MRW October Meeting

Devin Foley has worked in the non-profit, education reform and school choice space for over 20 years. He started at Center of the American Experiment and worked under Mitch Pearlstein from 2001 to 2008.

In January 2009, Foley worked with the Center of the American Experiment board to spinoff Intellectual Takeout, which became a stand-alone, non-profit digital publisher of cultural commentary serving a largely millennial audience of very diverse political, socio-economic, and religious beliefs. Foley led Intellectual Takeout’s grassroots efforts with a heavy emphasis on growing the organization’s social media assets to over 1.2 million followers nationwide with a peak of 10 million readers annually. Under Foley’s leadership, the non-profit also launched a successful campaign under the name Better Ed to raise awareness of the high spending and very poor results in Minneapolis and St. Paul public school districts, utilizing social media, e-mail outreach, postcards, billboards, radio, and earned media.

Foley is very excited to take the lessons learned over 20 years in the education reform space and apply them to OAK’s school choice and education savings account (ESA) promotional efforts in Minnesota.

Devin will give a presentation on Minnesota’s academic proficiency rates, why we need Education Savings Accounts (ESAs) in our state, and what the outlook is for them in the MN legislature.

Annie Holmquist is the editor of OAK (Opportunities for All Kids). The former editor of the popular webzine Intellectual Takeout, she brings over two decades of work as an educator, researcher, and writer to her advocacy for school choice. She is also a regular contributor to The Epoch Times and American Essence magazine.

Annie’s presentation focuses a little more on the ideological aspects that are being taught in our schools (social-emotional learning, gender identity, etc.) and offers some practical, encouraging things that parents and grandparents can do to further their children’s education while we wait for ESAs to be passed.

Must by registered by Wednesday, October 2 at 9:00 p.m.