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Heroes aren’t born. They’re summoned.

The Education Avengers

How and Why a New Class of Heroes
Is Fighting America’s Biggest Battle

Through the stories of twelve extraordinary people, discover what creates human flourishing, why some communities thrive while others struggle, and what happens when ordinary people decide children are worth the fight.

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The Education Avengers — book cover
Why Assemble?

What makes people decide children are worth the fight?

Every so often, when the world feels fractured and institutions creak under their own weight, a new kind of hero emerges—not with capes or secret identities, but with courage, clarity, and a sense of purpose so fierce it unsettles the status quo.

In these pages, you will meet a new class of heroes fighting for opportunity, dignity, and joy.

A refugee from communist Cuba.
The grandson of sharecroppers.
A former juvenile delinquent.
A rebellious daughter.
An entrepreneur expected to follow a familiar path.

Stories shaped by poverty, privilege, adversity, abandonment, success, failure, and reinvention.

“No matter the circumstances, there is something in each of us that is called to fight. And when children need us, we can summon it.”

Twelve extraordinary people. Twelve completely different origin stories.
One unifying outcome.

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We’ve spent years inside the architecture of the superhero myth, pulling it apart to find where the power actually lives. What we kept discovering is that it never originates with the suit or the shield; it originates with the person underneath, shaped by loss and community and the stubborn refusal to accept that things can’t be different.

The Education Avengers made us feel that same recognition.

Anthony Russo and Joe Russo Award-winning filmmakers, directors and architects of the Marvel Avengers

The Education Avengers is a compelling look at leadership in action and what it takes to create meaningful change. The lessons in this book extend far beyond education—they are about resilience, innovation, and the courage to lead when it matters most.”

Ashley Davis Bestselling Author of The Power Pivot

The heroes in these pages should star in their own Netflix series—so inspiring!

Reed Hastings Netflix Co-Founder and Longtime CEO

This book underscores an exciting and inspiring fundamental truth: when families have the freedom to choose and innovators are empowered to build, opportunity expands. Jeanne Allen vividly brings this profound truth to life through powerful real-world examples.

Steve Forbes Chairman and Editor-in-Chief of Forbes Media

Meet the Avengers

Watch one Marvel movie and you want the sequel. Then another. We should want the same in real life — that success would change the world almost overnight.

Twelve extraordinary people. Twelve completely different origin stories. One unifying outcome.

Lady Thrive

Diana Diaz-Harrison, Chapter One

Primary Power
Thriving
Artifact
The Key
What She’s Avenging
Every child’s opportunity to thrive.
Signature Lesson
“Children should not have to survive school. They should be able to thrive—and flourish.”

Captain Curiosity

Aaron Frumin, Chapter Four

Primary Power
Curiosity
Artifact
The Hammer
What He’s Avenging
The removal of self-determination—the absence of real choice.
Signature Lesson
“Show young people what they are capable of.”

The Hope Builders

Jose & Ampy Suarez, Chapter Five

Primary Power
Hope
Artifact
The Bridge
What They’re Avenging
The gaps that leave vulnerable young people without a path forward.
Signature Lesson
“The gifts we are given are never meant to stop with us.”

The Social Capitalist

Pastor Josh Robertson, Chapter Six

Primary Power
Social Capital
Artifact
The Lantern
What He’s Avenging
A generation being passed along instead of prepared to succeed.
Signature Lesson
“A community that knows and loves its children can change their future.”

The Wonder Seeker

Trisha Vais, Chapter Seven

Primary Power
Wonder
Artifact
The Magnifying Glass
What She’s Avenging
A system that rewards compliance over initiative and excellence.
Signature Lesson
“Give children the freedom to explore, and wonder will lead them to learning.”

Captain Potential

Mike Long, Chapter Ten

Primary Power
Possibility
Artifact
The Helm
What He’s Avenging
Society giving up on young people before they discover who they can become.
Signature Lesson
“Give young people real responsibility, and they will discover what they are capable of.”

The Justice Keeper

JoAnn Mitchell, Chapter Eleven

Primary Power
Justice
Artifact
The Scales of Justice
What She’s Avenging
Children being denied a real opportunity to learn—and then labeled, misrouted, or written off for the system’s failure.
Signature Lesson
“See children clearly, teach them well, and you can change the trajectory of their lives.”

The Trade Master

Mike Felton, Chapter Twelve

Primary Power
Mastery
Artifact
The Toolbelt
What He’s Avenging
The belief that success means leaving your community.
Signature Lesson
“Give young people the skills and purpose to build a future at home.”

The Legacy Warrior

Mary Jo Fairhead, Chapter Thirteen

Primary Power
Stewardship
Artifact
The Torch
What She’s Avenging
Systems that box children in and shame their culture, creativity, and way of learning.
Signature Lesson
“Children succeed when education connects them to their culture, community, and natural gifts.”

Captain Character

Eugene Slocum, Chapter Fifteen

Primary Power
Character
Artifact
The Shield
What He’s Avenging
The belief that where a child begins determines how far they can go.
Signature Lesson
“Give children opportunity, responsibility, and high expectations—and they will build character.”

The Alchemist

Cris Gulacy-Worrel, Chapter Sixteen

Primary Power
Transformation
Artifact
The Kintsugi Bowl
What She’s Avenging
The exploitation of parents’ trust by systems that claim to know their children best.
Signature Lesson
“Every child can be restored, with every crack filled with gold.”

The Joyful Sustainer

Janine Yass, Chapter Seventeen

Primary Power
Cultivation
Artifact
The Golden Watering Can
What She’s Avenging
Promising ideas running out of oxygen before they can prove what’s possible.
Signature Lesson
“Give builders time, trust, and capital to take root, grow, and multiply.”

Read the book? Tell us your favorite Avenger and why, and we’ll email you a free Field Guide and a set of collector’s cards.

The Originals

Those Who Built the Tower

Before the new Education Avengers came a generation of Originals — educators, thinkers, advocates, philanthropists and disruptors who saw what wasn’t working and refused to look away. They challenged assumptions, changed laws, opened doors, funded ideas before they were fashionable, and helped create the conditions in which today’s builders could emerge.

These are the Originals profiled in Those Who Built the Tower. They are among the extraordinary people who influenced me, taught me, challenged me and shaped my own work over more than three decades. They are by no means the only ones.

The list of Originals will continue to grow.

“If someone saves your world, you should know their name.”

Dr. Howard Fuller

The Liberator

He turned parent power into a matter of justice — insisting that families should not merely be consulted about their children’s education. They should decide.

William J. Bennett

Guardian of Moral Clarity

He insisted that education owed children knowledge, intellectual rigor and character — and gave parents the standing to demand all three.

Gisèle Huff

The Vision Maker

She saw the possibilities of technology, personalization and learner-centered education long before they were conventional — and created space for innovators to build them.

Ted Kolderie & Joe Nathan

The Authorizers

They changed who was allowed to build. Kolderie imagined a new architecture for public education — giving educators the authority to create autonomous public schools in exchange for accountability. Nathan helped turn that radical idea into law, establishing a framework for charter schools that would travel across the country.

T. Willard Fair

The Architect of Grassroots Power

He demonstrated that education reform could be authored by communities themselves — making parent authority and local leadership instruments of self-determination.

Barbara Dreyer

The Vanguard of Technology

She built a pioneering model of personalized online public education years before the traditional system understood how important learning beyond the school building would become.

In Memoriam

John Chubb

The Intellectual Spine

He gave education reform an intellectual foundation — explaining why governance, autonomy and parent power could determine whether schools succeed.

In Memoriam

Lisa Graham Keegan

The Policy Maker

She turned freedom into policy, helping create an intentionally permissive charter environment in Arizona and making the state a national laboratory for education innovation.

John Walton

The Humble Steward

He invested early, quietly and decisively in people and ideas — backing builders before their organizations existed or their success could be promised.

In Memoriam

They changed what could be said, what could be funded, what could be built — and what could survive challenge. They opened doors without always knowing who would walk through next.

Today’s Avengers stand on firmer ground because the Originals built it.

And there are more Originals whose stories deserve to be told. We will continue to add them here.

The Originals are not the end of this story. They are the reason there is one.

What They Fight For

Six Words.
Everything They Stand For.

Purpose A life of meaning.
Courage The willingness to act.
Joy Delight in learning and life.
Freedom The opportunity to choose.
Hope A future worth believing in.
Dignity The worth of every person.

Together, they create the conditions for human flourishing—the condition in which purpose, courage, joy, freedom, hope, dignity, relationships, character, health, and opportunity come together. The people in this book understood that instinctively—long before the research confirmed it.

Every generation faces an enemy. This one has many heads.

The Hydra

The Hydra is not one enemy. It is many: tangled rules, compliance mandates, accreditation hoops, union work rules, and legacy systems that reproduce themselves long after everyone knows they no longer serve children.

But the Hydra is also harder to legislate away: apathy, ignorance, and the quiet erosion of hope and possibility in the lives of children.

The Avengers spend their lives cutting through that Hydra—not to burn the system down, but to make room for something better to breathe.

When the Hydra says “no,” an Avenger makes “yes” possible.

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Jeanne Allen
Jeanne Allen, Author
Speaking Inquiries

Storyteller.Witness. Guide.

Now she's inviting audiences everywhere to join the conversation.

Jeanne Allen has spent thirty years finding the people no one else was looking for. This book is what happens when she finally introduces them to the rest of us.

But The Education Avengers is about more than remarkable people. It is about the ideas they embody and the conditions they create for human flourishing—and the extraordinary things that happen when ordinary people decide children are worth the fight.

Jeanne is a mother of four, a grandmother of four (and counting), and lives in the Washington, DC area and on Cape Cod with her husband, Kevin.

What's Next

The Story Continues.

Join the Assembly.

The Education Avengers isn’t just a book to read. It’s an invitation to recognize the Avengers already among us, to create the conditions for human flourishing in our own communities, and to become part of the story.

Assembly Members Receive
  • Invitations to private livestream conversations with Jeanne Allen
  • Occasional conversations with Education Avengers featured in the book
  • Early access to new Avenger stories, updates, and discoveries
  • Priority invitations to book events, including the Forbes launch celebration
  • Behind-the-scenes reflections on the writing, research, and ideas behind the book
Order the Book Book Jeanne Allen Join the Assembly

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A community of people committed to helping every child flourish.

Upcoming Conversations.

The Untold Story w/ Martha MacCallum
Podcast
Washington, DC Reception
Book Party
Ask Erica w/ Erica Komisar
Livestream
Power of Innovation Summit
Event
EdTech Week
Event

Past Events

The Jeff and Bill Show
Radio
Forbes Book Launch
Launch
Fox and Friends
TV
National Update
TV
Moore Money w/ Steve Moore
Radio
The Education Avengers Release
Book Release
The Mark Levin Show
Radio
The Education Avengers Live Q&A
Livestream
Chatham Summer Salon
Salon
The Great American Fair
Conversation