Lean Lab leaders dissect recent politics spurring U.S. education engagement
March 17, 2017 | Startland News Staff
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.
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
Featured Business

2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Global employers use KC’s backstitch to engage and keep top talent; now smaller companies can too
One of Kansas City’s most quietly impactful startups built its employee communications platform behind the scenes for Fortune 500 companies; now it’s scaling those proven solutions to a new market: smaller businesses that need the same worker engagement, said Jordan Warzecha. Crossroads-based backstitch — a leader in digital solutions for HR teams — on Tuesday…
LaunchKC winner acquired by Gradient Health, pushing equitable AI innovations to market faster
The founding team behind DataAppraisal — a startup that earned early backing from LaunchKC and Digital Sandbox KC in 2022 — believes their shared vision with leaders at Gradient Health will help their combined company “improve healthcare AI and make an even bigger impact.” DataAppraisal, led by Tam Tran and Roger Ngo, announced its acquisition…
Next stop for 10 founder finalists: A pitch competition at Union Station worth $42K+
Ten finalists are on track to hit the stage next month at Union Station — stepping into the spotlight to share their startup and small business visions while competing for tens of thousands in prize money. The popular AltCap Your Biz Pitch Competition returns during Global Entrepreneurship Week-Kansas City for a live pitch event at…
Emerging at Pure Pitch Rally: These 8 young startups hope to close a critical funding gap
Eight emerging tech startups are rallying for the Pure Pitch stage as one of Kansas City’s premiere pitch competitions approaches a decade of impact and innovation. “This is the ultimate affinity and legacy club that grows businesses in Kansas City,” said Karen Fenaroli, presenting sponsor and founder of the Pure Pitch Rally, which returns Monday…

