Episodes

On this episode of Design Cast, I had the unique privilege of speaking to Tom Woelper and Matt Kressy. Tom is the Founding Head of School at the New England Innovation Academy. He has had a very distinguished career in education and hearing about his journey to where he is today is remarkable! Matt is Innovation Advisor & Trustee at New England Innovation Academy in addition to being the Founding Director at the MIT Integrated Design & Management Masters Program. Again, his journey is a joy to ...

On this episode of Design Cast I had the pleasure of talking with my old friend and former colleague, Dr. Kevin House. Kevin is the Director of Education at SE21, a Dulwich College International initiative. We chat about his unconventional journey into education and all that he has accomplished in his career. It is really great to chat with him about the ethos and vision for SE21. I am confident that you will enjoy this discussion! Don’t forget to check out the Good Reads Bookshelf for this pod...

For this 60th episode of Design Cast I was honored to have Eliane Montilla sit down with me. Elaine is the Assistant Vice President and CIO for Information Technology at The Graduate Center, City University of New York. Her path into education and into her current role was a long and winding one. Throughout her journey, she has maintained humility and a positive attitude. Elaine is an inspiration! Her human-centered approach to management is an example of everyone. During the interview, Elaine ...

For this episode of Design Cast I had the privilege to speak with Lisa Blank. Lisa is the Director of STEM Programs for Watertown City School District in upstate New York. She is also a LEAD STEAM Fellow and member of the Advisory Council for STEM Learning Ecosystems and a regional co-chair for her local ecosystem. We have a great conversation about what it takes to implement a STEM program culture across multiple buildings and levels. There is something for everyone in this episode! The links ...

It was such an honor to speak with Dr. Marci Klein for this episode of Design Cast. Marci is a pediatrician, artist, designer and entrepreneur. Along with her two children, Marci has been building a hands-on, project based organization! 3DuxDesign started on the family kitchen table and has grown into an international educational resource company. The story that Marci tells about the different points in time that have defined their company are really inspiring! I am confident that you will enjo...

For this episode of Design Cast I was fortunate enough to catch up with Evo Hannan. Evo and I released an episode just over one year ago and this is a follow up to that episode. In episode 16 Evo talks all about his work in Dubai and he challenged me to collaborate with him to build a design network for design educators and design professionals to connect. This is what we said a year ago about that: Episode #16 - EdTalks Live from Dubai with Evo Hannan One year later we catch up again and talk ...

It was such an amazing opportunity to speak to Keri-Lee Beasley for this episode of Design Cast. Keri-Lee is a high school “learning and technology coach” at the Western Academy of Beijing or WAB. We have a lively conversation about her various roles at WAB and her classes that she teaches in the design department. During the chat she shares with me all about the ‘Cactus of Awesomeness’ so be on the lookout for that. A few really exciting projects that Keri-Lee is thinking about at the moment a...

It was such a pleasure to have Ms. Lenny Dutton as my guest for this episode of Design Cast. Lenny is the MYP Coordinator at the International School of Stuttgart, Germany. She has a wildly successful blog and website at www.excitededucator.com. This is the second time that Lenny has been on Design Cast. She is considered a leader in the MYP Design world and her resources are used in hundreds of schools around the world. We have an awesome chat about what she has been doing over the past 12 mont...

My guest for this episode of Design Cast is Bonnie Kirkley. Bonnie is a K-5 Gifted Educator and STEAM Support Specialist in Georgia. She has so much to share about her experiences as a STEAM educator and how she supports her school and the STEAM community globally. Her excitement and passion is infectious! She is also a content creator for the STEAM community online through Teachers pay teachers, Pinterest, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, and Tik Toc. All of which use the username and handle of “i...

Fi Morrison is an “Infants Teacher and Digital Literacy Coach” in Sydney, Australia. In early 2021, Fi founded the STEM | ED Magazine out of a need to have free STEM resources for teachers in all kinds of teaching environments and locations. At the time of this interview the magazine had surpassed 3000 downloads/views. We have a great chat about how Fi became an educator and what her vision is for the magazine. I am confident that you will enjoy this chat I have with her. Fi mentions many great...

For this episode of Design Cast I had the unique pleasure of speaking with Ms. Tamizh Ponni. Tamizh worked as an IB Educator in an International School, Bengaluru, India. She is currently pursuing her M.Tech, PhD integrated course in Data Science. She has worked as a Professional Development Coach and as a Tech Integrationist. She believes that the best thing in being an IB educator is that beyond teaching there's a lot of deep learning involved in the process and sees learning as a never-ending...

On this episode of Design Cast, I had the pleasure of speaking to Mr. David Lee. David is a Technology and Innovation Specialist at Singapore American School. He shares all about his journey into teaching and how design thinking had and still has a major part to play in both his personal and professional life. He introduces the idea of ‘learning narratives’ to me and I am very excited to try it out! I am sure that you will enjoy listening to our conversation! Don’t forget to check out the ‘Good...

Jacob Adams is the founder of “STEM to the Future” which is an LA based organization that inspires and motivates Black and Latinx elementary youth to use STEAM to imagine and create the world they want and deserve. Jacob shares with me his story of becoming an educator and how he founded STEM to the Future. His passion is unmistakable and he is working to make a difference at the community level and beyond! Connect with Jacob and STTF: Instagram: stemtothefuture & elsnakeob Jacob recommends r...

Britney Vickery is founder and CEO of Initials, Inc. As a new mom, Britney was just searching for someone who could put her son’s name on his diaper bag. After weeks of searching in her local community, her husband Darren suggested a simple but life-changing idea: “Why don’t you do it?” Struggling to find her purpose as a stay-at-home mom, and eager to make a financial contribution, Britney dove in! Armed with a spare bedroom and a 6-foot folding table, she invested in her first embroidery mach...

On this episode of Design Cast I had the awesome chance to chat with Dr. Sabba Quidwai. Sabba believes that cultures of innovation begin with a culture of empathy. She works with leaders to integrate design thinking practices that encourage creativity, recognize accomplishments, build trust and inspire a collective vision. In 2018, the World Economic Forum identified Leadership and Social Influence as a trending skill. Sabba shares how building social influence across social media platforms can ...

On this episode of Design Cast I had the awesome chance to chat with Dr. Mark Mahoney. Mark is an Associate Professor of Technology and Applied Design and Chair of the Technology & Applied Design Department At Berea College. He participated in the Fulbright Program as part of his sabbatical a few years ago. He chose to work in China with Nanjing Normal University at the newly developed ITEEA China Center. We talk about working in China and how to deal with reentry into life at home after a life-...

On this episode of Design Cast I had the awesome chance to chat with Michael Cohen. Michael, aka ‘The Tech Rabbi’, is the Director of Innovation at Yeshiva University High Schools in Los Angeles. He is also the founder of letsdubbleup.com. Dubble Up’s mission is to “prepare teens with the skills today to stand out and showcase their unique ideas and strengths to their top university, dream company or the spirit to start their own.” Our conversation is really lively and filled with great insight,...

On this episode of Design Cast I had the absolute honor of speaking with John Zobrist. John is the K-12 Head of Innovation at UWCSEA - East Campus, Singapore and brings more than two decades of experience nurturing student innovators to identify social, environmental and economic problems and apply design thinking and creative concepts to improve individuals and communities. We had a great time talking about his journey into education and what his vision is for the future of his newest role! I a...

On this episode of Design Cast I had the pleasure of talking with Phil Cotton. Phil is a Design and Technology Teacher, and Founder of Learnbylayers. Learnbylayers is an online resource for all of the things an educator might need to design and deliver a 3D printing curriculum in their classroom. Phil and I had a great time chatting about how his business started, how he has had to adjust during the current global situation to meet the needs of his customers and what his vision is for Learnbylay...

On this episode of Design Cast I had the awesome opportunity to chat with my friend Chris Stephenson. Chris is an MYP Development Consultant with Toddle, and “Lead Learner” and Founder of Atlantic Isle Consulting. We have a great discussion about how being able to ‘pivot’ is important now more than ever. Chris has had many chances to do just that. We recorded this episode as the weather was changing where I live so my allergies were in full swing, so please forgive my congestion! Enough of me t...

On this episode of Design Cast I was honored to jam out with my friend Mike Bycraft. Mike is Head of Design and Innovation for grades 6-12 at Korea International School. He has done so much in his career to advance the mission of ‘design education’ from speaking at regional events to writing articles for well known publications. You can find out all about this on this website that is listed in the show notes. We had a blast talking about the journey that he has taken to get to his current positi...