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About us

Our vision is that schools and communities will work collaboratively to dissolve the barriers of brick and mortar so that learning occurs anytime and anywhere. In this vision, each learner can say, “I learn with and from others,” “I learn what I need when I need it,” “I own my learning,” “I make progress when I am ready,” “I see my differences as my strengths,” and “I have a voice in what, when, and how I learn.”
 
Our mission is to empower schools and communities to work collaboratively to dissolve one-size-fits-all barriers to equitable outcomes for all learners. We believe that when both young and adult learners are agents of their own learning, they are choice-ready for not just learning, but for working in and living meaningful, productive lives.
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Andrea Stewart

Founder, CEO

Andrea has 26 years in education with over a decade in learner-centered, personalized, and competency-based learning, and is fueled by her passion for equity-centered transformational design and learner-driven experiences. Andrea co-authored the Aurora Institute’s 2022 report, Teachers Making the Shift to Equitable, Learner-Centered Education: Harnessing Mental Models, Motivations and Moves, and supports leaders with strategic planning for and implementation of these key levers for change.

In her roles as founder, product developer, and learning experience designer, she created the organization’s methodology and tool set for learning redesign, and works closely with partner-clients to ensure they are supported in their learning journey. Part of this work includes leading districts in the design and implementation of a portrait/profile of a graduate, which then serves as the compass for school improvement, reimagining graduation outcomes, empowering learners, and transforming education systems. 

Andrea was also the director of The Center in Iowa for seven years and supported schools/districts, education service/state agencies, and higher education with shifts to learner-centered models, sharing her learning via national conferences, cross-state partnerships, publications, and consultation. She served on the Iowa Department of Education’s CBE Task Force, Collaborative, and Design Team where she led the state’s competency design/assessment process. Andrea also served on the Midwest Comprehensive Center’s Cross-State CBE Consortium where she co-created micro-credential quality criteria/tools, and contributed to multiple TAGs for the Aurora Institute’s National 2017 Summit on K-12 Competency-Based Education. 

Andrea holds an Ed.S. in Education Leadership from Drake University, an M.A. in Teacher Leadership from Morningside College, and a B.A. in English Education from the University of Iowa. In her free time, Andrea enjoys reading, listening to podcasts, traveling, photography, and spending time with family and friends.

Blaine Garrett

Front End Development Lead

Blaine Garrett seeks companies and projects that impact the world from a human-centered perspective. He has experience with his own entrepreneurial venture and as a senior software engineer, lead engineer/architect, and development manager. He has launched MVPs, conducted customer discovery partnerships, recruited, hired, and managed software engineers. Blaine has practiced a “customer first” design approach leveraging extensive analytics data, and customer interviews as part of story mapping and ideation.

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Jesse Erger

Software Engineer

Jesse received his Bachelor and Master’s in Computer Science from the University of Iowa. He has worked in various roles as a software engineer for over five years. At Learning Couture, Jesse is the software engineer supporting backend development. In his free time, Jesse likes to play board games and disc golf, enjoy the great outdoors, go fishing and biking, and spend time with his friends and family.

Jesse Quam

Web Developer

I’m a web designer, front end developer, and artist living in Minneapolis, MN. I received my A.A.S. in Web Design from Minneapolis College. I’ve been creating uplifting and playful work throughout my artistic career. My web design practice is strongly influenced by my passion for creating fine art. I enjoy learning and continually enhancing my skills as a web designer. I also enjoy collaborating with others to develop new concepts and ideas. I look forward to seeing how technology will inspire art in the future.

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Casey Stone

Summer 2022 Intern

Casey received her Bachelor of Science in Applied Mathematics from SUNY Oswego in 2020 and is currently in the Mathematics Ph.D. program at the University of Iowa. Throughout the 2021-2022 academic year, she participated in the Inmas internship program to learn Python, data visualization, machine learning, about mathematics jobs in industry, and much more. Through this program, Casey joined the Learning Couture team where she will work on data visualizations and gain experience working with mathematics in the education technology industry. Some of Casey’s hobbies include sports, wildlife, and portrait photography as well as traveling, hanging out with friends, and visiting her family in New Jersey.

Why Choose Us

Designed for all levels

We continually refine our solution so that each practice in the Customizing Learning Platform can be used or modified for any level, and is not specific to any one content area. We ensure practices are scaffolded from initial steps to more advanced teacher and learner strategies, ensuring each educator is met in their "just right" zone for learning.

Educator-Driven Learning

With Learning Couture's solution, we provide space and support for professional learning to be designed by the educators, meeting just-in-time needs. We provide hundreds of practices and learning resources right at your fingertips so each educator can determine what to learn and how to apply it with which learners.

Power of community

Learning is social (and being pioneers in changing the way we "do" education can be lonely)! We are exploring new ways for you to leverage Learning Couture's share features to connect with other educators within and beyond your context, and want to hear your ideas to make this community stronger.