EdgeMakers and STEM Learning Lab merged in March of 2019, paving the way to provide the curriculum and professional development that empower K-12 educators to deliver the authoritative, integrated approach to teaching the disciplines of the 21st century. The new company known as EdgeMakers combines STEM Learning Lab’s education and professional development programs, which are unmatched in their ability to teach students the essential “hard skills” needed for 21st century success, with EdgeMakers’ groundbreaking innovative thinking curriculum, which helps learners apply their skills toward a true purpose to effect meaningful change. The company also offers programs in Maker & STEAM, Robotics & AI Programming, Engineering Design & 3D Printing, Coding & Computational Thinking and Circuitry & Hardware Programming. EdgeMakers brings together the work of John Kao and Gina Cherkowski, leading thinkers in innovation and STEM, to create something truly unique in the education marketplace.

Dr. John Kao has spent the better part of 30 years creating compelling learning experiences for emerging innovators and entrepreneurs. His eclectic career mirrors the complexity of innovation and entrepreneurship. He was a professor at Harvard Business School, and he taught at the MIT Media Lab and Stanford’s Bowman House. He was an advisor to countries on innovation policy and is a serial entrepreneur. He also is the best-selling author of books about innovation, a Tony award-winning producer of stage and screen, Yamaha Music’s first “artist in innovation” and a Yale Medical School trained psychiatrist. Each experience has enriched his pedagogical approach. Dubbed “Mr. Creativity” and a “serial innovator” by The Economist, John Kao is a renaissance man and self-styled “innovation activist” whose creativity forms the DNA of EdgeMakers.

Dr. Gina Cherkowski is an educational game changer on a mission to ensure all students have access to high-quality STEM learning experiences so they are aptly prepared for our technology-driven, dynamic world. She holds a PhD in Mathematics Education as well as in Culture Studies in Education. She has extensive experience in teaching and learning as a remediation specialist, a classroom teacher, and as a university professor for both undergraduate and graduate courses in education both in Canada and internationally. As a social justice math educator and learning activist, Gina believes that all kids can and should be proficient in math as well as the other STEM fields and fights to make this a reality. Her current research explores teaching math conceptually using spatial-temporal reasoning to facilitate a deep understanding of mathematics for diverse learners. Another area of interest is the development of visual-spatial skills through interaction in highly engaging, hands-on STEM and STEAM projects like coding, robotics and Maker Education.