Lean Lab leaders dissect recent politics spurring U.S. education engagement

March 17, 2017  |  Startland News Staff

Lean Lab co-founder Katie Boody

Editor’s note: In partnership with the Wide Ruled podcast hosted by Brainroot Light and Sound, Startland News hopes to offer its audience more avenues to learn about innovators in Kansas City. Opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone.


Wide Ruled is a podcast on equality in education. Each episode showcases a struggle or triumph in working toward a better education system. In this episode, host Nathaniel Bozarth talks with Katie Boody and Aditya Voleti of the Lean Lab about the recent appointment of Betsy DeVos as U.S. Secretary of Education, and how it’s caused a spike of interest and activism regarding education. 

Nathaniel Bozarth

Nathaniel Bozarth

The Lean Lab works closely with KC Social Innovation, Village Capital and the City of Kansas City, Mo. The program has supported 16 startups and granted over $100,000 to support ideas that have the potential to disrupt the education system.

Launched in 2013, the Kansas City-based education tech incubator engaged over 900 individuals in conversation on education innovation in 2016. In addition, last year marked the organization’s first step to go international, attracting entrepreneurs that hail from 28 different cities and three countries.

Listen to what Boody and Voleti recommend on what you can do to engage with education in your neighborhood.


Nathaniel Bozarth is a regional Emmy-award winning producer with Brainroot Light and Sound. Over the past three years he’s teamed up with Christopher Cook to create engaging documentary content on how race and immigration impact opportunity in America. Wide Ruled is Brainroot’s newest production on this trajectory. @bo_nathaniel

startland-tip-jar

TIP JAR

Did you enjoy this post? Show your support by becoming a member or buying us a coffee.

Tagged , , , ,
Featured Business
    Featured Founder

      2017 Startups to Watch

        stats here

        Related Posts on Startland News

        His family-fried waffle spot is open for cheat day (but not breakfast); How Dennis Alazzeh played chicken with restaurant trends and won

        By Tommy Felts | October 25, 2024

        Kansas City-battered Chick-In Waffle is expanding into Johnson County; its owner — a son from within Jerusalem Cafe’s founding family — gives the classic American chicken-and-waffle combo a global twist with flavors like Asian chili, tikka masala, and queso After slogging away in his father’s restaurants while in school, Dennis Alazzeh swore off the industry…

        Theater’s $8.7M rehab set to bring Black Movie Hall of Fame, Black Rep to KC’s ‘cultural corridor’

        By Tommy Felts | October 25, 2024

        A century after the storied structure’s construction, an $8.7 million redevelopment project at the Boone Theater in Kansas City’s historic 18th & Vine Jazz District aims to recapture the space’s potential as a cultural hub for the community — and a bridge to the city’s history. The long-awaited project at 1701 E. 18th St. is…

        Ice rinks to skee-ball: Phase 1 of this massive sports entertainment complex opening in JoCo after 20 years in the works

        By Tommy Felts | October 24, 2024

        Once completed: ‘You’ll come here for a three-day weekend and not see your car until you leave on Sunday’ With its highly-anticipated opening this weekend, a sprawling new sports and recreation complex in south Johnson County is expected to soon spark fights between parents over who gets to take their kid to the weekend tournament,…

        Bill Nye: We’re all born scientists — most people just get distracted; here’s how the ‘Science Guy’ thinks critical thinking can make the world better

        By Tommy Felts | October 24, 2024

        Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro.  WICHITA, Kansas — Even with a looming (and divisive) election within weeks, the impacts of severe weather becoming more clear, and an increasingly uncertain future written within online algorithms, now…