Episode 85: Removing Education Barriers in Arkansas. A Conversation with Laurie Lee and Emmy Henley.

We explore how a mother and daughter helped turn Arkansas into a leading state for school choice, sharing hard-won lessons from family needs, policy battles, and the explosive growth of microschools. Stories, strategy, and straight talk show how parents and educators can build options that fit real kids.

• personal journey from limited options to statewide advocacy
• the mission and work of Reform Alliance supporting families
• education freedom accounts and scholarship access
• real family stories showing assistive tools and homeschool support
• why one size never fit all and why options matter
• launching 10 microschools in 30 days across Arkansas
• practical advice on starting a microschool around local needs
• overcoming fear, trusting parents, and iterating fast
• legacy, mentorship, and passing the torch to new leaders

About our guests
Laurie Lee serves as Chairman and Executive Director of The Reform Alliance, a nonprofit committed to ensuring every K-12 student in Arkansas has access to a world-class education. For more than 20 years, Laurie has been involved in the School Choice movement through policy development, coalition building, and collaboration with national education reform leaders. The Reform Alliance has been instrumental in advancing Arkansas's three School Choice programs: the Succeed Scholarship (a voucher), recently absorbed into the Education Freedom Accounts (an Education Savings Account),  and the Philanthropic Investment in Arkansas Kids Scholarship (a tax credit program).

Emmy Henley’s journey in education reform began at 16, volunteering with after-school and mentoring programs. Her passion for championing Arkansas students led her to join The Reform Alliance. She has spent the past decade helping drive the success of the Succeed Scholarship, now part of the state’s Education Freedom Accounts (EFA). Today, she oversees the Philanthropic Investment in Arkansas Kids tax credit scholarship, supports the EFA program, and manages The Reform Alliance staff. This team travels statewide, building parent coalitions and developing innovative models like microschools.

Connect with Laurie and Emmy
The Reform Alliance

Got a story to share or question you want us to answer? Send us a message!

About the podcast
The KindlED Podcast explores the science of nurturing children's potential and creating empowering learning environments.

Powered by Prenda Microschools, each episode offers actionable insights to help you ignite your child's love of learning. We'll dive into evidence-based tools and techniques that kindle young learners' curiosity, motivation, and well-being.

Got a burning question?
We're all ears! If you have a question or topic you'd love our hosts to tackle, please send it to podcast@prenda.com. Let's dive into the conversation together!

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Interested in starting a microschool?
Prenda provides all the tools and support you need to start and run an amazing microschool. Create a free Prenda World account to start designing your future microschool today. More info at ➡️ Prenda.com or if you're ready to get going ➡️ Start My Microschool