Agency by Design was created as a collaboration between the Abundance Foundation and Harvard Graduate School of Education’s Project Zero. Working closely with a cohort of Oakland educators for many years, the collaboration set out to investigate the promises, practices, and pedagogies of maker education.

With the ongoing support of the Abundance Foundation, a cohort of teachers in Oakland, CA, Pittsburgh, PA and Project Zero investigators, launched a year-long investigation into becoming practitioners to develop documentation and assessment strategies around the impacts of maker-centered learning for all learners.

Maker-Centered Learning: Empowering Young People to Shape Their World is published. 

Presenting the research and a teaching framework for maker-centered learning, it highlights the stories and inquiries of Oakland educators. 

Co-founded by three Oakland educators: Ilya Pratt, Aaron Vanderwerff and Brooke Toczylowski, with the strategic support of Wendy Donner and the Abundance Foundation, Agency by Design Oakland launches with a year-long teacher fellowship and opens a Teacher Maker Space at Oakland International High School.

With the inspirational feedback from Zaretta Hammonds, we decided to “Level Up” our signature teacher fellowship to four programs to increase our reach and Paula Mitchell takes the lead as Executive Director.