Episode 290
Design Thinking in Teaching and Learning with Kalimah Fergus Ayele
October 7th, 2025
53 mins 30 secs
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About this Episode
Greetings Glocal Citizens!
We’re talking about the business of teaching and learning from a design thinking perspective with my guest, fellow Stanford University alum, visionary educational leader and the founder and CEO of Roundtrip Ticket Home, an organization dedicated to helping educators reimagine school systems through design thinking, Kalimah Fergus Ayele. With almost 30 years of experience in education, her journey began as a Peace Corps Volunteer, teaching Chemistry in East Africa. Her career has spanned five countries, enriching her global perspective on learning, and bringing a deep understanding of urban educational landscapes to her transformative work.
Most recently, she served as the Head of NYC Campus for The Winchendon School where she led an innovative educational oasis in Manhattan, guiding high school students through real-world learning and a unique city-wide field study program designed to connect them with their passions. In this conversation we truly experience the roundtrip journey of a little girl growing up in Brooklyn and St. Croix, building on Pan-African rooting from an early age, who manifested her new and now as a global citizen ready for her next adventure.
Where to find Kalimah?
@roundtrip Ticket Home
On LinkedIn
On Instagram
On Facebook
What’s Kalimah reading?
All the Way to the River by Eizabeth Gilbert
What’s Kalimah watching?
aka Charlie Sheen on Netflix
Orgasm Inc: The Story of One Taste on Netflix
Other topics of Interest:
About St. Croix
Sleepy Hollow, New York
About the United States Peace Corps
About Brooklyn’s African Street Fair and International African Arts Festival
Courageous Conversation + Glenn Singleton
About the American University in Cairo
On Montessori Education
On Friends or Quaker Schools