Does your content work, or is it just "busy work"?

If you have to think about the answer, well...you get it.

Whether you're a solopreneur, EdTech startup, or B2B SaaS company, every piece of content should stem from the same foundation.

A solid content strategy.

As a content strategist, I create strategies to guide you on what to create, how to create it, and where to distribute it, ensuring every piece of content aligns with your target audience and serves a clear purpose.

The result?

Results.

My inbox is open. Let's chat about how to make your content work.

Deiera Bennett

I help EdTech startups and mission-driven education companies scale smartly - from messy beginnings to meaningful impact.

With over a decade of experience spanning classroom instruction, curriculum design, product strategy, and organizational operations, I now work with pre-seed, Series A, and growing educational organizations to build better learning experiences, stronger systems, and more strategic teams.

I specialize in:

- Curriculum and product development (especially experiential, SEL, STEM, and AI-integrated learning)
- Operational infrastructure and go-to-market strategy
- Policy-informed AI professional development for educators
- Branding, messaging, and community-building
- Cross-functional team leadership with a human-first approach

Whether I’m serving as a fractional COO, leading market research, developing a data dashboard, or building a gamified student learning journey - I’m a connector, a problem-solver, and a builder.

If you’re a founder or education leader looking to move faster without sacrificing quality, let’s connect.

Claire Smizer

Quick question for morning-people-by-choice.
.
.
.
.
Who hurt you?

#Unsubscribe #ItsStillDarkOutside #Nopen

Co-Founder @ BrightMinds AI | Board Member | EdTech Start-up Builder and Strategist 🌀| Teacher Advocate | Oxford Comma Enthusiast

18%


That's the percentage of #School #Principals who report having #AI guidance for their schools. 

High-poverty schools? The number drops to 13%. 

In affluent schools? A little better at 25%.

And just to be clear - these numbers aren't the percentage of schools using AI in classrooms. This is the percentage of schools where #Educators and #Students have some form of guidance on acceptable use and safety. 

Meanwhile...

K-12 ransomware incidents more than doubled between 2022 to 2023: from 45 to 108. 

And then in December of 2024 we saw the largest breach of student data to date. 

A hacker or group of hackers was able to gain access to and export data from Powerschool's student information system. The breach exposed sensitive personal information - names, birth dates, contact details, grades, and in some cases medical or disability status - for as many as 60M students and 10M teachers worldwide. 

And if that wasn't frightening enough, recent estimates suggest that around 80% of PK-12 and #HigherEd institutions worldwide experience ransomware attacks. It's not 'if' - it's 'when'.

And once that data is taken - it's out there. For anyone. With any intention. 

According to SentiLink, 97% of people whose Social Security numbers are exposed become victims of identity theft. 

Remember those 60 million students? Some of them are kindergarteners. Their data is out there now. They’ll be dealing with the consequences of that breach before they’re even old enough to have a credit score.

It's time to swap out the hope that this doesn't happen to your district with the assumption that it will - and to not be caught unaware when it does.

💜 someone who believes that being prepared is a whole lot better than hope

Happy #SocialSaturday - 🧠 Who I'm Learning From Edition!💡

I try to learn from voices across the #Education ecosystem - not just the corners I naturally inhabit. This week: someone from a very different vantage point than mine.

Claire Zau is Partner and #AI Lead at GSV Ventures where she leads AI #Investment coverage. She also writes a weekly newsletter - GSV: AI & Education - that translates the firehose of AI announcements into what actually matters for education.

Why does someone focused on ethical AI implementation in schools follow an investment-focused newsletter?

Two reasons:

🏫 For districts: The past few years showed us how quickly investment trends reshape what shows up in schools. Understanding where capital is flowing helps us anticipate what's coming - and prepare to evaluate it thoughtfully before it lands on a superintendent's desk.

💻 For founders and edtech leaders: Knowing how investors are thinking about the space matters. What are they prioritizing? What questions are they asking? How are competitors positioning themselves? These insights help mission-driven founders tell their story more effectively and find resources aligned with their values.

Claire's newsletter does something I don't have time to do myself (and frankly couldn't do nearly as concisely) - track all the product launches, research papers, and industry shifts, then distill those into what's actually significant. 

Her background (Penn GSE Master's, #Forbes #30Under30 in VC) gives her both education context and investment fluency.

Find her newsletter: aieducation.substack.com
Follow her on LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/clairezau

Earlier this year the federal government released an executive order on #AI in Education

If you haven't read it - you should. Everyone should. 

It emphasizes:
🟢 Workforce readiness
🟢 Economic competitiveness
🟢 Preparing #Students for AI-driven industries 

What it barely mentions (or doesn't):
🔴 Safety
🔴 Privacy
🔴 The specific vulnerabilities of children in AI-enabled systems

Let's be super clear - #WorkforceReadiness is important and a worthwhile focus. Kids need to be prepared for the world they'll enter after school. 

But when the primary federal framework for #AIinEducation centers economic outcomes and treats child safety as an afterthought, we have a problem. ⚠️

“Good for business” is not a child safety policy.

Children are not small adults. They don't understand what it means to consent to sharing their data. Their ability to understand long-term consequences is limited. Developmentally, they aren't able to make these decisions. Period.

And yet.

AI tools are being brought into #Classrooms at a pace that far outstrips the ability to evaluate them. We’re trusting vendors to self-report on #Privacy practices. We’re leaving it to individual #Teachers, who already have too much on their plates, to figure out what’s safe. Often without guidance. Often without support.

We're all busy. We're all tired. But we can't afford to be complacent. 

If we wouldn't accept this level of risk for our own children, we cannot accept it for everyone else's. 

#K12 #DistrictLeadership #StudentSafety

taplio

The Battle

Deiera Bennett

Claire Smizer

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance ScoreClaire Smizer's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

taplio

The Battle

Deiera Bennett

Claire Smizer

Followers

Posts

Engagements

Likes

Performance Score.css-goub6s{font-size:var(--chakra-fontSizes-md);font-weight:500;color:var(--chakra-colors-gray-600);display:block;margin-top:var(--chakra-space-1);}Claire Smizer's LinkedIn Performance

Ready to grow your LinkedIn presence?

Performance ScoreClaire Smizer's LinkedIn Performance