Cardell Orrin spent years as a high-level IT strategist and engineer. Now, as the executive director of Stand for Children Tennessee, he is “debugging” the processes by which parents and community members in Tennessee engage with their local school boards and state representatives. It’s a debugging that’s needed across America’s school systems. 

In this conversation, Cardell reflects on a childhood of being “dragged around to school board meetings” by his mother, and the “cynical optimist” problem-solving mindset it helped him develop. Cardell also discusses the specific ways Stand for Children Tennessee helps connect the dots for citizens who want to get involved in education advocacy, and what is at risk when a state proposes taking over a local school district. 

Read more about Stand for Children Tennessee 

Learn more about the 901 Moral Budget Coalition