About Kids
Win Wisconsin


Our Mission
Kids Win Wisconsin is building a movement to restore high academic standards to end our literacy crisis. We put children first, build powerful coalitions, and demand evidence-based policies so every Wisconsin child learns to read and succeed in school and life.
Our Vision
A Wisconsin where 95% of children learn to read through the science of reading to unlock opportunity, confidence, and lifelong success for every student.

Strategic Goals

Lead with Data & Accountability
Create transparent, accessible tools (such as a statewide reading dashboard) to hold leaders accountable, track progress toward 95% literacy, and celebrate positive gains.

Build Public Will & Awareness
Elevate Wisconsin’s literacy crisis and inspire urgency for change through bold campaigns, storytelling, and strategic communications.

Unite a Statewide Coalition
Mobilize parents, educators, community leaders, and policymakers across political and geographic lines to create an unstoppable movement for literacy and high standards.

Advance Policy & Systems Change
Champion statewide reforms rooted in the science of reading and restoring high academic standards, ensuring every child has access to excellent instruction and resources.

Brittany Kinser
Founder & CEO, Kids Win Wisconsin
- Over 10 years teaching in Chicago Public Schools
- Co-founder of a 6–12 Math & Science Academy
- Founder of an award-winning elementary school in Milwaukee
- Ran for Wisconsin State Superintendent of Public Instruction
- Taught in Japan, bringing global perspective to education
- Former Executive Director of a national public charter school network
- Former CEO of a Milwaukee-based education advocacy nonprofit
- Master’s in Educational Leadership, Columbia University Teachers College
- Master’s in Designing Science Curriculum, Illinois Institute of Technology
- Bachelor’s in Special Education, Eastern Illinois University

Why Kids Win?
After teaching in Chicago Public Schools for more than 10 years and co-founding a math and science academy for grades 6–12, I realized something crucial: many students were entering middle and high school without having truly learned to read or write. They had somehow missed early phonics and reading comprehension instruction.
At that academy, I also helped start a FIRST Robotics team. Some students thrived while their creativity and problem-solving skills flourished, but others struggled because they lacked foundational reading and writing skills. It was a turning point for me.
“I saw that no matter how strong our STEM programs were, students couldn’t fully participate without solid literacy skills.”



While opening our award-winning elementary school, I learned real progress happens when schools and parents partner together. Teachers must be trained in the science of reading and in building strong relationships with kids and families. Families want to be part of the solution — they just need clear information, transparency, and ways to support learning at home.
Those experiences shaped my belief that to truly move the needle, every child needs both high-quality, evidence-based instruction and teachers who are equipped and supported to deliver it.
Even as a K–12 special education major, I hadn’t been taught how to teach reading using the science of reading. From my experience with hundreds of teachers, I realized I wasn’t alone. Most of us had never been trained in evidence-based reading instruction.
While teaching special education in Chicago Public Schools, I also worked at the district level to improve outcomes across more than two dozen large urban high schools, successfully implementing best practices that raised achievement. As a public elementary school principal in Milwaukee, I was honored with the “Beating the Odds” award by then–State Superintendent Tony Evers.
Throughout my career — as a public school teacher turned award-winning principal turned policy advocate — I’ve been guided by one belief:
“Every child can learn, every family deserves honesty and high standards, and every teacher deserves training grounded in research and evidence-based practice.”
I want Wisconsin to be the first state in the nation to turn this potential into reality — by ensuring every student receives direct, explicit reading instruction and every school leader has the strategic support to sustain it.
And now, I’m channeling that same urgency and optimism into Kids Win Wisconsin — a bold, statewide movement to end Wisconsin’s reading crisis and restore high academic standards for every child.
Building on the momentum of my statewide campaign, which earned over one million votes, Kids Win unites parents, educators, and community leaders around one simple but powerful goal:
Ensuring every child in Wisconsin can read well and succeed.

How is your K-8 school doing?
We’ve launched an easy-to-use tool that gives families a WINdow into how K-8 schools in Wisconsin are delivering on literacy—using the 2025 Forward Exam data.