Dylan Makani

The point is not simply that a tool can produce a message; it gives the person a chance to take part in a shared moment.

A speech therapist made a Glint board with five Bible passages for a boy who did not speak.

• During a Bible drill at a church in Alabama, he tapped a verse on his phone while a microphone was held near it, and the congregation heard him answer.
• At an educator session, Makani describes making visual supports live, including a Korean social story, and sending them to attendees by QR code.

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They say paperwork can delay a purchase long enough to cost a school year, while time saved for specialists is part of the value to weigh.

On calls with special education directors, Makani says they ask about staffing, student caseloads, planning time, and unpaid work before discussing Glint.

• They offer a hypothetical comparison: five hours a week spent building visuals, reduced to 30 minutes.
• Separately, they say Glint’s approval on a Wisconsin statewide purchasing contract lets schools buy without an RFP, addressing one procurement obstacle in that state.

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They frame progress not as steady validation, but as moving from being considered an option to hearing a clear request to start.

After months of calls with a large educational cooperative, Makani recalls being told the company was “a good option to be aware of.” They say the word “option” prompted a different gear; later, they write, large clients were asking when they could start.

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Dylan Makani tells the story of a speech therapist who built a communication board in Glint with five Bible passages for a boy at an Alabama church who does not speak.

• During a Bible drill, she held a microphone to his phone; he tapped a verse, and the congregation heard him answer for the first time.
• The post also describes a live session at AETC in Huntsville, where Makani built visual supports with teachers and speech-language pathologists, including a Korean social story and a counting board, then sent them to attendees' phones by QR code before they left their seats.

For brands planning a campaign

This is product storytelling that starts with a person and a moment, not a feature list. A partner or collaborator could use the same structure to show how an assistive technology tool changes participation in a specific setting—more persuasive to educators than a general claim about accessibility.

Makani describes the most common question from special education directors: how to justify another tool to a board.

• Rather than pitch Glint for the first ten minutes of a call, they ask about staff numbers, students per specialist, planning time, and hours worked off the clock.
• The post argues that if speech-language pathologists spend five hours a week building visuals unpaid and Glint cuts that to thirty minutes, the purchase buys back mental health, retention, and recruiting capacity in a field with a 30% shortage.

For brands planning a campaign

This post reveals the buying conversation and objections that can stall assistive technology purchases. A campaign aimed at district leaders can borrow the same math-first framing, tying a tool to staff workload and retention rather than software features alone.

Makani announces a partnership between Ner Chat and CESA Purchasing that makes Glint an approved vendor on a statewide contract in Wisconsin.

• Schools across all twelve CESA regions can buy the tool without running a request for proposals.
• The post notes that public, private, and charter schools, plus libraries and colleges, are covered, and says the team will spend the rest of the year proving out the model there.
• Makani points districts interested in talking to a calendar link in the comments.

For brands planning a campaign

This post shows a procurement barrier that can kill education technology deals and a concrete distribution route through a purchasing cooperative. A partnership or co-marketing campaign could focus on how approved-vendor status shortens the sales cycle and gets tools to specialists within a school year.

Makani recalls a call with a large educational cooperative more than a year earlier.

• After months of conversations and prepared meetings, the cooperative said, “Thanks for listening.
• This is a good option to be aware of.”
• Makani writes that the word “option” hit differently for a founder and pushed the team into a different gear.
• Today, they say, large clients ask, “when can we start” instead.

For brands planning a campaign

This founder reflection humanizes the sales process and signals persistence. For a thought-leadership collaboration, it offers an honest account of an early setback and the team's response, which can build trust with other founders or education buyers.

Makani announces a full-time, paid Customer Success role at Ner Chat, saying the team hired one of its best culture fits in seven minutes and is doing it again.

• The role involves staying close to districts and making sure they have what they need.
• The company prefers U.S.-based candidates, with NY/NJ preferred, and seeks a background in speech pathology, special education, or a related field.
• Interview spots are limited; candidates are asked to direct message Makani.

For brands planning a campaign

This post shows that customer success and district relationships are a priority for the company. A partner evaluating Makani as a collaborator can note that customer-facing work is central to the business, especially for campaigns that depend on adoption and support beyond launch.

The post pairs the demo with a specific moment: a boy at a church in Alabama who had never been heard speak used a five-verse board his speech therapist built in Glint to answer during a Bible drill.

Live co-creation with the audience, not a slide presentation.

For brands planning a campaign

A technology vendor could collaborate on a live build session or workshop. The post shows an audience responding to a named student situation, not feature descriptions, so joint content should open with a concrete use case and show the tool being assembled around it.

Examples: Source 1

The directors described have sat through demos, heard the same promises, and watched approved tools go unused six months later. The buying path can take months of paperwork, outlasting a school year, so the case has to be made in terms a board will accept.

On a call with a director, Dylan spends the first ten minutes asking about staffing, student caseloads, and planning time, including hours worked off the clock. Then they let the arithmetic carry the argument: five unpaid hours a week building visuals cut to 30 minutes, which they link to retention, mental health, and recruiting in a field they describe as having a 30 percent shortage.

The only documented purchasing route is Ner Chat’s approval as a vendor on CESA Purchasing’s statewide contract in Wisconsin, which lets schools buy without running an RFP. Ask whether similar arrangements are available elsewhere.

For brands planning a campaign

Content for district decision-makers should use procurement and budget language, not feature language. A co-produced explainer or workshop on getting a tool through board review would match how Dylan frames a purchase case.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

Dylan explains how that response felt after months of building for people they believed needed it, how it forced a change of gear, and how the same kinds of clients now ask when they can start.

For brands planning a campaign

The founder-journey format—rejection, adjustment, traction—is already part of the material and can carry a brand’s message without a direct product pitch. It suits a longer written piece or interview better than a short promotional post.

Examples: Source 1

It specifies that candidates must be U.S.-based, with NY/NJ preferred, and that a background in speech pathology, special education, or a related field is preferred.

Applications run through direct messages, with limited interview spots and a calendar link sent in reply.

For brands planning a campaign

Hiring posts double as audience research: stated preferences show which practitioner backgrounds the company values. A brand could collaborate on recruitment or practitioner-advisory content rather than product promotion.

Examples: Source 1

Audience-directed prompts at the end of a narrative post, rather than a generic call to action.

For brands planning a campaign

A brand collaboration could use the same prompt format to collect practitioner comments, objections, or testimonials for later content—for example, asking district staff what evidence they require before a pilot.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

They show no sponsored posts, paid brand collaborations, or affiliate offers, and document no conference appearances besides AETC.

Ask whether Dylan accepts sponsorships or paid work, and request partnership terms.

For brands planning a campaign

Any partnership terms would need to be established from scratch. Content ideas should draw on the implementation, purchasing, and founder-story themes already present.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2 · Source 3 · Source 4 · Source 5

They are described as founder at Ner Chat; ask them to clarify their ownership or employment terms.

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One post shows a speech therapist using a Glint board; another discusses district purchasing.

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Chernikoff focuses on district partnerships, customer success, and coaching education founders—the same buyer and founder audience Dylan Makani addresses from the special education technology side.

Chernikoff covers education sales and founder growth, including a startup challenge and revenue coaching. Makani's examples stay within special education, speech therapy, and AAC, framing the buying conversation around specialist workload and assistive technology budgets.

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Terry writes about teacher evaluation ratings and the evidence behind them; Makani covers special education tools reaching specialists and students.

Terry focuses on teacher evaluation, TIA-aligned models, and K-12 leadership. Makani covers AAC, visual supports, speech-language pathology, and special education purchasing.

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Each combines founder experience with a specific special education use case.

Banks focuses on Expert IEP, family advocacy, IEP transparency, and disability justice in AI and education. Makani covers AAC and visual supports, district procurement, and speech-language pathology workflows.

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The posts target education founders and sales teams: one argues that the worst decision an education leader can make is sticking with a solution that is not creating value, drawing on a conversation with a superintendent.

• The other announces lead sponsorship of the Dragon's Den EdTech Startup Challenge at the Canadian EdTech Leadership Summit, with coaching for applicants and finalists and a prize package described as $40,000+ in coaching, tools, and visibility, plus a year inside an EdSales ecosystem.
• For a campaign about what happens after the signature—onboarding, renewal, or a founder-and-channel offer—these posts are more directly usable than a practitioner build-along.

The posts focus on founders and sales functions, not speech-language pathology, AAC, assistive technology, or work with special education directors and assistive technology coordinators. A campaign about visual supports in classrooms or district special education purchasing would need practitioner and procurement support of its own.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

The posts argue that two principals can rate the same lesson differently because the variability lies in interpretation, not intent, and that districts need support for ratings that hold up when questioned.

• They tie this to TIA-aligned incentive models, where small margins decide designations and compensation.
• Shannon Terry serves as President of the RefynED Advisory Board, and the posts address principals, instructional leaders, and district administrators heading into summatives.
• A vendor whose product supports evaluation workflow, evidence review, or teacher retention will find a closer-matching voice here.

The posts focus on evaluation and instructional leadership, not AAC, visual supports, SLP workflow, or special education purchasing. Makani's district procurement clinic and staffing-math approach would not transfer; a special education technology partnership would need clinical and classroom support of its own.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2

The posts describe a $1 million Black Ambition prize received in 2023 that helped build Expert IEP, more than 4,500 families supported across 13 states, selection for an Alumni Edge Program in partnership with Cinematica Labs, and a role on an ASU+GSV HBCU Partnership Advisory Board, alongside a roundtable with students and HBCU leaders and a panel on AI and learner variability. For a family-facing advocacy, equity, or parent-advocate component, this voice is closer to the audience than Makani's district-buying material.

The posts describe family reach and founder recognition but no district purchasing route comparable to the CESA Purchasing contract.

• The audience is families, advocates, and conference partners rather than special education directors and AT coordinators.
• For a campaign to reach SLP teams and navigate district procurement in Wisconsin and neighboring states, Makani's material is the more direct starting point; a campaign led by Antoinette Banks would need to add the district-buying step.

Examples: Source 1 · Source 2