KIPP On Learning Podcast

In this episode KIPP Co-Founder Dave Levin is joined by Dominque Mejia founding principal of KIPP Affirm, a new KIPP middle school opening this summer in the Bronx, New York. Dominique is also making KIPP history as one of the first alumna to open a KIPP school. During the episode, she talks about her path from a music artist to an educator and her community focused vision for KIPP Affirm.

If you like what you hear, subscribe to get alerted about new episodes and visit www.kipp.org for job opportunities and information about our schools.

In this episode, KIPP Co-Founder Dave Levin is joined by Ashley Copeland, founder and CEO of Stacks and the City. Ashley is a KIPP North Carolina alum and her company is committed to bringing financial education to underserved communities. During the episode, Ashley talks about tangible ways to build wealth and how she’s empowering people to have financial freedom through her work. She also shares her own personal glow and grow moments as a woman entrepreneur. Later, you’ll hear from KIPP Metro Atlanta Alum Nzali Scales, CEO of Zaza’s Kitchen and KIPP SoCal Alum Daisy Hernandez, Owner of Sol y Flor Shop in a special bonus segment you don't want to miss [25:17].

If you like what you hear, subscribe to get alerted about new episodes and visit www.kipp.org for job opportunities and information about our schools.

In this episode KIPP Co-Founder Dave Levin is joined by Monica Reed, Lead Teacher of African-American Culture at KIPP Inspire Academy in St. Louis, Missouri. During the episode they discuss how she’s teaching civic engagement in a culturally relevant way in the classroom and her approach to designing a unique curriculum that teaches Black history year round.

If you like what you hear, subscribe to get alerted about new episodes and visit www.kipp.org for job opportunities and information about our schools.

This episode, we’ll discuss how schools can become more equitable in the ways they engage with families. Joining host and KIPP Co-founder Dave Levin to share their expertise on the topic is Shani Dowell, CEO and Founder of Possip. Possip, short for "positive gossip," partners with schools and uses text messages to get quick surveys and reactions from parents ranging from praise for teachers to feedback on bullying and school culture. Today, Possip has a presence in 700 schools across 24 states and is currently being used in nine KIPP regions. Shani is not only an entrepreneur and leader in student and family recruitment, she was a public school math teacher in Houston and helped KIPP open schools in three cities. During the episode, she talks about the importance of communicating in a way that allows families to feel seen and the power of a collective voice in strengthening family engagement.

If you like what you hear, subscribe to get alerted about new episodes and visit www.kipp.org for job opportunities and information about our schools.

For our last episode of the year, KIPP Co-Founder Dave Levin welcomes two KIPP Foundation Board of Director members, Dr. Michael L. Lomax, United Negro College Fund’s (UNCF) President and CEO for more than 16 years and Reed Hastings, founder and CEO of Netflix who in June donated $120 million to UNCF, Spelman and Morehouse College, the largest-ever gift to support scholarships at Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs). Dave leads a discussion with Lomax and Hastings about the importance HBCUs have in the college persistence rates of more than 1,700 KIPP alumni currently enrolled there, and why supporting these institutions is crucial in the path to achieving racial equity in our country. On this episode, Reed Hastings calls for a doubling down on funding for education and housing and Dr. Lomax, shines a light on how increased funding for HBCUs is a catalyst for change in educational outcomes of Black/African American students and society as a whole.

If you like what you hear, subscribe to get alerted about new episodes and visit www.kipp.org for job opportunities and information about our schools.

Thirty two million people who identify as Latinx will be eligible to vote in the 2020 election, a record number making Latinos the largest minority voter group for the first time in history according to the Pew Research Center. For our October episode, KIPP Co-Founder Dave Levin is joined by Clarissa Martínez-de-Castro, Deputy Vice President of Policy and Advocacy at UnidosUS and Dr. Stephen Nuño-Perez, the Director of Communications and Senior Analyst at Latino Decisions to discuss the influence Latinx voters have to shape one of the most important elections in American history and the work being done to mobilize Latinx voices across the nation. If you still haven’t registered to vote, or don’t know how and where to vote in your state, it’s not too late! Go to WhenWeAllVote.org/KIPP/ to get started.

For our September episode, KIPP Co-Founder Dave Levin chats with Seth Harris, former Deputy Secretary of the U.S. Department of Labor under the Obama Administration, for a conversation about the lingering economic impact of COVID-19 on the workforce in America. Later in the episode, Dave is joined by KIPP NYC parent Wanda Neal to talk about her experience working as an essential worker in an emergency room department.

In this episode, KIPP Co-Founder Dave Levin is joined by Erin Slezak, Deputy Chief of Strategy at KIPP Texas and Joey LaRoche, Chief Strategy Officer at KIPP New Orleans for a conversation about their regional reopening plans and how they are keeping students, families and staff motivated for the school year ahead.

Note: Since the taping of this episode, Texas is allowing KIPP schools in the region to now open virtually for the first four weeks and has an extended transition into physical school for an additional four weeks.

In this episode, KIPP Co-Founder and host Dave Levin is joined by Erin Trent Johnson, CEO, Coach, and founder of Community Equity Partners, and the Senior Advisor for The Equity Lab, and Kyra Mitchell, Chair of the NAACP National Youth Work Committee for a conversation on the ways in which systemic racism and anti-blackness manifest and intersect inside and outside of the classroom. Kyra also shares her advice for Gen Z interested in organizing and want to lend their voice in this historic movement for racial justice.

In this episode, KIPP Co-Founder and host Dave Levin is joined by David Page, Vice President of Enrollment Management at Dillard University and Ajuah Helton, National Director of the KIPP through College Program for a talk about the impact of the pandemic on first generation college students. They’ll also discuss the persistence work that lies ahead for college counselors across the country and why bridging the gap between college and career should be at the center of the work.