Arizona families enrolled in the Empowerment Scholarship Account universal voucher program can now speed up the reimbursement process with an app using artificial intelligence.
Pathfinder, a Phoenix-based company started by former micro-school leaders Amaan Ahmad and Sidharth Jain, offers an app and charge card. The app tells families what purchases are acceptable in the voucher system and the charge card eliminates “the need to pay out of pocket and wait for reimbursement,” a news release says.
“Our goal is to remove the guesswork, paperwork and stress from parents’ experience of school choice,” Ahmad, CEO of Pathfinder, said in the release. “Arizona has always been a school choice leader. This is why we selected Arizona to launch the Pathfinder platform to ensure parents can focus on their child’s learning journey and success rather than tracking receipts.”
The app also saves receipts, generates curriculum documentation needed to validate purchases and provides guidance on eligible expenses, the news release says.
“Our number one priority is to make life easier for parents using ESA funds,” said Ahmad. “We want to eliminate the guesswork of what’s allowable. Solving this means solving everything downstream: helping them pay, preparing their paperwork and finding the best education options for their child. Our funding helps us reach more families across Arizona and expand into other states.”