in K-12 education.
Kids are back in school, and that elicits a smile from Indiana Pacers forward Pascal Siakam.
His late father, Tchamo, who died in a 2014 car accident, stressed the importance of education for his six children. Siakam wants to enhance his dad’s legacy and cement his own through educational impact on kids.
“He always said basketball can be taken away from you, but if you have an education, you’re pretty much set and you’re able to achieve way more than sport can ever do,” Siakam said. “That’s the mindset that he instilled in us. And I just wanted to continue that. When I had an opportunity and I had a platform getting to the NBA, I just always knew that that’s something that I wanted to focus on.”
Siakam’s PS43 Foundation is “a not-for-profit organization that finds unique ways to make a difference in the lives of children through education. Through financial literacy, sports, and life skills, our goal is to teach children and give them an advantage in society.”
Within that foundation is the Siakam Ed Tech Engine, an accelerator program that supports North American startups working to improve K-12 education.
Partnering with DMZ, a tech incubator based in Toronto, Siakam’s foundation selects around six to seven startups yearly for a 12-week program culminating in grant money totaling $50,000 for selected companies.
Pascal Siakam (@pskills43), PS43 Foundation and DMZ are teaming up to change the game in education technology.
The Siakam EdTech Engine is searching for high-impact startups ready to redefine K-12 education.
Think you’ve got what it takes?
Apply now: https://t.co/RpgAvrCn94 pic.twitter.com/HzsAzp5LgZ
— DMZ (@dmzhq) February 18, 2025
“For us, it was the perfect opportunity, and we can help some of those startups accelerate their process so they can be accepted into schools,” Siakam said. “And they can create something great for the kids and for the teachers. Because it’s not only focused on kids, it’s also focused on teachers and finding ways to help them.”
The first winner of the $30,000 grant in 2025 was Cyber Legends, the developer of an app that teaches digital safety skills through interactive missions for K-12 students. The interactive sessions are tailored to a student’s age. With the help of the Siakam Ed Tech Engine program, Cyber Legends is used in nearly 80 schools in North America.
This year’s winner was Classwise AI, an app for teachers that assists in grading, reviewing and providing feedback for students.
“It allows teachers to reduce burnout,” PS43 Foundation executive director Dakota Whyte said. “They are utilizing large language models to help teachers do one of the most cumbersome tasks of being a teacher, which is grading. They did incredible this year, and I’m super excited for them to get embedded into some of the organizations and classrooms we work with.”
Whyte, a native of Toronto where Siakam began his NBA career, played college basketball at Wisconsin and professionally overseas. She worked at Nike and earned her MBA from Toronto Metropolitan University. Whyte is instrumental in helping bring Siakam’s philanthropic vision to reality.
Siakam is deliberate and thoughtful with his foundation and understands technology’s role in the present and future.
“His interest is authentic,” Whyte said. “Right when we started, as we were creating the strategy around what we wanted this organization to be, he was very adamant on ensuring that what we provided wasn’t redundant and it was new and it was actually a need in the educational system.
“Pascal is very passionate about this work. He shows up to every meeting. He’s integrated in all the decision making. He’s tapped in, I’d like to say, I guess in the new school terms. And I think being able to see his vision for leading his legacy and ultimately bringing his dad’s vision to life, it’s an honor to work with him in this capacity. And he makes my job so easy because he is really about the work and nothing else – exactly how you see him on the court.”
While increasing the availability of these apps in North American schools is a priority, Siakam is also interested in making them available to schools in his native Cameroon.
“It’s a dream not only of mine, but my dad’s,” Siakam said. “And again, everyone that I’m working around with, they are super passionate and this is what they want to do and want to continue to be great and help as many kids as we can. And again, I want this to be far greater than who I am or the basketball player that I was. That’s the legacy I want to build. And I’m excited about where it can take us.”
In his own way, Siakam is back in the classroom, working on his game as the Pacers open training camp and prepare for a season with a healthy Tyrese Haliburton. The Pacers were one win away from the championship in Game 7 of the 2025 NBA Finals against the Oklahoma City Thunder when Haliburton suffered a torn right Achilles that kept him from playing in 2025-26.
“We have great potential, and we’ve just got to get together,” Siakam said. “I’m excited and having Tyrese back, having (Ivica) Zubac, and all these different signings that we made, I can’t wait to get back at it.”
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Jeff Zillgitt has covered the NBA since 2008. You can email him at [email protected], find his archive here and follow him on X.
