Antoinette Banks never set out to become an entrepreneur. But when faced with a complex and often inaccessible special education system while advocating for her daughter, she took matters into her own hands. What began as a personal prototype evolved into Expert IEP, a platform designed to improve the way Individualized Education Programs (IEPs) are created, communicated and executed, with the goal of better serving neurodivergent students and their families.

Currently a Ph.D. candidate in Education at UC Davis with an emphasis in Learning and Mind Sciences and Computational Social Science, Banks brings a rare blend of lived experience, academic insight and technical acumen to the world of education technology.

Now in the process of launching the first crowdfunding campaign for her startup, Banks sat down with us to talk about the origins of Expert IEP, her entrepreneurial journey, the neuroscience that underpins her approach, and how she’s striving to build a more equitable and effective special education system, one IEP at a time.

What is Expert IEP, and how did it come about?

Expert IEP started from a personal need. My daughter was diagnosed with severe autism about eight years ago. She was nonverbal, barely walking, and all of a sudden, I was thrust into this complex ecosystem of special education. On top of being a mother I also had to be a caretaker and was responsible for managing a huge web of therapists and specialists. Despite all these people and services, no one was collaborating effectively, and my child wasn’t getting the help she needed.

During this process, I learned that there were a lot of other families that were struggling like me, too. And I asked myself, “if we have all these people and support, then why aren’t we moving the needle?”

So, I built a prototype just for my child that forced collaboration, and I refused to sign her IEP until we were all working together through that platform. That shift made a huge difference. Today, she’s thriving! She talks a lot, about to graduate from high school, doing Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and plans on becoming a nanotechnologist. That success pushed me to turn the prototype I first built for my daughter into something scalable for other families.

How does your background in neuroscience and your personal experience as a mother shape the way you built Expert IEP?

Tremendously. I was first interested in behavioral science and then behavioral psychology and trying to understand why we do what we do and the brain’s influence in that process. Understanding synaptic activity helped me see that neurodivergent kids aren’t “bad,” they’re overstimulated. While neurotypical brains prune unused synapses during adolescence to support focus more and executive functioning, neurodivergent brains tend to retain more of those connections. That excess stimulation can lead to behaviors that are frequently misunderstood or mislabeled in school settings.

My work in cognitive science helped me understand how we think about thinking. It gave me the framework to build systems, like Expert IEP, that mirror real human processes rather than fight against them. That insight informs every decision I make with the platform: from how goals are written to how language is interpreted, it’s all rooted in understanding how different minds work.

Did you always know you wanted to become an entrepreneur?

Not at all. I didn’t even realize what I was doing was “entrepreneurship.” I saw a problem and felt like someone needed to solve it. I came across the Student Startup Center at UC Davis and joined the Big Bang! Competition, where I met Joe DiNunzio, executive director at the Mike and Renée Child Institute for Innovation and Entrepreneurship. That’s when it clicked. People will support you if you have an idea that can make an impact. It felt like I had found my lane. I ended up winning Big Bang! in the Social Entrepreneurship category, and things took off from there.

What UC Davis resources or mentors were most instrumental in helping you build Expert IEP?

So many. Early on, in addition to those people and programs I already mentioned, I had support from folks at the MIND Institute and my professor in cognitive science. Later, as a grad student, Janine [Elliott], associate director at Venture Catalyst, was pivotal. Her team did a market analysis that helped me understand why investors in the Sacramento market weren’t as receptive towards my product. Education tech, especially backend systems, just doesn’t always get traction here.

But overall, UC Davis has been incredible. From professors to researchers to practitioners, people here actually care. I’ve also had amazing mentors like Dr. Leonard Abbeduto, Dr. Yuko Munakata, a previous advisor of mine, and my current advisor, the former Dean of the School of Education, Dr. Lauren Lindstrom, and Dr. Jenny Higgs. Plus, I’ve been able to align my dissertation with the work I’m doing at Expert IEP through my Ford Fellowship, which has been a great dovetailing of my studies and professional interests.

You’ve received some impressive external support as well. What were some pivotal moments outside UC Davis?

Winning the Black Ambition Prize, which is supported by Pharrell Williams, was a game changer. It’s an extraordinary program for black and brown founders that throws you into a pressure cooker environment where you learn from people who have been there before. Out of 2,000 applicants, I won the top prize of $1 million. That took us from MVP (minimum viable product) to market ready. But even before that, NewSchools Venture Fund gave me my first major grant of $150,000, and I also won the Yass Prize. What I’ve learned, though, is that while early-stage funding is possible, sustaining a company long-term is a whole different challenge.

Any advice for aspiring entrepreneurs, particularly those working in mission-driven tech?

Know your region and your audience. If you’re building ag tech, you’re in the right place in California. But education tech, especially backend systems, is better supported on the East Coast, where people are more focused on outcomes than showmanship.

West Coast investors often want a polished story. East Coast investors want to know if you’ll make money. Neither approach is wrong, but if you're a mission-driven founder, you have to tailor your pitch and go where your idea is understood and valued.

How have schools responded to Expert IEP so far? Are they receptive?

Initially, some were skeptical. But when we started sending them detailed reports, highlighting biased language or vague goals, they realized how much they were missing. For example, one student’s reading goal was just “read better.” We rewrote it to reflect specific outcomes and included the student’s goal of becoming a public speaker. That changed everything; services were delivered more effectively and respectfully.

We’re not trying to blow up the system. We’re here to make it work better for the people it’s supposed to serve.  If that means disrupting the status quo, so be it.

What’s next for Expert IEP? How are you evolving the platform?

We’re pivoting from working directly with families to helping school districts with parent engagement. Most IEPs contain biases or errors, even well-meaning ones. Our system can serve as a quality checker that validates and improves these documents while incorporating the family’s voice.

We’re also exploring international markets where our IEP model aligns with systems in places like Dubai and Australia. The long-term goal is global impact, but in the near term, we want to transform how schools engage with families and how special education is delivered.

Final thoughts? Anything you want families or educators to know?

Families will win. Even in this uncertain political climate, we have power. Special education has never been fully funded the way it was promised in 1975, and yet we keep going. If federal money goes to states instead of districts, we’ll adapt. It’s all about asking the right questions.

And for families reading this: take your autonomy back. Be fully informed. Be fully engaged. If you need help making sense of it all, reach out to me. I’m here.

Expert IEP didn’t start as a company. It started as a mother saying, ‘This can’t be it.’ And now we’re building something bigger — a system that sees families not as problems to manage, but as partners in the solution.