The GIANT Room partners with Joan Ganz Cooney Center and Khan Academy

Dates:

  • Tuesday May 12, 2026

  • Wednesday May 13, 2026

  • Wednesday May 14, 2026

Location:

  • YMCA in Brooklyn, NY

In collaboration with Joan Ganz Cooney Center from Sesame Workshop, The GIANT Room partners with Khan Academy to Co-design new literacy tools!

The GIANT Room, an innovation hub for youth and their families, is honored to announce a partnership with Khan Academy, to co-design a new literacy tool. This project is in collaboration with Joan Ganz Cooney Center (JGCC) from Sesame Workshop, and funded by Walton Family Foundation. We are bringing together diverse groups of high schoolers with researchers and industry innovators to put youths’ voices at the center of product development for these products. Youths in grades 9 and 10 will be invited to join us for three FREE sessions of playtesting and co-designing their literacy tool. These free in-person two-hour workshops will take place at a YMCA in Brooklyn, NY.

During the session, participants will brainstorm and design alongside The GIANT Room, JGCC, and Khan Academy teams. Through hands-on creative challenges, they will imagine and build their own AI agents to enhance reading experiences and improve comprehension across different types of texts. 

The GIANT Room believes that young people have special perspectives and unique points of view that can greatly impact the design of our world. These co-design partnerships not only provide opportunities for youth to meet and build prototypes with real industry designers, but also make it possible to imagine products and experiences that reflect the identities, cultures, and lived experiences of young people around the world.

Khan Academy’s mission is to provide a free, world‑class education for anyone, anywhere. They provide personalized learning resources for all ages. With practice exercises, instructional videos, and a personalized learning dashboard, Khan Academy empowers learners to study at their own pace, both in and out of the classroom. Covering subjects from kindergarten through early college, including math, science, reading, computing, history, art history, economics, financial literacy, SAT, MCAT, and more, Khan Academy focuses on skill mastery to help learners build the strong foundations they need to succeed in higher education and in their careers.

Named for the co-founder and visionary behind Sesame Street, the Joan Ganz Cooney Center is an independent research and innovation lab within Sesame Workshop that advances positive futures for kids in the digital world. They conduct research on emerging technologies and collaborate with technologists, digital media producers, and educators to put this research into action to support children’s learning and well-being. Joan Ganz Cooney Center also works directly with policy makers and investors to drive national conversations and decisions that help children thrive within the digital world.

Location: YMCA in Brooklyn, NY. 

Date & Time: May 12th, 13th, and 14th from 4:30pm-6:30pm

For more information about GIANT co-design programs and a full list of their workshops, class series, and events, please visit The GIANT Room’s website.

CoDesign ProgramMaru Eugenia Segovia