We are united in the quest to improve the civic life of a child in our democracy. We are educators, scientists, journalists, students and designers.
DK Holland
Snapshot: Writer, Designer, Educator, Curiosity Seeker, Nature-Lover, and Friend
DK Holland with 4th and 5th graders present concerns including about noise levels and waste in the cafeteria to the PTA 2018.
Co-founder and Executive Director: Inquiring Minds Institute, 2017 -
Design Partner: 1972-2001 The Pushpin Group; Ross, Culbert, Holland and Lavery; and Gorilla Graphics
Published: Over a dozen books (including Branding for Nonprofits) and dozens of articles on the issues that design touches which is just about everything
Public Speaker: U.S. and internationally
Residencies: TED residency inaugural class 2016 and 1776 NYC Campus; founding member, civic education innovation 2017- 2018
Teacher: Various colleges and universities including the graduate schools of: Syracuse; Pratt; SVA; Elisava (Barcelona). Hallmark-named professor at University of Kansas. Lecturer at: The Foundation Center; The Arts and Business Council; Echoing Green; IBM (Pacific Rim/Hong Kong); Universal Studios; and Hallmark Cards on subjects ranging from design and branding to ethics and copyright
Product Designer: Teaching video and game on ethics called “Where Do You Draw the Line?”
Civic engagement: Co-founder and former board member of: Greene Hill Food Co-op; The Hill, the Journal of Fort Greene, Clinton Hill and Wallabout; and Artists in Print, the San Francisco Graphics Guild.
Member: Board roles have included Governance Matters, Green Map systems and Greene Hill Food Co-op. Currently on the advisory board of Civics 101, a podcast of New Hampshire Public Radio, on the executive committee of DemocracyReady NY (statewide coalition sponsored by Teachers College to change the laws governing education in K-12)
Honors: A wide variety of communication design awards: Who’s Who of American Women since 1978; Richard Saul Wurman’s Who’s Really Who: The 1000 Most Creative Minds in America; Graphic Artists Guild Award for Outstanding Achievement in Professional Practices. Biography and bibliography at dkholland.com
Mentors: Fred Friendly of the Columbia School of Journalism; Graphic designers Milton Glaser and Roger Whitehouse; and illustrator Simms Taback
Graduate: Parsons School of Design, The New School, New York, NY 1970
Residency: TEDresidency, spring class of 2016. Watch DK's TEDtalk
Home: Tiny 18th century house and garden in historic Fort Greene, Brooklyn shared with 4 rescue cats Billie Holiday, Martha Graham, Frederick Douglass and Don Quixote
Patricia Crain de Galarce, Ed.D
Snapshot: Pedagogista, Educational Leader, Researcher, Teacher, and Learner
Patricia speaking before a classroom of future global citizens.
Director: The Center for Inclusive and Special Education (current) at Lesley University, Cambridge Massachusetts.
Former Associate Dean: Lesley University Graduate School of Education.
former Director of Education at Elsie Whitlow Stokes Community Freedom Public Charter School in Washington, DC for 12 years.
Doctor of Education: graduated from Mid-Career Doctoral Program in Educational Leadership at University of Pennsylvania
Designer: Transformative educational systems, professional learning communities, and mosaic art.
Teacher: Lesley University faculty; has taught almost every grade level from young children to doctoral students in Boston, Baltimore, DC, and Paraguay, South America.
Writer: Currently writing Pedagogy Towards Resilience, Grow Good Citizens 0-18+, Teaching Strategies in Creating Safe, Supportive, and Trauma Sensitive Environments for All Students, and Inequities in Early Childhood Education.
Public Speaker: Keynote, webinars, workshop leader, and panelist in areas of inclusion, trauma sensitivity, equity, and education for social justice.
Mentor: Coaches novice teachers and developing principals.
Student: Always looking for learning opportunities; EdD in Educational Leadership at University of Pennsylvania; CAGS in education administration at Lesley University; MA in Intercultural Relations at Lesley University; BS in elementary and special education at Westfield State University; Currently learning to play the harp.
Mother: Proud mom of two wonderful ladies, Maria Paz and Teresita. They along with her “adopted” children, god children, and Honeybun bring joy to her DC bungalow and Boston apartment.
Some Honors: ‘Taking Care of Our Community’ award from Elsie Whitlow Stokes 20+ event, The Washington Post’s ‘Distinguished Educational Leader Award’; The Harvard-Smithsonian Center’s Private Universe Project Internship; Council for Basic Education and National Endowment for the Humanities Fellowship; Vincent E. Reed Principals Leadership Award; and The Catholic University of America Outstanding Contributions to Teacher Education.
Elizabeth Waters, PhD
Snapshot: Scientist, Education Innovator, Teacher, and Explorer
Elizabeth Waters
Managing Director Maker Lab and Experiential Learning Center NYU
Scientist: Graduate fellow at Oregon Health and Sciences University completing a degree in neuroscience, with her thesis on “sex differentiation during development of the brain.” Postdoctoral fellow and research associate at Rockefeller University, researching how the brain changes with age and how sex hormones shape learning, memory and mood disorders.
Education Innovator: Developed collaborative learning experience at The Cooper Union: unites a scientist and New York CIty high school students to understand how different cells control learning and memory in Worm School; built a pipeline for kindergarten through high school students to use water quality research to understand their community through a School Based Research Partnership with the Bronxville School District; and coaching parents and educators to build learning communities where they learned along with their children in Family Science programs.
Teacher: Coaches public school teachers to elaborate on the scientific method and engineering design practices to create real life learning and autonomy for their students and themselves.
Researcher: Critical thinking assessment, student agency, parent perceptions of education, performance based assessment.
Public Engagement: Science outreach to learners from 5 to 95 through Brain Awareness Week outreach that brings scientists, neuroscience and real brains to schools, street fairs and public venues. Brownie Troop leader (Girl Scouts of the USA).
Explorer: No bakery is too far.
Mother: Lives with her two girls, an elementary schooler and a middle schooler, and husband in the Yorkville neighborhood of the Upper East side of New York City.
Residencies: TEDresidency, fall class of 2016, Watch Elizabeth talk about how our brains work and her TEDTalk
Clara Flanders
Snapshot: Musician, Civic Thinker and Avid Learner
Clara Flanders
Born, raised and educated in Brooklyn, New York: Until leaving for college, Clara lived in the same neighborhood her whole life and attended local, zoned public schools. She is a graduate of P.S.20. She graduated from Brooklyn Technical High School and majored in Law and Society.
American University: Major in Political Science.
Musician: Trained to play the alto saxophone by amazing public school teachers starting in 3rd grade. Has participated in the Summer Arts Institute and performed at Carnegie Hall with the All-City Jazz Band through her public school.
Active Citizen: Held the title of Secretary of the UNICEF Club and was a devoted member of the Red Cross Club at Brooklyn Tech. Attended ACLU’s Summer Advocacy Institute.
Edward Zuniga-Velasco
Snapshot: Creative Mind, Comic, and Citizen
Edward Zuniga
Personal life: The middle child of 3, whose family resides in Brooklyn, Edward was part of one of the first workshops to renovate the classrooms of PS.20, from which he graduated in 2018.
City College sophomore: Graduated 2022 from Art and Design High School, on the east side of Manhattan where he is majored in film.
Creative: In his free time, Edward dabbles in directing, stop motion animation, freelance digital art, and video editing.