Introducing Empower Fellow Matt Ladner

One of the staples of Empower’s business model is focused expertise. It’s in pursuit of that goal that I am pleased to share that Matt Ladner has joined our team as a Fellow in Education.

Matt will bring unrivaled expertise and experience as we continue our work of ensuring that every child in Mississippi has access to a quality education that helps prepare them for life.

In fact, he’s already begun offering in-depth analysis of the current education landscape in Mississippi. I encourage you to check out his first blog post for us on Mississippi’s national gains over the past decade. There’s a lot more coming.

I first met Matt when he served as Senior Research Fellow in education at the Charles Koch Institute, but he has a long pedigree in education reform that includes serving as Senior Advisor for Research and Policy at Excel in Ed and Vice President of Research at Goldwater Institute. He currently serves as the Director of the Arizona Center for Student Opportunity and Executive Editor of RedefinED.

He has provided testimony to Congress, state legislatures across the country, and the United States Commission on Civil Rights, and has written numerous education studies. I have known Matt for a number of years. He not only is very knowledgeable, but he also shares a great passion for helping every child be successful in life.

As Empower’s newest fellow, Matt joins a team of experts that includes Joe Bishop-Henchman, Vice President of Policy & Litigation at the National Taxpayers Union Foundation, Christopher Koopman, Executive Director of the Center for Growth & Opportunity at Utah State University, Conor Norris, a research analyst at the Knee Center for Occupational Licensing at St. Francis University, and J. Robertson, who plays a pivotal advisory role on criminal justice reform.