The Rethinking Education Sessions Wed, 04 Mar 2026 22:16:43 -0500 https://rethinkingeducation.buzzsprout.com en-us © 2026 The Rethinking Education Sessions yes e464e645-c26f-58dc-a835-564d31b944fc Rethink Education episodic false Buzzsprout (https://www.buzzsprout.com) Rethink Education https://storage.buzzsprout.com/l1u5fl7rcn4ui2vx8838athpqf7c?.jpg The Rethinking Education Sessions All About School Finance: a Conversation with Allovue All About School Finance: a Conversation with Allovue Does school finance feel like a black box? Are you having trouble finding reliable resources for the inside scoop? This episode is for you! We chat with two experts in the field: Jess Gartner, CEO & Founder, and Jason Becker, Chief Product Officer of Allovue, a portfolio companies of Rethink Education. Allovue works with K-12 leaders to streamline, simplify, and manage school budgets. In this conversation, we dive into the hidden complexities of school finance, the shortfalls of the current system, and how to make school budgets more just.

Books Mentioned:

]]> Does school finance feel like a black box? Are you having trouble finding reliable resources for the inside scoop? This episode is for you! We chat with two experts in the field: Jess Gartner, CEO & Founder, and Jason Becker, Chief Product Officer of Allovue, a portfolio companies of Rethink Education. Allovue works with K-12 leaders to streamline, simplify, and manage school budgets. In this conversation, we dive into the hidden complexities of school finance, the shortfalls of the current system, and how to make school budgets more just.

Books Mentioned:

]]> Rethink Education Buzzsprout-11877923 Thu, 15 Dec 2022 09:00:00 -0500 5000 1 7 full false Expanding Access to Higher Education: A Chat with Jamie Merisotis of the Lumina Foundation Expanding Access to Higher Education: A Chat with Jamie Merisotis of the Lumina Foundation On the latest episode of the Rethinking Education Sessions, Matt Greenfield and Amanda Beaudoin sit down with Jamie Merisotis, the President and CEO of Lumina Foundation. Lumina Foundation is the nation’s largest private foundation committed solely to enrolling and graduating more students from colleges. The Foundation is also a good friend and LP of Rethink Education. Merisotis has committed his career to increasing educational opportunities among historically underrepresented populations. Under his leadership at Lumina, the foundation has been working towards the goal that by 2025, 60% of Americans will hold high-quality degrees, certificates, and other credentials. In this podcast episode, Merisotis talks with the Rethink team about his life before joining Lumina, Lumina’s strategies for expanding access to and attainment of higher-education, how Lumina thinks about equity, and more. 

Jamie Merisotis’s latest book:

Books Merisotis is reading:

Companies mentioned:

]]> On the latest episode of the Rethinking Education Sessions, Matt Greenfield and Amanda Beaudoin sit down with Jamie Merisotis, the President and CEO of Lumina Foundation. Lumina Foundation is the nation’s largest private foundation committed solely to enrolling and graduating more students from colleges. The Foundation is also a good friend and LP of Rethink Education. Merisotis has committed his career to increasing educational opportunities among historically underrepresented populations. Under his leadership at Lumina, the foundation has been working towards the goal that by 2025, 60% of Americans will hold high-quality degrees, certificates, and other credentials. In this podcast episode, Merisotis talks with the Rethink team about his life before joining Lumina, Lumina’s strategies for expanding access to and attainment of higher-education, how Lumina thinks about equity, and more. 

Jamie Merisotis’s latest book:

Books Merisotis is reading:

Companies mentioned:

]]> Rethink Education Buzzsprout-11242683 Thu, 01 Sep 2022 10:00:00 -0400 2981 1 6 full false Meet our New Managing Partner: Andre Bennin Meet our New Managing Partner: Andre Bennin We were thrilled to welcome a new Managing Partner to the Rethink Education team earlier this month, Andre Bennin. A lot of you may know Dre from his role as Managing Director of Corporate Development for the Strada Education Network or his investing leadership as a Managing Partner Juvo Ventures. In today’s episode of the podcast, we dive deeper into Dre’s background from his childhood in Cote d’lvoire to his pre-med days at BYU to his policy work to his impressive investment track record. Listen in to get to know the newest member of the Rethink team!
 

Books Mentioned in the Episode:

·         A Knock at Midnight by Brittany Barnett

·         Unschooling Rules by Clark Aldrich

·         A New Culture of Learning by Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown

·         Caste by Isabel Wilkerson



]]> We were thrilled to welcome a new Managing Partner to the Rethink Education team earlier this month, Andre Bennin. A lot of you may know Dre from his role as Managing Director of Corporate Development for the Strada Education Network or his investing leadership as a Managing Partner Juvo Ventures. In today’s episode of the podcast, we dive deeper into Dre’s background from his childhood in Cote d’lvoire to his pre-med days at BYU to his policy work to his impressive investment track record. Listen in to get to know the newest member of the Rethink team!
 

Books Mentioned in the Episode:

·         A Knock at Midnight by Brittany Barnett

·         Unschooling Rules by Clark Aldrich

·         A New Culture of Learning by Douglas Thomas and John Seely Brown

·         Caste by Isabel Wilkerson



]]> Rethink Education Buzzsprout-10342234 Tue, 29 Mar 2022 17:00:00 -0400 2842 full false A Conversation with Aaron Friedland about Literacy and Access to Education A Conversation with Aaron Friedland about Literacy and Access to Education Today we are joined by Aaron Friedland, Founder & Executiver Director of the Simbi Foundation and Founder and CEO of Simbi. The Simbi Foundation is a nonprofit focused on providing quality education to refugees through its portable solar-powered classrooms. Simbi is a seed-stage edtech startup developing tools to help students learn to read through the method of reading while listening. In this episode, we will dive into Aaron’s childhood struggle with dyslexia and how that led to two advanced economics degrees and extensive research which eventually morphed into Simbi and the Simbi Foundation and a lifelong passion of helping make literacy and education more accessible. We will learn much more about how both organizations work and how we can get involved in the fight for quality education. 

 

In today’s episode:

·         Simbi

·         Simbi Foundation

·         Impact in the 21st Century Podcast

·         Books mentioned: Island by Aldous Huxley; Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman

·         Startups mentioned: Skills Union; Gradely

]]> Today we are joined by Aaron Friedland, Founder & Executiver Director of the Simbi Foundation and Founder and CEO of Simbi. The Simbi Foundation is a nonprofit focused on providing quality education to refugees through its portable solar-powered classrooms. Simbi is a seed-stage edtech startup developing tools to help students learn to read through the method of reading while listening. In this episode, we will dive into Aaron’s childhood struggle with dyslexia and how that led to two advanced economics degrees and extensive research which eventually morphed into Simbi and the Simbi Foundation and a lifelong passion of helping make literacy and education more accessible. We will learn much more about how both organizations work and how we can get involved in the fight for quality education. 

 

In today’s episode:

·         Simbi

·         Simbi Foundation

·         Impact in the 21st Century Podcast

·         Books mentioned: Island by Aldous Huxley; Amusing Ourselves to Death by Neil Postman

·         Startups mentioned: Skills Union; Gradely

]]> Rethink Education Buzzsprout-10043316 Wed, 09 Feb 2022 11:00:00 -0500 2901 full false How Kim Smith is Accelerating Digital Innovation and Equity in K-12 How Kim Smith is Accelerating Digital Innovation and Equity in K-12 Today we talk with Kim Smith, Executive Director of the League of Innovative Schools, a national network of forward-thinking education leaders who are striving to improve student outcomes through the smart use of learning technologies and innovative practices. Throughout her career Kim has worked to improve digital access and tools in education and to create a more equitable education system. Kim’s work has spanned various innovative and influential non-profit and for-profit companies focusing on education including the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, PBS, Discovery Education, the Annenberg Institute, and now Digital Promise. 

 

In this episode, we talk with Kim about her career path, explore inside the League of Innovative Schools, and contemplate issues of equity in education and what Kim and the League are doing to solve them. 

 

Recommended Book: The Lost Education of Horace Tate by Vanessa Siddle Walker

]]> Today we talk with Kim Smith, Executive Director of the League of Innovative Schools, a national network of forward-thinking education leaders who are striving to improve student outcomes through the smart use of learning technologies and innovative practices. Throughout her career Kim has worked to improve digital access and tools in education and to create a more equitable education system. Kim’s work has spanned various innovative and influential non-profit and for-profit companies focusing on education including the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship, PBS, Discovery Education, the Annenberg Institute, and now Digital Promise. 

 

In this episode, we talk with Kim about her career path, explore inside the League of Innovative Schools, and contemplate issues of equity in education and what Kim and the League are doing to solve them. 

 

Recommended Book: The Lost Education of Horace Tate by Vanessa Siddle Walker

]]> Rethink Education Buzzsprout-8421094 Wed, 28 Apr 2021 09:00:00 -0400 2960 1 3 full false How David Blake is Transforming Lifelong Learning How David Blake is Transforming Lifelong Learning In a recent blog post, Matt Greenfield detailed the key themes in education technology that Rethink Education is focused on and outlined four areas of study for our research in 2021. The first area of research is on working learners. We will share our findings through blog posts, events, and through our conversations on this podcast, starting today with David Blake. David Blake is the Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Degreed and the Co-founder and CEO of both LearnIn and BookClub. In today’s episode, Matt Greenfield talks with David Blake about how Degreed transformed enterprise learning and how David is working to build pathways to lifelong learning for all workers. 

Resources Discussed in Today’s Show:

]]> In a recent blog post, Matt Greenfield detailed the key themes in education technology that Rethink Education is focused on and outlined four areas of study for our research in 2021. The first area of research is on working learners. We will share our findings through blog posts, events, and through our conversations on this podcast, starting today with David Blake. David Blake is the Co-founder and Executive Chairman of Degreed and the Co-founder and CEO of both LearnIn and BookClub. In today’s episode, Matt Greenfield talks with David Blake about how Degreed transformed enterprise learning and how David is working to build pathways to lifelong learning for all workers. 

Resources Discussed in Today’s Show:

]]> Rethink Education Buzzsprout-8007185 Mon, 22 Feb 2021 14:00:00 -0500 2994 1 2 full false What's Working in Education and What Isn't? A Conversation with Michael Feldstein What's Working in Education and What Isn't? A Conversation with Michael Feldstein Today we are joined by Michael Feldstein to discuss the latest in education technology. Michael is the creator of e-Literate and the Empirical Educator Project and has spent his career in education from teaching to consulting to working at large enterprises focused on education. On todays’ episode we will talk to Michael about his latest views on what education needs, where it is going and how technology plays into that. 


Resources Discussed in Today’s Show:

]]> Today we are joined by Michael Feldstein to discuss the latest in education technology. Michael is the creator of e-Literate and the Empirical Educator Project and has spent his career in education from teaching to consulting to working at large enterprises focused on education. On todays’ episode we will talk to Michael about his latest views on what education needs, where it is going and how technology plays into that. 


Resources Discussed in Today’s Show:

]]> Rethink Education Buzzsprout-7743028 Thu, 11 Feb 2021 15:00:00 -0500 4682 1 1 full false