sprout & co. is now Powderhouse. This is an archival site.

about us

sprout grew from our collective desire for rich, social learning experiences. That desire has become a driving interest in the design of tools & media to support creative investigation into computation and storytelling. Interested in working with us? Let us know!

Our Team

Compelled by computation's potential to transform learning, Alec cares about the tools we use to think & explore. Before sprout, he studied math & physics and co-founded nublabs, an electromechanical design firm where he built learning tools & toys.
Shaunalynn believes that learning is doing and doing is power. She believes we disempower young people when we underestimate them and don't support them in doing the things they are capable of doing. She also plays brass music, programs computers, draws pictures, and rides bikes.
Molly joined sprout & co. in 2015. Combining a background in biology with an infectious love for nature, young people, and all living things, she believes in the power of strong relationships to support deep, human development. She also dances, runs, and takes photographs.

Our Board

Bakhtiar Mikhak

Bakhtiar Mikhak is one of sprout & co's founding board members and works on the design of the Powderhouse Studios' staff on-boarding process. Bakhtiar is currently the CEO of Media Modifications, which he co-founded after being a professor leading the Grassroots Invention Group at the MIT Media Lab.

John Bell

John co-founded the Great Small Works theater company: a New York City collective of artists working to keep theater at the heart of social life. He is also a founder and coordinator of the HONK! Festival. John is currently a fellow at MIT's Program in Art, Culture, and Technology and director of the Ballard Institute and Museum of Puppetry at the University of Connecticut.

Beth O'Sullivan

Beth co-founded the Science Club for Girls: a program that brings hands-on science clubs to 600 girls in the Boston area, working to close the socioeconomic and gender gaps in science. She also founded and directs the Mathemagics Workshop, which has created a series of games & activities designed to bring playful mathematics back into childrens' experience of math.