Our Team
Nanvi is an educator, learning designer, and artist. She holds a Master's in Education from the Harvard Graduate School of Education.
Her work is informed by Reggio Emilia, and inquiry-based approaches that position children as capable thinkers, researchers, and creators. Across India and the United States, she has worked with alternative, international, nonprofit, and public education settings, and has supported the professional learning of more than 500 school teachers, gaining insight into how innovative practices can be adopted and sustained across diverse educational contexts.
Krista Galleberg
Co-Founder / Founding Strategist
Krista Galleberg is an educator, curriculum designer, community organizer and researcher. She is currently a PhD student at Harvard Graduate School of Education, and formerly taught elementary school and designed curriculum at High Tech High, an international leader for project-based education.
Krista has worked as a strategy consultant for start-ups in both the public and private sectors, and is thrilled to support the Emergent Inquiry Studio as a founding strategist. When she is not working, you can find Krista exploring the national parks or spending time with her family and friends.
Louisa Penfold is a lecturer and faculty co-chair of Arts and Learning at the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Her work examines the role of contemporary art, early childhood, and play across schools, museums, and public spaces.
She directs Project Zero’s Art|Play, a National Endowment for the Arts-funded study looking at the integration of modern and contemporary art practices into public education. Developed in partnership with Boston Public Schools’ Department of Early Childhood, the Smithsonian Learning Lab, the Museum of Modern Art, and the Harvard Art Museums, the project investigates how contemporary art can support creative learning for both children and educators through curriculum design and professional development.
She has also served as an expert advisor to UNESCO on the development of its Framework for Culture and Arts Education. Her writing appears in journals including MIT’s Journal of Design and Science, The Journal of Childhood Studies, Curator: The Museum Journal, and The Australian.
Her forthcoming book, Every Child is an Artist: 32 Artist-Inspired Activities to Cultivate Your Child’s Creativity (Workman Publishing), will be published in Fall 2026.
Our Story
"Ma'am, is this the right answer?"
I heard this question almost every day.
Not "Can I show you what I made?" or "What if I try this?" or "I have an idea."
Just..."Is this the right answer?"
Every time I heard it, I was reminded of my younger self.
Growing up, I was the child who rarely raised her hand. I was quiet, hesitant, and often worried about saying the wrong thing. In Grade 8, one teacher changed that. She didn't simply encourage me to speak more. She noticed me. She trusted me with responsibilities, invited me into projects beyond the classroom, and created opportunities where I could contribute in ways that felt natural to me. Little by little, she helped me find my voice.
Looking back, I don't remember every lesson she taught. I remember how she made me feel—that my ideas mattered. That experience stayed with me.
Years later, while working in classrooms across India and the United States, I met children who were endlessly curious, imaginative, and capable. I met teachers who wanted to teach differently. Yet I also saw how often both were working within systems that valued the right answer over thoughtful questions, worksheets over exploration, and compliance over curiosity.
It made me wonder:
What would happen if we trusted children's ideas?
What if classrooms became places where children could build, imagine, question, make mistakes, collaborate, and discover that their ideas have value? What if learning wasn't something done to children, but something created with them?
That question became Emergent Inquiry Studio.
Children need environments that allow confidence to grow. When children are trusted with meaningful materials, real choices, and opportunities to work alongside others, they begin to see themselves as capable thinkers. They learn to listen with empathy, negotiate different perspectives, care for their communities, and realise there is more than one way to solve a problem.
We don't see children as citizens of the future. We see them as citizens of today. Their ideas matter now. Their questions matter now. Their voices deserve to shape the communities they are already part of.
At Emergent Inquiry Studio, we design environments, experiences, and materials that invite children to wonder, create, and take ownership of their learning. Because when children grow up believing that their ideas matter, they don't just become creative learners—they become thoughtful listeners, compassionate collaborators, and people who have the confidence to imagine and create a better world together.
Our Collaborators
Ananya Mehandale
Freelance Illustrator at EIS
A design graduate from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad, with an interest in user research, human-centered design and designing for learning experiences.
Vanshika Shastri
Learning documenter and Educator at EIS
Vanshika is a curious and outgoing undergraduate student at Ahmedabad University who enjoys connecting with people and learning from others. She loves dancing, writing, photography, and spending time with children—creating spaces where she can both teach and learn from them. She is grateful to contribute to EIS and looks forward to learning and growing through the experience.