Zaentz Fellow Spotlight: Kwasi Adi-Dako

Kwasi Adi-Dako, MS ‘26, is one of the first graduates of the Zaentz Fellows Program at the Stanford Graduate School of Education. The tuition-free program offers students the opportunity to deepen their knowledge of early childhood content, engage with the Stanford Center on Early Childhood, and build connections and community with professionals while earning their master’s degree. Adi-Dako will graduate later this year with a degree in Learning Design and Technology, and aims to continue designing both physical and digital spaces for children.

Adi-Dako, who is from Ghana, previously worked as a curriculum designer, classroom teacher, and educational leader for young adults. He said it felt natural to transition into early childhood, “where I could sit at the feet of the true masters of play: children.”

In this Q&A, he reflects on his internship experiences designing for a children’s museum and edtech startup, and how the birth of his daughter shaped his fascination with early childhood.

What was a meaningful experience to you as a Zaentz Fellow?

[Professor, co-advisor and director of the Center on Early Childhood] Phil Fisher’s seminar series was transformative for me because I was in constant conversation with early education professionals who brought valuable insights into discussions that have helped shape my perspective.

Over the course of the year I developed an interest in how digital technologies and early childhood intersect, especially in the design of new tools and policies that protect children’s critical thinking. The academic grounding for this interest came through exploring Bronfenbrenner’s ecological framework in seminar, as I explored how digital technology’s rapid evolution was affecting younger generations in unprecedented ways. With AI development spearheading digital transformation, it is essential to have people of all levels, from individual parents to school districts to national governments, develop their perspective on using these tools. I found a sense of purpose in that mission, which has been an extremely meaningful experience as a Zaentz Fellow.

The Zaentz Fellowship was such a key part of my experience at Stanford because I was going through a transition from working with young adults to working with young children. Zaentz fed my fascination with early childhood development, and the seminars where we grappled with the systems affecting children were transformative. I started the program really eager to explore early childhood ecosystems, and Phil’s thoughtful questions and my classmates’ perspectives helped me to come closer to my dreams of creating delightful experiences for children.

What is something you’ve accomplished in the fellowship that you are proud of?

As a father myself, I am simultaneously concerned and fascinated by the ways that digital technologies are reshaping the experience of childhood. My final project was a tool that supports parents in developing their children’s social emotional learning, because this feels like an area at risk of erosion as progress continues to march steadily on. The fellowship provided exposure to the research-backed frameworks and pedagogies to consider as I worked on this project.

I also explored designing experiences for kids through my internships: in a children’s museum, I explored creating and maintaining physical exhibits and activities; while at an edtech startup, I grappled with how to design a digital experience grounded in theoretical best practice. This feels like the beginning of a journey to create for children in a way that protects their critical thinking and sense of wonder, while challenging them in delightful ways.

What’s next for you after graduation?

After graduation, I plan to continue designing for children, though there are a few ways that this could happen. From an education technology perspective, I am continuing to explore organizations that are thinking about design in pedagogically grounded ways and hope to learn from their work about both what to do and what not to do in designing for kids. I am also interested in researching this area and am feeling out what further studies in this area could look like. Finally, foundations and funders of early education provide a way to gain a deep understanding of the ecosystems that children exist within, and provide a way to find leverage points that affect positive change. This is all to say that I know the area I’m interested in, and am flexible about how I engage with it.