Who We Are

We began working with the Stanford Center for Assessment Learning & Equity (SCALE) in 2019 to define what it means to be a creative, self-directed leader.

After doing a deep dive in these areas, we developed a program to help students build these important skills. We began implementing this program with our students at Design Tech High School @ Oracle, with great success. Today, our work with Stanford serves as the foundation of our innovation program, which is now available to students anywhere in the world. 

Current research now shows an urgent need for schools to better prepare students for life after high school by closing the skills gap.

Our goal is to help students build adaptable mindsets, a sense of purpose,
and the workplace skills and experiences they’ll need to thrive in a world of
rapidly evolving AI.

Our Team

  • Ken Montgomery Design Tech Innovation Program

    Dr. Ken Montgomery

    DESIGN TECH
    Executive Director

    Ken Montgomery is the Co-Founder of Design Tech High School @ Oracle (a.ka. “d.tech”) and has served as the executive director for over ten years now. Ken completed his PhD in administration and policy analysis at Stanford University. While at Stanford he published several articles about charter schools and school leadership and developed a school leadership course. As a teacher Ken held a variety of positions and won several awards including being named a member of the USA Today All-teacher team and becoming a National Board Certified teacher.

  • Nicole Cerra Director Innovation Program

    Nicole Cerra

    DESIGN TECH
    Director of Innovation

    After 15 years of working in schools throughout the west coast, Nicole and a small group of like-minded educators founded Design Tech High School (a.k.a. “d.tech”) with the goal of graduating the next generation of innovators. D.tech opened its doors in the fall of 2014. In addition to teaching creative problem solving, Nicole has been responsible for leading the d.tech team in curriculum development, instructional strategy, and professional learning.

    In 2019, Nicole and her colleagues launched the Design Tech Innovation Program for students across the globe to learn creative problem solving skills.  She is passionate about giving all students the chance to develop the creativity, leadership, and initiative needed to not just get into college, but to graduate and do meaningful work with their unique skill set.

  • Jennifer DiGrande Design Tech Innovation Certificate

    Jennifer DiGrande

    DESIGN TECH
    Director of Marketing & Growth, Innovation Programs

    Jennifer has over fifteen years of experience in development and marketing innovation programs to youth and adults, including the LEAD Business Certificate at Stanford Graduate School of Business.

    Throughout her career, Jennifer has embraced entrepreneurship opportunities and education. From starting her own small business as a teen to teaching entrepreneurship through the Network for Teaching Entrepreneurship and more recently promoting online innovation programs, Jennifer enjoys fostering a culture of curiosity and authenticity.

  • Nathan Pierce

    DESIGN TECH
    Course Curriculum Designer

    Nathan is a passionate, future-focused educator and learning-experience designer with 25 years of demonstrated success in public education. As a Certified Learning Engineer at PlayLab he provides peer coaching, async app feedback, and leads AI tool-building initiatives. In parallel, he teaches English 12 at d.Tech and is spearheading the Design Your Future curriculum. He coordinates partnerships that leverage the responsible use of AI while deepening engagement and equity.

    His classroom emphasizes extreme personalization, data-informed instruction, and the purposeful application of learning science. Nathan is a sought after presenter at education and AI conferences, has been recognized as an AI for Equity Vanguard Fellow, and is a winner of the ISTE GenerationAI Luminary Award.

  • Patrick Sullivan Innovation Program

    Patrick Sullivan

    DESIGN TECH
    Innovation Program Instructor

    With over two decades of teaching experience, Patrick’s journey in education has taken him across the globe, fostering learning in diverse communities such as South Korea and Vietnam.

    Throughout his career, Patrick has been deeply committed to crafting innovative curricula that seamlessly blend creativity, collaboration, and digital skill development using cutting-edge educational technologies. His early career experiences as an Instructional Technology Specialist for the Millbrae School District laid the foundation for his exploration of Design Thinking—a methodology that he first encountered during this time. Furthering his expertise, Patrick became a fellow in the prestigious MERIT program at Foothill College.

  • Georgina Fakoukaki Design Tech Innovation Program

    Georgina Fakoukaki

    DESIGN TECH
    Innovation Program Specialist

    Georgina brings over nine years of experience in design thinking within education, specializing in creating transformative learning experiences that foster co-creation and enhance the student-teacher dynamic.

    As both a UC Berkeley and d.tech alumna, she has personally witnessed the power of human-centered problem-solving—an approach that has profoundly shaped her career. Her work includes founding a nonprofit in Puerto Rico dedicated to integrating design thinking into public high schools and mentoring early-stage startups in applying these principles at the UC Berkeley Center for Entrepreneurship & Technology.

Our Advisory Council

The Innovation and Creativity Council provides the executive director and the director of innovation with insights and resources that can help improve our offerings to ensure that when it comes to preparing students we remain future-forward. 

  • Tom Alison Facebook Innovation Education

    Tom Alison

    HEAD of FACEBOOK

    Read Bio

  • Colleen Cassity Oracle Innovation Education

    Colleen Cassity

    ORACLE
    VP, Oracle Social Impact

    Read Bio

  • Amit Koren JLL Innovation Education

    Amit Koren

    JLL
    CEO, Leasing and Capital Markets Technology

    Read Bio

  • Savannah Kunovsky IDEO Innovation Education

    Savannah Kunovsky

    IDEO
    Managing Director, Emerging Technology

    Read Bio

  • Sam Yen JP Morgan Chase Innovation Education

    Sam Yen

    J.P. MORGAN CHASE
    Chief Innovation Officer, Commercial Banking

    Read Bio