Though these two principals are at different San Diego area schools (High Tech High and Vista Innovation and Design Academy), it seems like you always find them together, and always find them with their teachers.

Through their teaching at the High Tech High graduate school of education, Eric and Kaleb have introduced new generations of educators and administrators to the Compass—like Dawn McWilliams.  

K-12 administration, San Diego, CA
Eric Chagala Bio Compass-Tweets
Kaleb Rashad Website Compass-Tweets

Dan has a warm and familiar way of saying anything (maybe since he was an English teacher years before his work in Design Thinking consulting).  That delights the people he facilitates, and has influenced my approach with the Compass since we co-led a workshop and coaching program for 10 New York area schools a number of years ago.  He has used the Compass extensively in business, ed-tech, and higher education settings. 

Design Thinking/Innovation Consultant, Cambridge, MA
Bio Website

James' first compass experience was when he came to my mentor session at SXSWedu in 2017 and asked me to tell him about the Compass. I suggested that instead we use the 10 minutes on a challenge in his life—and we got all the way to experiments!  Now he's using at strikingly different levels at the Atlanta Girls School—helping staff at both thinking about their mission—"Inspiring Girls to Lead Lives of Purpose" at both an organizational and personal level. 

High School Administration, Atlanta Georgia
Bio

Michael was one of the first K-12 educators "in the sandbox." In his multiple during- and after-school Innovators for Purpose programs, we tried the compass in all kind of ways. A simple compass conversation that turned around a student's homework challenges was so loved by everyone who reviewed my Chapter that it became the featured example. He's shown here with his version of an earlier compass.   

K-12 education, Cambridge, MA
Bio

Kevin might just be the soul of the compass. A history and religion teacher, he was discovering Design Thinking just as I was really digging into developing the Compass, and we helped each other grow. He gave the Compass its current name and started the hashtag. 

Kevin always invites me to see how it can connect not just intellectually, but emotionally and even spiritually with people.  

K-12 education, Monterey CA
Compass tweets

Tim Hall's creativity knows no bounds—he's paired poets and entrepreneurs together to help one another.  

He also invented the Pocket Compass folding card—which let people like Audrey O'Claire completely change the dynamic of the first workshop/meeting in which they used the Compass. And, let people like Kevin Day and Garrett Mason carry it to faraway places in Tahoe and Malawi, respectively.   

College Residence, Boston, MA
Bio

@HassanTwice has been a wonderful supporter and co-experimenter. He uses a version of the Compass as a guide for 4.0 Schools' Essentials program, and to help hold together the wonderful tools it provides. 

But he's also welcomed me into the 4.0 Schools fold of education innovators and entrepreneurs. I've gained so much from opportunities to learn from, and share my work with, the 4.0 family. 

Education Innovation, New Orleans, LA
Bio 

Michael surely inspires me more than the other way around—his work with his high school cinema & journalism students, and how he brings them on his quest for social justice through digital storytelling.  He's offered the compass to them as they embark and reflect on that journey together, and as they design media for their audiences. 

K-12 education, Los Angeles
Bio Website

Tara is a fireball. She's also an educator, instructional coach, author and speaker, who recently became an administrator. She passionately recognized the sensitivity of her role with those she served. She found the Compass through Audrey O'Claire, and fused it with her R.E.A.L. approach in working with individuals to see and support their personal and professional goals.  Now she's sharing that combined approach in her writing and speaking. 

K-12 Coach and Administrator, Lawrence, KS

Website   Compass-Tweets

Caitrin, an anthropologist, has been an amazing co-pilot as we've experimented with the Compass together in our Olin course Engineering for Humanity for Students to design not only something that will make a difference in an older adult's life in the community, but also to design their own individual, team, and class experiences in the course. And, to begin to design their role as a designer in society. More about that course here and under Resources. 

Caitrin is also using the Compass in her other classes. 

College education, Needham, MA
Bio

Garrett has been the most-travelled compass user—bringing it to CorpsAfrica volunteers in Malawi and Morocco.  He's shared it in the most diverse settings—from the Corps Africa community challenges to the National Science Teachers Association STEM education challenges, to New Orleans Public Library challenges. 

He's also the person who said "This might change the world" to me back in January 2017, just when I needed to hear those words as I was diving into full investment in this work. 

K-12 education and International Development, Longmont, CO

Bio Compass-Tweets

Dawn's work and impact in her Aurora, CO school, and humility about it, are simply inspiring. Dawn and I are on the phone all the time.  She's always calling me just before, or just after, she's done something new with the Compass—with all combinations of students, staff, parents, specialists, and administrators.  She's always pushing me for new tools (e.g. the Compass with large visual icons for her highly international parent population), and always eager to give her observations. 

Elementary administration, Aurora, CO
Bio  Compass-Tweets

Hieu is a Computer Engineering senior at Olin College, who's taken two of my three classes. At the end of the 2017 school year he asked me if I'd be coming back to campus—he wanted to show me something.

That something was the online Compass app—which instantly blew my mind, and filled a need many people had voiced to me.  He then dedicated endless hours to testing and evolving it together. 

College Senior, Needham, MA
Bio  Website

Audrey O'Claire has seen no boundaries in her Compass passion and experimentation—from her family's major transitions, to her work coaching special education and ed-tech.  I've learned so much from how she creates powerful environments and experiences for all kinds of participants by very simply introducing and using the Compass. 

Special Education & Ed Tech, Fayette, Maine
Bio  Compass-Tweets

Valeria has taken the Compass itself to new languages—Spanish and sketchnotes—in her passion to share it with others. That includes her local classroom as they struggled to find their own video voice and work through their hurricane Irma experience. 

It also includes the larger communities that follow her as a passionately creative science teacher @GA_ScienceRodva and as sketchnoting guru @ValeriaSketches. 

5th-6th grade Science, Miami, FL
Bio  Compass-Tweets More-Compass-Tweets

Dan Ryder—@WickedDecent—embodies the energy, optimism, inclusion, and relentless innovation of Design Thinking educators. He inspires K-12 educators around the country as he shares his experiences over twitter and his blog.  He also brings them to tears as he interweaves humor and improv.

He was an early Compass experimenter and recently wrote a Medium piece highlighting a a project he did with his English students using the Compass that bridged English and Engineering. 

K-12 education, Jay, ME
Bio  Compass-Tweets

My studio co-professor for "User Oriented Collaborative Design", Alexandra has been better than me at noticing times Compass work might help our students move forward—individually, in their design teams, or as a class. 

College design education, Needham, MA
Bio

A participant in my very first educational coaching program, Ari has stayed in touch and experimented with the compass in both educational and family settings—his blog about compassing school lunch is great.  

K-12 administration, early & special education, school psychology, Washington, DC
Bio

Meli has worked in both startup schools and startup companies in recent years,and has Meli has found the Compass helpful in navigating their growing pains together. 

Entrepreneur, New York, New York

Denise has a passion for early childhood education and the emotional development of young people. She works with a variety of educational organizations, and has used the Compass at both organizational and personal levels. 

Educational & organizational consulting, San Antonio, TX
bio

Dylan is a fellow 4.0 Schools entreprenur, and a passionate assistant principle in her young and growing Alabama K-3 school. She’s been exploring the compass as a way to work  with children with challenges. 

Elementary Administration, Pike Road, Alabama
Bio  Compass-Tweets

Aram is a fellow IDEO alum who now teaches engineering at 

Erin is magical at stirring up creativity in people of all ages. It’s been an inspiration to know her. And to see her writing about working with a class to use the Compass, alongside other wonderful tools, to design their own, inclusive, culture. 

Learning Specialist, Calgary, Alberta
Website  Compass-Tweets

Karl teaches graduate Visual Communication Design in New Zealand and has used an adapted compass to turn Honours year students synthesis of their work from a written proposal to an active workshop, experiment, and exhibition of their experimental outcomes. 

Design higher ed, Wellington New Zealand
Bio  Design+Democracy website

Erwin and I met at Otto Scharmer's programs many years back—and I was thrilled when he reached back out about using the Compass in his work to galvanize young entrepreneurs in Singapore. Erwin’s explored the Compass with high schoolers developing their entrepreneurship & design skills (e.g. improving the visitor’s experience at a Science Center). Now at Singapore Centre for Social Enterprise, raiSE), he’s incorporating the compass for or use by local social entrepreneurs.

Social & Education Entrepreneurship, Singapore
Bio  Website

Matt is another person Audrey O'Clair has inspired to use the Compass for teacher-driven PD—like designing their own solutions to Proficiency-based learning & reporting.

Curriculum-Instruction-Assessment Coordinator, Dexter, Maine
Bio Compass-Tweets

Hillary helps educators use Assistive Technology and Universal Design for Learning to break barriers to learning. She’s helped educators explore their own understanding of this challenge using the Compass.

Ed. Consulting, Saco ME
Website Compass-tweets