S1E8 - Groundwork: Brandy Williams is Starting a School for Exceptional Learners in New Orleans

Episode Notes Table of Contents 1:25 Growing up in New Orleans’ Ninth Ward, and childhood trauma 2:16 College and Hurricane Katrina 2:55 Starting again in North Texas 3:30 Working at Wal Mart 4:07 Returning to college to finish her undergraduate degree 4:33 Brandy starts teaching math 5:22 Brandy becomes an English teacher 5:35 Brandy returns to New Orleans start an “Earn to Learn” program run by Tulane University 5:45 Why Brandy decided she had to start a new school: her son 9:30 How Brandy’s son’s experience changed how she looked at other students and parents 11:20 Brandy joins the 4.0 Schools Essentials program and starts planning her new school 11:40 The difference between “customer” and “user” for a school 12:30 Brandy’s first iteration: a school for twice-exceptional learners ONLY 14:10 Brandy’s vision for spread and scale of Generation Success Academy 14:45 Where Generation Success Academy is at in their development process now 15:40 How you pilot a school without actually opening a school 16:15 Which students the Generation Success Academy will serve 17:00 How they’re making this financially sustainable 18:00 Why and how to build a strong network