Melissa Johnston is the founding CEO of Lemnis, driven by a passion for an equitable, limitless future for all learners. Prior to Lemnis, she served as Chief Strategy Officer and EVP for Partnerships at NWEA, where she played a key role in NWEA’s asset sale to HMH. Before NWEA, she spent over 14 years at the Council of Chief State School Officers as Deputy Executive Director. Melissa holds a BA from Miami University and an MA from the University of Chicago. She is an ex-officio board member of Lemnis and serves on the board of the CASEL and Care Solace.
Recently, in an exclusive interview with Higher Education Digest, Melissa shared insights into her professional journey from 14 years at the Council of Chief State School Officers and Chief Strategy Officer to founding Lemnis. She spoke about reimagining learning systems for youth ages 10–26, with Lemnis now backing organizations to connect learners to human support at scale. On AI, Melissa said the key signal for 2030 is whether technology becomes a bridge to human connection or a substitute for it, and stressed guardrails rooted in evidence, bias reduction, and human-in-the-loop design. Her advice to learners and leaders: move from “data as a report card” to “data as a conversation,” and remember that durable human skills like navigating uncertainty and building belonging will only grow more valuable as the world changes. The following excerpts are taken from the interview.
Hi Melissa. Lemnis takes its name from “lemniscate,” the infinity symbol representing something unlimited and without bound. Why did that concept feel like the right anchor for a public charity focused on learning, and what does “limitless” mean to you in practice?
While many things in our future are unknown, when we were forming Lemnis, we wanted to ensure that we did not constrain what was possible for learners. We wanted our name to reflect the optimism and expansiveness in thinking required for the future of learning. At Lemnis, we believe that every learner must be seen, supported, and connected. The lemniscate felt like a natural expression of that because it has no beginning and no end, and it resists the idea that any single milestone achieved in a learner’s journey is the final one. That felt true to how we think about learning itself.
In practice, it means we aspire to not just improve existing systems incrementally, but ask what it would look like to wholly reimagine them. Lemnis focuses on young people between the ages of 10 and 26—a period when identity, belonging, and future pathways are still taking shape because that’s where we believe investment can have the most lasting impact. And it means we hold ourselves accountable to the learners who have historically been left out of the conversation, because “limitless” isn’t meaningful if it only applies to some learners.
You talk about learners being “fully embraced by their communities.” What’s one current or upcoming Lemnis initiative that specifically strengthens the connection between a learner, their school or institution, and their broader community?
Earlier this year, we welcomed two organizations that have made a substantial, measurable impact on college access and persistence as divisions of Lemnis: InsideTrack and Mainstay. InsideTrack has spent 25 years connecting learners to coaches who help them navigate the path from enrollment through to degree completion and beyond. Mainstay uses artificial intelligence and sophisticated student engagement technologies that proactively meet students where they are and extend the reach of human support on campus. These are perfect examples of activating the larger community to build connections and drive outcomes for learners—and based on need, it can look like 1:1 coaching support, connecting learners to needed resources in the community, building social capital, or connecting them to careers or work-based experiences.
AI, policy, and pedagogy are colliding. What’s one signal you’re watching today that will tell us whether technology widens or narrows opportunity gaps by 2030?
The signal I’m watching is seeing if AI is becoming a bridge to human connection or a substitute for it, and if learners are thriving as a result. That shows up in whether youth isolation begins to reverse. By 2030, the clearest indicator will not just be access to AI tools, but whether those tools strengthen belonging, relationships, and agency for the learners who have historically been least well served.
The work ahead is less about adopting AI and more about shaping how it is used. That means grounding it in evidence of what actually improves learning, holding ourselves collectively accountable to real human outcomes, and deeply understanding whether learners build the lifelong skills that withstand automation. We champion AI that extends human support, minimizes bias, and responds dynamically to student needs, ensuring a human-in-the-loop is a deliberate design choice that fosters purpose and belonging.
We also see Lemnis playing a pivotal role in supporting organizations to shape AI governance, policy, and trust frameworks, creating space for learners themselves to have a say in how their futures are protected. The institutions that get this right will be the ones that ensure AI expands opportunity, which is the core bet Lemnis is making: building a learning ecosystem where technology strengthens human relationships so every young person is seen, supported, and connected to meaningful opportunity.
Data is abundant, but insight is scarce. How should school and state leaders rethink their relationship with data to actually improve learning for every young person?
I think the most important shift is moving from data as a report card to data as a conversation. One of the things that science makes clear is that you can’t separate academic performance from human connection. Leaders who want to use data to actually move the needle for every child need to be looking at the whole picture—like what motivates and inspires a learner, what subjects and activities they’re interested in, and what helps them feel like they belong—not just test scores. That’s a harder analysis to run and a harder conversation to have. But it’s the only one that leads somewhere meaningful.
Your mission calls for learning that’s “adaptable in a fast-moving world,” and AI is the fastest-moving force in education right now. What guardrails is Lemnis setting for how AI shows up in the solutions you invest in?
Sal Khan recently made the case that while AI will help, our biggest lever is really investing in the human systems. I couldn’t agree more. AI should enhance human connection—this is a principle we take seriously in every acquisition, grant, and investment we make. When we brought Mainstay into Lemnis, it was precisely because their model understands that AI-powered outreach works best when it’s in service of human relationship, like identifying a student asking how to drop a class and connecting them to a counselor who can have a real conversation about why. Beyond that, we’re focused on whether the AI being deployed in a given solution is evidence-based and has a long track record of supporting learners.
Lemnis envisions learners “empowered to pursue fulfilling work and a life of purpose.” What would you say to a 16-year-old today who feels the system wasn’t designed for them, and how is Lemnis part of changing that?
I’d start by telling them they’re right. The system was largely designed in a different era for a different world, and it has been far too slow to adapt. But I’d also want them to know that the durable skills they’re building right now, like the ability to navigate uncertainty and collaborate effectively, are exactly what the world is going to need more of, not less. As AI accelerates the automation of routine tasks, the uniquely human capabilities are only increasing in value. What Lemnis is trying to do is make sure that more young people have someone in their corner as they figure out their path and that the technology they encounter is designed to open doors, not close them.
Leaders often carry invisible anchors that keep them steady. What reminds you daily why you do this work?
My two kids. They are my most honest and daily reminder of why this work matters and how much urgency it demands. They’re growing up at the center of everything Lemnis is trying to address: the AI era, the shifting nature of work, the question of what it means to be prepared for a future that no one can fully predict. When the work gets hard, or when the pace of change feels overwhelming, I don’t have to look far for my “why.” They’re sitting across from me at the dinner table.
You sit at the intersection of policy, practice, and technology. Where do you see Lemnis playing the most unique role that no one else in the ecosystem can?
Lemnis’ structure enables a kind of patient, flexible, long-term capital that almost no one else in this space can offer. We’re a public charity, which means we can deploy capital across the full spectrum: grants, equity investments, and acquisitions. We’re not driven by the return expectations of private equity. That lets us show up for organizations that are doing work the market won’t fund fast enough and that traditional philanthropy can’t fund deeply enough. The organizations we work with know that we’re not going anywhere, that we’re invested in their long-term success, and that we’re thinking in decades, not grant cycles. In a field that so desperately needs systemic change, that kind of patient, committed capital is the rarest thing we can offer.