LISA YOKANA, MA

An educator for over twenty years, Lisa Yokana is an educational consultant, specializing in innovation. She was the STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) coordinator at Scarsdale High School for 15 years, where she designed and taught a three level STEAM course sequence for Scarsdale’s Design Lab.  In 2019, the program won the gold medal in the STEAMEX international contest for innovative curriculum design. Lisa works with teachers across the disciplines to integrate Design Thinking and Making into their curriculum. She was a Coach for IDEO’s Teachers Guild, is an author of curriculum for outside organizations including the U.S. History Advanced Placement course, and co-instructed Project Zero/Harvard Graduate School of Education’s online class: Thinking and Learning in the Maker-Centered Classroom and served as a facilitator of Maker-Centered. Lisa also teaches entrepreneurship at Iona University’s Hynes Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. She leads Innovation Education, Design Thinking, and Maker workshops and presents at conferences, encouraging educators to shift their practice.  Lisa earned her BA in Studio Art and French Literature from Williams College, where she was elected to Phi Beta Kappa, and her Master's Degree in Art History from Columbia University. She also has a degree in building and district-level administration from Stony Brook University.