451: Meredith Olson—Better Education Now

Meredith Olson is president of Vela, a nonprofit that funds everyday entrepreneurs who are ditching the traditional school model in favor of something a little more… flexible. Vela doesn’t run schools—it supports people creating their own. From homeschool co-ops to microschools in living rooms and libraries, Vela empowers parents, students, and entrepreneurs to reimagine education outside of traditional systems. With more than 4,200 schools being supported, Vela is quietly fueling one of the most important grassroots education revolutions of our time.

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the analogies of Marriott/airBNB to public education/VELA.

I appreciated how Meredith approached education through the power of "and" versus throwing public education under the bus. As a co-founder to a charter school, educational choice is critical to aligning learning styles to young people versus painting with a broad brush. When we started the charter school, the local public schools administration stated a successful charter school will make a better public school.