About Us
The Field Collaborative was created after our organizations (Fab Foundation, Maker Ed, Digital Promise, Citizen Schools, Nation of Makers, and Fab Learn) recognized our shared priorities around maker and digital fabrication education. Through a series of meetings, convenings and workshops, we seek to explore the challenges related to creating inclusive and equitable high-quality STEM learning environments through maker and digital fabrication education. Ultimately, we’d like to create a shared vision and action plan in collaboration with other stakeholders in education to ensure that all voices are represented and that we are designing a holistic approach that will empower all students.
Citizens Schools
Citizen Schools aims to close the opportunity gap in education through systems change, which includes engaging students in hands-on, maker-centered learning experiences with mentors, coaching and training teachers to provide these opportunities during school and providing capacity, resources & best practices with communities.
Digital Promise
Digital Promise was created with the mission to accelerate innovation in education to improve opportunities to learn. Our vision is that all people at every stage of their lives have access to learning experiences that help them acquire the knowledge and skills they need to thrive and continuously learn in an ever-changing world. To achieve this vision, we must work together to close the Digital Learning Gap. Because when all learners have equitable access to learning technology, when everyone participates, and when everyone learns, we all benefit from a more engaged, informed and just society.
The Fab Foundation
The Fab Foundation's mission is to provide access to the tools, the knowledge, and the financial means to educate, innovate, and invent using technology and digital fabrication to allow anyone to make (almost) anything.
Fab Learn
FabLearn disseminates ideas, best practices and resources to support an international community of educators, researchers and policy makers committed to integrating the principles of educational maker spaces and constructionist learning into formal and informal K-12 education.
Maker Ed
Through targeted work with educators from historically underrepresented communities, teaching under resourced populations, and/or those interested in liberatory pedagogical shifts, Maker Ed works to disrupt inequitable educational practices, increase access to maker-centered resources, and increase student agency, criticality, joy, and intellect-building in all learning spaces.
Nation of Makers
Our mission is to support the full range of organizations that impact makers by encouraging connections, broadly sharing resources, facilitating funding opportunities, engaging in policy development, and advocating for the maker movement. We help maker organizations amplify the passion, innovation, creativity, and diversity of the maker community, to maximize both local and global impact.
TEAM
Paulo Blikstein
Paulo Blikstein is an Associate Professor at Teachers College, Columbia University and Affiliate Associate Professor of Computer Science at Columbia University. He directs the Transformative Learning Technologies Lab and the global FabLearn Program conducting research that focuses on how new technologies can deeply transform the learning of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics. He creates and researches cutting-edge educational technologies, such as computer modeling, robotics, digital fabrication, and rapid prototyping, creating hands-on learning environments in which children learn STEM disciplines by building sophisticated projects and devices.
Kyle Cornforth
Kyle has two decades of experience working at the intersection of education, organizational development, social justice, and advocacy. As the Executive Director of Maker Ed, Kyle oversees the execution of our major initiatives, programs, and partnerships. Over the last 20 years, Kyle has trained teachers from all over the world on how non-traditional education experiences are essential to truly prepare students for their lives on this planet, with the belief that teachers, administrators, and schools have the opportunity to adapt their practices to the shifting world.
Dorothy Jones-Davis
Dorothy Jones-Davis is the founding Executive Director of Nation of Makers, a non-<br /> profit whose mission is to support America’s maker organizations through advocacy, resource sharing, and the building of community within the maker movement and beyond. In this role, she is deeply interested in creating connections between a diversity of makers, enabling them to use their collective skills to harness solutions for the world’s challenges – grand and small.
Sherry Lassiter
Sherry Lassiter is one of the architects of the MIT global initiative for field on-site technology development, the Fab Lab program. A Fab Lab is a rapid prototyping platform for technical education, innovation and personal expression. The Fab Lab network includes over 2000 digital fabrication facilities in 126+ countries. Lassiter is President of the Fab Foundation, a non-profit committed to building technical capacity, improving individuals’ abilities to develop themselves and their communities and bringing access to tools and knowledge that cultivate and support innovating practices. Lassiter is currently engaged in enabling grassroots technology development by, for and of the community.
Sonya Pryor-Jones
Sonya Pryor-Jones is a facilitator and strategist with over 20 years of successful K-20 education administrative experience. Sonya believes in the boundless potential of new ideas and their stewardship. She has expertise in project management, program design, resource-raising, and strategic alliances. Sonya currently serves as the Chief Implementation Officer at the Fab Foundation and is the Founder of Fab House, a community based innovation space.
Stephanie Santoso
Stephanie Santoso is currently Director of Strategic Initiatives for Makers + Mentors Network. As a Senior Program Fellow at Infosys Foundation USA, she supports the Foundation’s maker education portfolio. Stephanie is a founding Board Member of Nation of Makers and received her Ph.D. in Information Science at Cornell University where her dissertation research explored the IP issues related to 3D printing. From 2014-2016, she served as the first Senior Advisor for Making at the White House, where she helped develop President Obama’s Nation of Makers initiative, to broaden access to the Maker Movement. This included planning the first-ever White House Maker Faire and the National Week of Making.
Maria Romero
Maria Romero is the Program Manager for Digital Promise’s Maker Learning initiative. In her role, she manages Digital Promise’s national campaign, alongside partner organization Maker Ed, to advocate for and empower educators to create and facilitate high-quality maker learning experiences for youth. Her work to contribute findings to the field of maker education and develop resources to advocate for making supports capacity building for maker educators around the world.
Nick Schiner
Nick Schiner is Digital Promise's Project Director for Maker Learning, overseeing a portfolio of regional and national work. Prior to joining Digital Promise, Nick began his journey in education as a Baltimore County Public Schools (BCPS) fourth and fifth-grade teacher, before moving into a technology integration specialist role. He then served as Team Leader for the BCPS Innovative Teaching & Learning team, working to establish a maker learning presence in each of the system’s 170+ schools.
Josh Weisgrau
Josh Weisgrau is the Director of Learning Experience Design at Digital Promise Global, leading initiatives that seek to transform learning experiences to empower the next generation of creators and change makers. Josh is an experienced educator with over 10 years experience teaching making, media, and design in middle and high school.