Laura Mcbain

Learning Designer, Facilitator and Critical Friend

Laura is the K12 Director of Community and Implementation at the Stanford d.school in Palo Alto. Prior to that, Laura worked at High Tech High in San Diego. She wore several hats, including the Director of External Relations and the Director of Education Leadership Academy at the High Tech High Graduate School of Education. 

As the Director of External Relations, Laura has traveled the globe designing and leading professional development focused on the implementation of progressive education, school transformation, deeper learning and equity initiatives. She has served as a principal of two HTH sites and has taught middle and high school classes in public charter and comprehensive schools. She has written charters, analyzed educational data and worked closely with district and state accountability agencies. Laura has also been the architect of the Deeper Learning Conference, a 1200 person, adult learning experience aimed at activating and galvanizing educators for large-scale change. Her work has been inspired by those who have come before like Dewey, Ted Sizer, Paulo Freire and Deborah Meir. She is passionate about disrupting educational inequities and unleashing educators.

She has B.A. in English and minors in Political Science and Spanish from Miami University and an Ed.M. in Education Policy and Management from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. At Harvard she worked at the Center for Law and Education developing policy initiatives relating to the re-authorization of the Individual with Disabilities Education Act. Her current research centers on transformative change in school. Laura is an avid runner, runs an educational podcast, and is always ideating.