LIBERATION OF EDUCATION

Kenneth Danford is the co-founder of North Star: Self-Directed Learning for Teens (1996) located in western Massachusetts. North Star makes living and learning without school possible for any interested teen (ages 11-19) in their community. In 2013, Kenneth co-founded Liberated Learners to share this approach with others. Kenneth published his book, Learning is Natural, School is Optional: the North Star approach to offering teens a head start on life in 2019.

David is, first and foremost, the father to a 17 year old boy. After graduating from Duke University, David worked for Xerox Corporation before completing his law degree from the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Licensed to practice law in Georgia and to appear before several U.S. Circuit Courts of Appeal and the U.S. Supreme Court, David is a trial and appellate attorney with expertise in Constitutional law and family law. He founded the National Association of Parents after observing the complete absence of an entity in the USA with the size and power to look after the interests of parents and their children and to do so without an outcome-driven agenda, rather than only protecting the constitutional rights of parents. David resides in Metro Atlanta.

Michael Donnelly is vice president for yes. every kid. foundation., guiding national legal strategy and education transformation initiatives to advance family first learner centered educational freedom. He is an adjunct professor of law and a combat veteran of the first Persian Gulf War. He was previously HSLDA Senior Counsel and Director of Global Outreach, operator of a FirstService franchise, and founder of a top 50 internet marketing agency. He holds a juris doctor with honors from the Boston University School of Law as a Paul J. Liacos Scholar and an LLM with merit in Constitutional and Human Rights Law from the London School of Economics. He is a member of six federal and state bars. Mike and his wife Patricia are homeschooling parents of seven children and one grandchild (so far).

Kerry McDonald works to spotlight and support education entrepreneurs who are building innovative K-12 learning models and expanding education options for families. She is a senior fellow at the Foundation for Economic Education and host of the LiberatED Podcast (liberatedpodcast.com). She is also the Velinda Jonson Family Education Fellow at State Policy Network, an adjunct scholar at the Cato Institute, and a regular Forbes contributor. Kerry is the author of Unschooled: Raising Curious, Well-Educated Children Outside the Conventional Classroom (Chicago Review Press, 2019). Her articles have appeared at The Wall Street Journal, The New York Post, NPR, Newsweek, The74, Real Clear Politics, Reason Magazine, Washington Examiner, City Journal, Entrepreneur, Education Next, and the Journal of School Choice, among others. She has appeared on CNBC, C-SPAN, and Fox News, as well as numerous radio and podcast shows. Kerry has a B.A. in economics from Bowdoin College and a Master’s degree in education policy from Harvard University. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband and four children who have always been unconventionally educated.

Dr. Michael McShane is Director of National Research at EdChoice. He is the author, editor, co-author, or co-editor eleven books on education policy, including his most recent Hybrid Homeschooling: A Guide to the Future of Education (Rowman and Littlefield, 2021) He is currently an opinion contributor to Forbes, and his analyses and commentary have been published widely in the media, including in USA Today, The Washington Post, and the Wall Street Journal. He has also been featured in education-specific outlets such as Teachers College Record, Education Week, Phi Delta Kappan, and Education Next. In addition to authoring numerous white papers, McShane has had academic work published in Education Finance and Policy, The Handbook of Education Politics and Policy, and the Journal of School Choice. A former high school teacher, he earned a Ph.D. in education policy from the University of Arkansas, an M.Ed. from the University of Notre Dame, and a B.A. in English from St. Louis University.

Jerry Mintz, the Executive Director of AERO, is a prominent figure in alternative education. He has been an influential speaker at conferences worldwide since 2004 including engagements at the International Democratic Education Conferences across continents, TEDx talks in Brooklyn and Norway, and the Reevo Conference in Bogota. Mintz has also contributed to the ED Crunch Conference in Russia, Eureka Conferences across Eastern Europe, and various homeschooling and Montessori Foundation conferences. With consultations in nearly every U.S. state and over 22 countries, his global impact on education reform is profound.

Matt Bowman has been involved with education, online learning, public school choice, technology, and entrepreneurship for over 30 years. Matt holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in education and is an alumnus of Stanford’s Executive Business Management program. Matt is the founder and CEO of My Tech High, which partners with innovative public school districts to offer a personalized education program focused on tech and entrepreneurship for low-to-middle income students who learn best at home and in their community. Now in its 15th year, My Tech High (and its partner program Tech Trep Academy) serve over 25,000 students across 12 states. On a personal note, Matt and his wife Amy are the parents of five children along with two daughters-in-law, one son-in-law, and three grandchildren.

Kaity Broadbent currently serves as Prenda‘s Chief Empowerment Advocate. Since 2018 she’s helped pioneer Prenda’s unique microschool-based learning model and philosophy as Head of Learning. Prior to Prenda she was a Speech-Language Pathologist, literacy coach, and curriculum designer. She’s a certified peaceful parenting coach and mom to 4 spunky Prenda kids who love their microschools.

Michael Strong is founder of The Socratic Experience, a virtual school for children ages 8 to 18. He is one of the most experienced designers of innovative school programs in the United States. His projects include a public school program in which minority female students gained four years’ worth of critical thinking gains in four months (on the Watson-Glaser). He later went into Montessori secondary school program design at The Judson Montessori School (San Antonio), The Emerson School, and Hacienda School. He created The Winston Academy, where middle school students passed AP exams, making it the most academically advanced school in the country at the time. Another of Michael’s projects, Moreno Valley High School, a Paideia charter high school, was ranked the 36th-best U.S. public high school by Newsweek. More recently he co-founded KoSchool in Austin, Texas, which combined his high-performance approach to AP coursework and SAT score gains with a focus on entrepreneurial and creative projects. KoSchool, in turn, became the original model for The Academy of Thought and Industry, the high school model for the largest Montessori network in the United States. Students from Michael’s schools have been admitted to Harvard, Stanford, Georgetown, Smith, Bard, Bennington, McGill, UT-Austin, University of Colorado, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Parsons School of Design, Quest, St. John’s and many dozens of other post-secondary institutions. He is the author of The Habit of Thought: From Socratic Seminars to Socratic Practice and lead author of Be the Solution: How Entrepreneurs and Conscious Capitalists Can Solve All the World’s Problems.

Elmarie is the founder of Learn Beyond The Book and has more than 20 years experience as an educator. She has taught her own 4 adult children, as well as group classes for homeschoolers and after school enrichment classes for public school students. She also has experience tutoring and has been a speaker at various homeschool seminars and conventions. She has been the coordinator of various homeschool co-ops and support groups, organizing numerous fieldtrips and other homeschool events as well. Before she started teaching, she obtained a degree in Accounting and worked as an accountant and auditor for years. She earned her Master’s degree from Antioch University specializing in Transformative Learning Communities. She has a passion for student-centered and relationship-based education and strives to accomplish that goal through means that go way beyond the textbook. She loves using projects, games, and hands-on learning while teaching, which is evident in the classes that she offers, the staff she works with at Learn Beyond The Book, as well as in the Where’s the Money curriculum she developed for teaching Economics, Finance, and Entrepreneurship.

DR. MARA LINABERGER Founder & CEO, Microschool Builders, LLC Mara believes that each of us has chosen to be here at this moment in time for a specific reason—that we are each on a mission that we chose for ourselves. And that figuring out what we love, what we’re good at, and how we can be of service is the engine we need to fuel a lifetime of joyful learning. Mara also believes that school often slows down or stifles that excitement for students. Mara is a life-long educator, author, technologist, artist, ballroom dancer, and musician, having spent 25 years in service as a public school educator, teacher trainer, and administrator. After completing a doctorate in Instructional Technology, she went on to earn a Superintendent’s Letter of Eligibility in Pennsylvania. Mara is the international two-time best-selling author of HELP! My Child Hates School and The Micro-School Builder’s Handbook. Mara currently lives in Harmony, PA, with her husband Michael while she travels far and wide, directly supporting clients in her global Microschool Builders programs.

Homeschool mom and entrepreneur.

Tom Bogle is co-founder of Microschool Solutions, helping education entrepreneurs design, launch, and sustain radical learning environments. He is a former high school teacher, microschool operator, and curriculum designer having contributed to a number of organizations such as the Foundation for Economic Education, AdamSmithWorks, the Tuttle Twins, and more! Tom is also a member of the FEE Faculty Network.

Richard has over 40 years of experience in public education serving in a variety of capacities. He had an opportunity to pilot a secondary school program that gave students substantially greater control over their learning. He now advocates for similar pilot programs that offer to illuminate a small steps pathway to the transformation of education, and he is working with others to create a sustainable global action campaign to democratize education. He has a master’s degree in computer applications in education.

Tory is absolutely passionate about revolutionizing our education system for the 21st century. He founded BeSomeone to address the teen mental health and academic disengagement crisis through free peer-to-peer life coaching. He previously launched the BeSomeone mobile app – an ‘Instagram of project-based learning’ ‌where‌ students‌ ‌can‌ ‌show‌ ‌off‌ ‌their‌ ‌work,‌ ‌track‌ ‌their‌ ‌growth,‌ ‌and‌ ‌promote‌ ‌their‌ ‌favorites‌ ‌to‌ ‌be‌ ‌incorporated‌ ‌into‌ ‌the‌ ‌curriculum. He founded Microschool Revolution after winning startup funding from the “shark tank” pitch competition at EDventure 2017. Microschool Revolution connected edupreneurs with impact-investment seed loans to start and grow high-quality, low-cost private microschools in churches and elsewhere with innovative approaches built around challenging project-based learning, personalized mastery-based eLearning, social-emotional character development, and community engagement to develop real-world 21st-century skills like entrepreneurship, design thinking, and collaborative problem-solving. He also collaborated closely with Catherine Fraise of Workspace Education to develop a platform to help replicate their innovative prototype of a K-12 “colearning community” which houses multiple microschool models under one roof. Tory co-founded the Acton Academy Champions microschool following the Acton Academy model. He also co-founded the previous iteration of Microschool Revolution, Coached Schooling, which was backed by the Rice University Owlspark accelerator program and the Laura and John Arnold Foundation to create a high-tech network of affordable private schools (<$10/day) combining the best elements of eLearning, home and traditional schooling to reinvent the one-room schoolhouse for the 21st century. Tory is a McKinsey consulting alum, TEDx speaker, HBR/McKinsey Management Innovation M-Prize winner, and holds both an MBA and BSEE from Rice University.

Traci Bakenhaster is the driving force behind Adulting University. With over 12 years of experience in higher education, career tech, and industry, Traci is uniquely positioned to guide parents and students through the intricacies of the homeschooling journey. As a certified financial coach through the Dave Ramsey group and equipped with multiple college degrees and certifications, Traci specializes in helping homeschool students navigate their career journey, emphasizing career readiness, college preparation, and essential life skills. In her engaging talks, Traci shares practical insights tailored to the diverse needs of homeschooling families. Whether it’s unraveling the complexities of financial literacy or providing strategic guidance on academic planning, Traci’s goal is to empower your family for success in every facet of life. Traci is a speaker who understands the challenges of balancing sports commitments, academics, and the unique demands of homeschooling. Expect a knowledgeable and relatable presentation, offering a personalized approach that resonates with the homeschooling experience, making your educational journey not only successful but fulfilling.

Mitchell Earl is the Chief Operating Officer at Praxis, a career mentorship program that’s helped thousands of entrepreneurial young adults start successful careers without college. He writes regularly about how young adults can take agency over their lives, careers, and money. His work has been read by millions across the globe. He is the host of The Career Bound Podcast, and author of Don’t Do Stuff You Hate.

Trey Goff is co-founder and CEO of Learn Arena, the first e-learning platform that lets students get paid to learn. Trey was formerly the Chief of Staff and Chief Marketing Officer for Próspera, where he helped scale the company from seed stage to over $200M valuation. Trey has published peer reviewed academic research and written legislation in prior public policy work.