Carrie Lobman is a sociocultural scholar and play movement leader. She is Associate Professor of education in the department of Learning and Teaching at the Graduate School of Education, Rutgers University and the Leader of Education and Research at the East Side Institute, an independent grassroots research and training center that focuses on innovative approaches to human development and social change. Carrie’s research, published in dozens of articles and books, advances an understanding of the value of play and improvisation as critical for development across the lifespan and across borders. Her 2016 co-authored book, Unscripted Learning: Using Improvisation Across the K-8 Curriculum (Teachers College Press), continues to inspire teachers across settings to be more improvisational with their students. Carrie hosts the East Side Institute's "Play, Development and Social Justice" webinar series and co-leads the International Class, its flagship program. Carrie serves as a mentor to emerging performance activists around the world and is an advisor to and former member of the national board of directors of the All Stars Project, a national leader in afterschool development. She received her doctorate from Teachers College, Columbia University.