Sarah Stein Greenberg

Sarah Stein Greenberg is the executive director of the Hasso Plattner Institute of Design at Stanford University, widely known as the d.school. Since 2010, she has helped lead the interdisciplinary institute, shaping its mission to nurture innovators and expand the global reach of design thinking across education, industry and social impact.

Prior to joining Stanford, Stein Greenberg worked in the innovation practice of Monitor Group in the United States and India, advising multinational organizations on building innovation capabilities. Her professional background also includes developing new products and services in emerging markets throughout Asia and Africa.

In the classroom, Stein Greenberg explores the intersection of design thinking, systems change and social impact. She has co-taught the d.school’s foundational “Design Thinking Bootcamp” as well as “Entrepreneurial Design for Extreme Affordability,” a flagship course focused on innovation for the developing world. She also created “Design Thinking for Public Policy Innovators” and launched an experimental program of short-format “pop-up” classes to test new approaches to learning.

More recently, Stein Greenberg spearheaded the d.school’s exploration of the future of undergraduate education at Stanford, culminating in the ambitious project “Stanford 2025,” which proposed bold new models for the structure and purpose of college learning. She has spoken about this work at Wired magazine’s “Wired by Design” conference and other national forums. Stein Greenberg holds an MBA from Stanford University and a BA in history from Oberlin College.