Partner for capacity, not programs: Dr. Melissa Sadorf's four rules for rural districts.

What does it look like when rural education leads, not waits?

Dr. Michael Conner welcomes Dr. Melissa Sadorf, executive director of the National Rural Education Association (NREA), the oldest national education organization in the country, founded in 1907. In her first year leading NREA, Dr. Sadorf is rolling out the organisation's first-ever five-year strategic plan, and reframing what rural schools are truly capable of.

In this conversation, you'll hear why the rural superintendent's many roles aren't a weakness, but a structural advantage. Dr. Sadorf shares four approaches for building lasting capacity without new money, explains how competitive federal AI grants quietly manufacture the very gap they claim to solve, and lays out what a formula-based fix could look like.

She also introduces NREA's National Rural Principal Fellowship, preparing up to 30 leaders beginning at this year's NFARE conference.