Helen Shwe Hadani
Fellow - Global Economy and Development, Center for Universal Education
Fellow - Brookings Metro, Anne T. and Robert M. Bass Center for Transformative Placemaking
An expert in early childhood and creativity development, Dr. Hadani designs and evaluates products and environments that promote children’s curiosity and love of learning. As a fellow at the Brookings Institution, she leads the Playful Learning Landscapes project—an initiative that brings together the fields of developmental science and placemaking with the goal of improving child and community outcomes.
Prior to joining the Brookings Institution, Helen spent 20 years in research and education settings applying her knowledge of early childhood development to creating innovative learning experiences for children and families. She served as the director of research at the Bay Area Discovery Museum where she guided program and exhibit development and authored parent- and teacher-facing publications on creative thinking and child development. As part of and prior to that role, Helen consulted for toy, technology, and media companies, including The Walt Disney Company, Sesame Workshop, Apple, LEGO, Hasbro, Fisher-Price, and Mattel.
Helen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Science from the University of Rochester and a Doctorate in Psychology from Stanford University. She currently serves on advisory boards for the LEGO Foundation and Goddard Schools.
An expert in early childhood and creativity development, Dr. Hadani designs and evaluates products and environments that promote children’s curiosity and love of learning. As a fellow at the Brookings Institution, she leads the Playful Learning Landscapes project—an initiative that brings together the fields of developmental science and placemaking with the goal of improving child and community outcomes.
Prior to joining the Brookings Institution, Helen spent 20 years in research and education settings applying her knowledge of early childhood development to creating innovative learning experiences for children and families. She served as the director of research at the Bay Area Discovery Museum where she guided program and exhibit development and authored parent- and teacher-facing publications on creative thinking and child development. As part of and prior to that role, Helen consulted for toy, technology, and media companies, including The Walt Disney Company, Sesame Workshop, Apple, LEGO, Hasbro, Fisher-Price, and Mattel.
Helen holds a Bachelor of Arts in Cognitive Science from the University of Rochester and a Doctorate in Psychology from Stanford University. She currently serves on advisory boards for the LEGO Foundation and Goddard Schools.
If you have a very intensive parenting model, that in many ways suffocates that intrinsic motivation for learning and curiosity. Nonacademic skills are important, and we’re looking for kids who are creative and have grit and are resilient. Those don’t show up in SAT scores.
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