Before KP Charter Kollective existed, I was an LPN working 21 consecutive 12-hour shifts. The pandemic had upended everything — including the path I thought I was on.

I relocated to Charlotte, NC with nothing but my work ethic and my instincts. There was no roadmap, no industry connections, and no guarantee it would work.

What I had was the ability to see a problem clearly, and the stubbornness to do something about it. Charter school founders were building incredible things, but families couldn’t find them. That gap was not a marketing problem. It was a systems problem. Systems are something I know how to build.

I have two children — Gigi and AJ — both on the autism spectrum. If you want to know the real reason I care so deeply about what charter schools are building, that’s it.

I’ve spent years researching curriculum models, classroom environments, sensory-informed design, and what it actually takes for kids on the spectrum to not just survive school but thrive in it. I know what it feels like to sit across from a school and wonder — do you actually see my child, and do you have the capacity to meet them where they are?

Most families asking about your school are asking that same question about their own kids. They are not just evaluating your test scores or your facilities. They are deciding whether you understand them and whether you truly see their family.

Everything I’m building — the consulting work, the software, the school model I’m developing — is shaped by what I’ve learned as a parent who had to fight for the right environment for her kids. This work comes from the inside, not the outside.