20% of Children Have Learning Differences, This Startup Is Here to Help | Diana Heldfond of Parallel

On this week’s episode I chat with Diana Heldfond, Founder & CEO of Parallel. Parallel is an edtech platform empowering students with learning differences by providing them with a lower cost, faster solution for getting the support they need. Parallel is tackling a big problem. According to Diana 1 in 5 students has a learning and thinking difference that her platform can help address.

Their service is cheaper and faster because it’s tech-enabled. 

They create efficiencies by automating the admin work that specialists used to have to do and by mixing and matching specialists to make sure fewer specialists bottleneck the process. This has brought the price of care down by a whopping 50%. And it allows parents to get their child’s assessment done in days, whereas it used to take weeks. They work directly with families and with school districts. It’s pretty smart. 

It’s always so cool to see founders start a company that hits close to home.  Diana was diagnosed with ADHD and dyslexia. That didn’t hold her back - she went to Georgetown and worked on Wall Street before starting Parallel.

It’s a great conversation. I learned a lot and hope you do too. Enjoy.

Show Links:

• Follow us on Twitter: @dheldfond, @joinparallel_us, @mpd
• Guest Links: Parallel
• Referenced Topics: The Lime Connect Fellowship Program
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