The Future of Smart Ulcca Joshi Hansen | Grantmakers for Education

In the final episode of Season 2, we are joined by Dr. Temple Lovelace, executive director of Assessment for Good, and Dr. Susan Lyons, co-founder and executive director of Women in Measurement. They are colleagues and leaders in the field of educational measurement, challenging fundamental assumptions that underpin how our dominant education system values, designs and uses assessments. Join us for a conversation in which we explore why thinking differently about what and how we measure is critical to building human-centered systems of learning and education.

In this episode of the Future of Smart podcast, host Ulcca Joshi Hansen speaks with Jamie Allison, Executive Director of the Walter and Elise Haas Fund, which collaborates with partners whose work provides access and opportunity, building a more equitable community in the Bay Area. Their conversation explores the ideological shifts that have led the fund to engage in interest-based partnerships with the organizations they fund, and what this has meant for everyone engaged in the work, including the fund’s board and staff, as well as their nonprofit partners.

In this week’s episode, Ulcca speaks with Mia Howard, managing partner and leader of Innovative Schools at NewSchools Venture Fund. Mia and Ulcca explore the work being done by a new generation of school leaders who are dedicated to building more human-centered programs that embrace expanded definitions of success, equity and innovation. Learn about the ways in which Mia and her team are learning about what it means to codesign with communities and deconstruct assumptions about what matters most about how we educate young people.

Ulcca and Jenny Curtin, Director of Education at the Barr Foundation, explore the innovative approaches and human-centered design principles that are transforming education. Gain insights into how these efforts are ensuring that every student not only completes their high school journey successfully but also becomes an active and engaged member of their community.

This episode explores competency-based education with Laurie Gagnon, Program Director for CompetencyWorks at the Aurora Institute. They discuss how competency models support personalized, equitable learning by focusing on demonstrated skills rather than lockstep grade-level standards.

This week’s guest is world-renowned animal rights advocate and autism spokesperson, Dr. Temple Grandin. Having spent her career exercising her skills in service of humane animal treatment in the livestock industry, Dr. Grandin is becoming increasingly engaged in educating communities about the need to recognize and support diverse kinds of minds within our education system. Join us for a conversation in which we explore the differences between how verbal and visual thinkers see the world, her concerns about how our education system fails to nurture the potential of learners with different kinds of minds and why that matters; as well as her suggestions for change.