Laura McBain

Laura McBain is a designer, adjunct professor, and Managing Director at the Stanford d.school, where she also serves as Co-Director of the K12 Lab. She leads the d.school's professional education portfolio, building strategic partnerships with companies, nonprofits, and philanthropic institutions that harness design as a tool for innovation and transformation. She also helps shape the d.school's own organizational design strategy, influencing both the institution's evolution and its impact on the broader field of design.

Laura discovered Project Based Learning early in her career, and it changed how she saw the purpose of school: not something students get through, but something they lean into. As a student who navigated reading challenges and an auditory processing disorder, she saw firsthand how education can underestimate potential and let some students struggle invisibly while others receive support. That experience shapes her conviction that every student deserves learning that is rigorous, relevant, and human, and that uncovers capabilities they didn't know they had.

Laura joins the PBLWorks Board eager to help the organization navigate the intersection of emerging technology, equity, and learning design, exploring how PBL can meet a moment reshaped by AI while staying deeply human. She's especially focused on expanding access to high-quality PBL for more communities without losing the rigor that defines the work.

Outside of education, Laura can be found running, biking, or walking, and gathering people around a meal or a good conversation. She's endlessly curious about the future, equally likely to be testing a new AI tool as diving into a sci-fi show or a murder mystery.