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 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...
In this "Learning Can't Wait" podcast episode, host Hayley Spira-Bauer interviews Dr. Melissa Sadorf, Executive Director of the National Rural Education Association (NREA), who shares her 32-year career in rural Arizona schools from teacher to superintendent before leading advocacy efforts. Sadorf defines rural beyond geography as issues of access to resources and human capital, challenges misconceptions of rural schools as "backwa...
The episode explores how three co-founders of Building Leaders—Dr. Kalpana Rao, Kyle Conley, and Jennifer Dubey—are reimagining school leadership by centering lifelong learning, psychological safety, and global perspectives for principals who are often “one of one” in their buildings. They trace personal journeys through classroom teaching, turnaround schools, global education, burnout, and recovery to highlight the need for more h...
The episode follows Paymon Rouhanifard’s journey from an expected career in finance into teaching in West Harlem, where seeing “the Matrix” of classroom realities and systems-level decisions pulled him into education policy and district leadership before founding Timely, an AI-powered master scheduling tool for middle and high schools. He and host Hayley Spira‑Bauer unpack today’s budget and enrollment headwinds, including declinin...
This episode of the Learning Can't Wait podcast features entrepreneur and EnlightApp founder Dieumerci Christel, a Forbes 30 Under 30 honoree whose journey runs from a refugee camp in Tanzania to building an empathy-centered edtech company in the U.S. He shares how his father started the first school in the Nyarugusu refugee camp, how multilingual refugee youth’s talents were often overlooked, and how culturally responsive educator...
This episode explores how AI is reshaping school-based social work and youth mental health, through the lens of Dr. Marina Badillo-Diaz’s work as a professor and founder of The AI Social Worker. The conversation covers global disparities in access to mental health care, how AI tools and AI companions are already part of students’ lives, and why ethical, human-centered integration of technology is essential. Dr. Badillo-Diaz describ...
This episode of the Learning Can't Wait podcast features Kunal Dalal, Chief Parentologist at AI Parentology, exploring how generative AI can support parents emotionally and practically while reshaping education and leadership. He traces his path from teacher and principal to startup founder and AI parenting advocate, explaining how tools like ChatGPT can reduce parental stress, deepen connection with children, and inspire creative ...
The episode explores how games can transform learning when they are used intentionally, highlighting Games for Change’s work to help students and educators harness play, game design, and technology for deeper engagement and social impact. Arana Shapiro shares how she moved from being “not a games person” to seeing games and organized play as powerful tools for student-centered classrooms, purposeful technology integration, and empo...
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