Learning Can’t Wait
The Learning Can’t Wait Podcast is your view into how changemakers are driving innovation in the field of education. Each week we interview leaders who are challenging the status quo at a time when it is absolutely necessary to rebuild the system for our students. Podcast Powered by Fullmind
Episodes
In Season 11 Episode 17, Hayley Spira-Bauer speaks with Dr. David Lawrence, Superintendent of Dayton Public Schools, about leading with visibility, urgency, and innovation to drive real system change. Drawing from his journey from teacher to superintendent, Dr. Lawrence highlights how hands-on leadership, real-time decision-making, and a shift from static strategic plans to dynamic “academic action plans” have improved outcomes suc...
In Season 11 Episode 14, Hayley Spira-Bauer sits down with Deborah Kenny, CEO and Founder of Harlem Village Academies, to explore what it truly means to educate a child beyond test scores. Drawing from decades of leadership and her new book The Well-Educated Child, Deborah shares a refined philosophy centered on quality thinking, student agency, and ethical purpose. She reflects on her journey building HVA, the importance of cultiv...
In Season 11 Episode 13, Hayley Spira-Bauer sits down with John White, CEO of Great Minds and former Louisiana State Superintendent, for a candid conversation on leadership, systems change, and the role of curriculum in driving student outcomes. Drawing from his experience leading post-Katrina education reform in Louisiana, John discusses how crisis can catalyze improvement, the importance of local autonomy through charter systems,...
In Season 11 Episode 12, Hayley Spira‑Bauer speaks with Dana Ainsworth, founder of Tomorrow House, about reframing student behavior through the lens of nervous system regulation rather than discipline or motivation. Drawing from her own lived experience, teaching background, and research in trauma, polyvagal theory, and education policy, Dana explains how adverse childhood experiences, outdated school structures, and rapid technolo...
In Season 11 Episode 10 of Learning Can’t Wait, Hayley Spira‑Bauer is joined by Alicia Meyers, an early childhood educator and children’s book author, for a rich conversation about teaching, literacy, and neurodiversity. Alicia shares her journey as a lifelong teacher, her experiences teaching in urban classrooms in Washington, D.C., and how the COVID era inspired her to begin writing. She discusses her newest picture book, Tickeri...
In Season 11 Episode 9, Hayley Spira‑Bauer welcomes Frances Messano, CEO of New Schools Venture Fund, for a wide‑ranging and deeply personal conversation about equity, choice, and courage in education. Frances reflects on growing up in a working‑class immigrant family in Coney Island, how access and luck shaped her own trajectory, and why she has dedicated her career to making opportunity less dependent on chance. She explains New ...
In Season 11 Episode 7 of Learning Can’t Wait, Brandon Cardet-Hernandez, CEO and founder of Medley Learning, shares his journey from multilingual learner to educator, school leader, and edtech founder. He describes how early classroom experiences and the impact of a teacher who provided personalized language scaffolds shaped his commitment to equity and access. Brandon discusses the persistent gaps facing multilingual learners, the...
In Season 11, Episode 6 of Learning Can’t Wait, Hayley Spira-Bauer speaks with Shane Purdy, an Assistant Superintendent in rural Georgia, about leadership, innovation, and what it takes to sustain strong learning opportunities in small communities facing major staffing headwinds. Shane shares how growing up as a minister’s kid who moved frequently shaped his people-first leadership, and how his career evolved from AP English teache...
In this Learning Can’t Wait episode, Hayley Spira-Bauer speaks with Dr. Mark Covelle, Administrative Director of Middle Bucks Institute of Technology, about why Career & Technical Education (CTE) is not a “second choice,” but a high-impact pathway that expands opportunity for students. Dr. Covell shares how he moved from traditional K–12 into CTE expecting it to be a temporary stop—only to experience a career-defining “epiphany...
In Season 11, Episode 4 of Learning Can’t Wait, Hayley Spira-Bauer sits down with Chris Bennett, an “engagement architect” whose career began in video games before expanding into education and behavior design. Chris explains why engagement is not the same as learning, and why motivation is not an on/off switch—it’s a continuum that requires different supports for different learners. Drawing on self-determination theory and lessons ...
In Season 11, Episode 3 of Learning Can’t Wait, Hayley Spira-Bauer speaks with Julia Bialeski—educator, author, speaker, former principal, and current district leader overseeing recruitment and hiring in a large Maryland district serving 57,000 students across 78 schools. Julia shares how her wide-ranging experiences (teacher → instructional specialist/curriculum writer → assistant principal → principal → district recruitment leade...
Fleur Johnston—Founder and CEO of PeopleBench—opens by sharing her personal and professional journey, rooted in Australia and shaped by early exposure to educators “doing more with less.” She describes how studying psychology and working in early childhood environments led to a lasting fascination with adult behavior, organizational psychology, and how workplace conditions shape community impact.
In this New Season 11, first Episode of Learning Can’t Wait, John Branam and Steve Colón share the story behind the merger of Bottom Line and Get Schooled, two education nonprofits united by a shared mission to put students first. Drawing from their personal journeys as first-generation college graduates, they discuss how trust, values alignment, and a commitment to impact over ego made the merger possible. Together, they outline a...
In this episode of Learning Can’t Wait, host Hayley Spira-Bauer speaks with Lucy Martin of the Children’s Literacy Project about the power of storytelling to expose—and solve—the literacy crisis in America. Lucy shares her unconventional path from creative work in music, comedy, and film into documentary filmmaking focused on literacy as a justice and poverty issue. The conversation centers on Sentenced, a feature-length documentar...
In this episode of Learning Can’t Wait, host Hayley Spira-Bauer speaks with Dr. Peter Stiepelman—former superintendent, author, and host of An Imperfect Leader—about human-centered leadership, equity, and the courage to lead without pretending to be perfect. Drawing on his journey from Long Island to Oakland, Missouri, and now Colombia, Dr. Stiepelman reflects on what leadership looks like across vastly different contexts and why v...
In this episode of Learning Can’t Wait, host Hayley Spira-Bauer sits down with Dr. Jenny Nash, Head of Education Impact at LEGO Education (U.S.), to explore how hands-on, inquiry-based learning can re-engage students in classrooms amid a growing disengagement crisis. Drawing from her 20-year journey as a STEM educator and education leader, Dr. Nash explains how LEGO Education designs standards-aligned science, computer science, and...
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