Christine Braun is the Chief Creative Officer of Cresconova, the education charity behind Cresconova Labs, a hands-on studio for ages 8–16 in Chelsea, London. She holds a BFA from the University of the Arts and a Master of Artisanry from the University of Massachusetts, a grounding in material-making that runs through everything she's built since.

Her path began with founding Robots for Kids Too, a hands-on robotics company she and her husband ran in Vermont after homeschooling her own gifted son, before she went on to manage the Innovation Lab at The Nueva School in Silicon Valley, one of the country's leading schools for gifted learners. She later directed Harvard's REEF Makerspace at the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences, working to break down the silos between academic disciplines, and served as an Adjunct Professor of Engineering at the University of San Francisco. She won the 2020 Lemelson-MIT Excite Award for invention education and mentored on Disney+'s Shop Class. Today, as CCO of Cresconova, she shapes the creative vision behind both Cresconova Global (online, ages 6–11) and Cresconova Labs, the organization's new in-person studio.

In this episode, Christine talks with Svenia Busson about:

• Her path from sculpture and furniture design to founding a robotics company for her own gifted son
• What "design thinking" really means inside The Nueva School's Innovation Lab
• Building Harvard's REEF Makerspace to break down the walls between academic disciplines
• The difference between "gifted" and "inspired" students — and why Cresconova doesn't test for talent
• Cresconova's Inquiry, Systems Thinking, Design Thinking framework — and how it scales from age 5 to 18
• The "human-to-AI interaction" protocol: question, frame, unpack, own, iterate
• Why she believes AI expands creativity rather than threatening the maker tradition
• Why students turn to AI instead of trusted adults — and the role shame plays in that shift

(Christine also recommended Stephanie Couch, Executive Director of the Lemelson-MIT Program, as a future guest.)

Mentioned in this episode:

Education Futures Fellowship

A six-week programme starting on September 22nd, where seven world-leading experts in developmental psychology, neuroscience, and AI child safety will share everything they know with you: educationfutures.ai/fellowship.