We’re excited to begin the new year by welcoming the nine fellows selected for the third cohort of the Well-Being by Design Fellowship, supported by Pinterest and foundry10. Chosen from a highly competitive and diverse pool of applicants across the kids’ media landscape, this year’s cohort brings together exceptional designers, educators, and researchers dedicated to creating digital experiences that support children’s well-being.
The 2026 fellows are committed to centering well-being at the earliest stages of product development and are currently advancing projects that will be refined and workshopped throughout the fellowship. The five-month program features interactive virtual sessions, beginning with an in-person convening at Sesame Workshop’s headquarters in New York City in January and culminating in a public virtual webinar in May to share insights and learnings.
Throughout the fellowship, the Cooney Center will support fellows through workshops, consultations with industry experts and young people, and collaborative learning opportunities. The program will conclude with the publication of case studies showcasing each fellow’s work, detailing their design approaches, and highlighting innovative features that promote well-being in digital products for kids.
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The 2026 Well-Being by Design cohort includes:
Alexandra (Allie) Dewey
DoSeum
Allie Dewey is an exhibition designer who creates hands-on, learner-centered experiences for museums and cultural spaces. Drawn to projects that challenge assumptions and draw from multiple fields, Allie believes successful exhibitions should be fun, engaging, and accessible—sparking curiosity while inviting visitors of all ages to explore, discover, and create through active participation. She currently works at The DoSeum, San Antonio’s Children’s Museum, designing interactive galleries for both the DoSeum and clients worldwide, blending content and hands-on prototyping to create meaningful play experiences.
Amber Ivey
AiDigiTales
Amber Ivey (“AI”) is the founder of AiDigiTales, an edutainment company helping children and families understand artificial intelligence. Inspired by her nieces’ early interactions with voice assistants, she wrote AI… Meets… AI, an Amazon bestselling, award-winning children’s book that introduces AI through storytelling and imagination. The book sparked a movement that now includes the AI for Kids podcast and AiDigiCards, a hands-on learning system that teaches foundational AI concepts through play, curiosity, and family connection. Amber’s work ensures that kids, especially those in underrepresented communities, can access AI literacy, confidence, and creativity regardless of their zip code.
Asante Asiedu
Udēēsa
Asante Asiedu is the Founder and CEO of Udēēsa, an educational technology company and consulting firm focused on expanding access to 21st-century skill building through immersive and interactive media. His work sits at the intersection of extended reality (XR), learning design, and workforce readiness, with an emphasis on creating low-cost, scalable tools that support curiosity, confidence, and applied problem-solving for learners across age groups. Through Udēēsa, Asante leads the design of cross-platform immersive learning experiences that integrate 360-degree environments, goal-based interaction, and ethical technology frameworks. His approach emphasizes learner agency, cultural context, and skill development aligned with real-world applications.
Christopher Gomez
Bronx Children’s Museum
Chris Gomez is an illustrator and painter based out of Queens. He’s worked as a cartoonist for various children’s publications, supported and informed by his decade of arts education for a number of non-profit organizations throughout New York City. He is currently the Associate Curator of Museum Experience at the Bronx Children’s Museum.
Kati Baker
Social Cipher
Kati is a Game Developer and Designer for Social Cipher with a long history in education and outreach. Over the years, she has developed curriculum and taught computer science education to youth at both 4-H and NASA. In her spare time, she designs and playtests adventures in the tabletop roleplaying game (ttrpg) space. She is a big lover of plants and a loud advocate for accessibility.
Mariya Nikolayev
Stride, Inc.
Dr. Mariya Nikolayev is a Senior User Researcher at Stride, Inc., where her work focuses on shaping digital learning experiences for K-12 students and their families across virtual public and private schools nationwide. With a background in learning technologies design research and child development, she brings over a decade of experience studying children’s learning through digital media and edutainment, social-emotional development within digital play, and family interactions in technology-mediated settings.
Sarah Kelley-Luker
Nurture
Sarah Kelley-Luker (she/her) is a creative producer and playful learning designer specializing in media, toys, and curricula for kids ages zero to ten. Her work focuses on elevating everyday childhood experiences as meaningful sites of learning, wonder, and growth. To this end, Sarah has designed unique and engaging learning experiences for Disney, Noggin, Britannica Kids, Tiny Souls Media, and Committee for Children, among others. She currently serves as Executive Producer and Child Development Specialist for Nurture, an immersive learning app that teaches future-proof life skills through interactive storytelling.
Tatyerra Spurlock-McPherson
Sesame Workshop
Tatyerra Spurlock-McPherson is the Director of Email & Web Strategy at Sesame Workshop. With over a decade of experience in marketing, content strategy, and audience development, Tatyerra helps drive the digital ecosystem that connects families, educators, and caregivers with Sesame’s mission to help children grow smarter, stronger, and kinder. In her role, she oversees email strategy, supports web content strategy, and cross-platform campaign execution. Tatyerra’s work blends creativity, data-driven insights, and a deep commitment to equity in children’s media.
Téo Xisto
Lifelong Kindergarten Group
Téo Xisto is the Creative Learning Coordinator at MIT’s Lifelong Kindergarten research group. They dedicate much of their work to OctoStudio, a mobile creative coding app developed by the group with over 3 million downloads worldwide. In this role, Téo works with educators and learners worldwide to co-design resources, facilitate workshops, and build partnerships that expand creative learning opportunities. Drawing from over a decade of experience spanning software engineering, educational research, and learning experience design, Téo’s mission is to create caring, collaborative communities where creativity becomes a tool for learning, liberation, and collective growth.
