Anne Sallaerts

I am driven to contribute to a better world by giving children the future-ready skills, such as creative problem solving, technological literacy and change-making so they can deal with social, economic and environmental challenges, now and in a very fast-changing future. I strongly believe in the child’s ability to be a changemaker in whichever way they feel is best. Therefore I value the fact that our Designathon process gives children more knowledge about these challenges and empowers them to make a difference.

In my current role as Managing Director, I am leading the international Designathon Works organization together with fellow THNKer Emer Beamer. In this role I use my 15 years of experience as a leader and design thinker in both the corporate and NGO worlds, mainly focused on business development, strategy, creative concepting, and innovation. I get my energy from driving (young) people, companies, projects, ideas, and teams forward. 

Designathon Works is a young foundation. We developed a unique design thinking method for children to empower and unleash their creativity to design a better world using new technologies. We aim to reach 1 million children globally by 2023.

With the Designathon Works learning method grounded in design thinking, the child is understood as a complete human being endowed with great creative capacity. Through this method, we enable teachers to tap into the natural space of play within a child and among children, to stimulate their interest and engagement in social issues, and from there, challenge them to design solutions for these issues aided by the use of modern technology. Our flagship project is the yearly Global Children's Designathon held in 40 cities worldwide and growing.

Designathon Works is recognized by Ashoka, by Dubai Expo 2020 as Global Innovator, by HundrED as one of the world’s leading innovators in sustainability education.