Paula Mitchell

Paula Mitchell is passionate about the promise of education as a liberatory tool and innovative pedagogy to support thriving students and teachers. Recognizing the importance of working with the hands, mind, and body to increase engagement and understanding, Paula has incorporated experiential learning practices from the beginning of her 25+ year career in education.
Intensely interested in learning and developing best practices, after 20 years in the elementary classroom, Paula transitioned to becoming a teacher leader; founding and running her school's maker education/project-based learning program and its makerspace.
Paula has been working with Agency by Design Oakland since 2016 and is thrilled to be leading the organization as the Executive Director during its expansion phase.