Join us on September 18th as part of Harvard Climate Action Week, to hear from Sean Arthurs, Ed.L.D ’16, Director of Global Education and Training at EarthRights International, Cristoforo Magliozzi, A.B’ 11, Creative Director at MASS, Kaitlin McGaw, A.B ’00, Co-leader of Alphabet Rockers, and Eileen McGivney, Ph.D ‘23, Assistant Professor at Northeastern University with moderation by Joe Blatt, Ed.M ’77, Senior Lecturer at Harvard Graduate School of Education. They will reflect on the innovative and diverse ways they are as artists, educators, and technologists using creative tools to spark climate awareness and action. Whether through music, film, virtual reality, or curriculum design, these Harvard alumni demonstrate how storytelling can influence hearts, minds, law, and policy.

Co-sponsored by:
Harvard Faculty of Arts and Sciences Mignone Center for Career Success
Harvard Graduate School of Education Career Services Office

Please note registration is part of Harvard Climate Action Week Events

Sean Arthurs, Ed.L.D ’16, is EarthRights’ Director of Global Education and Training. He is a lifelong learner with extensive experience working at the intersection of law and education. Seán has trained teachers and designed, implemented, and evaluated learning and training programs across the globe. He is passionate about partnering with others to build more equitable and accessible educational systems and structures for all learners and leaders. Before joining EarthRights, Seán worked as a high school teacher, judicial clerk, Skadden Fellow and Legal Aid attorney, human rights volunteer, litigation associate, Clinical Teaching Fellow, Online Learning Facilitator, and non-profit Director.
Seán holds a Doctorate in Educational Leadership from the Harvard Graduate School of Education, a B.B.A. (University of Notre Dame), a J.D. (University of Cincinnati), a Master of Arts in Teaching (University of Portland), and an L.L.M. in Advocacy (Georgetown University Law Center). He has written and presented widely on learner-centered education, scaling in the education space, and best practices in virtual teaching and learning. When he is not attending school or building programs, Seán is laughing and exploring with his two lively and inquisitive children who remind him frequently about how little he knows.

Joe Blatt, Ed.M ’77, is a Senior Lecturer in Education at Harvard Graduate School of Education and interested in the effects of media content and technology on development, learning, and civic behavior. His courses span both formal and informal settings. He is renewing the historic relationship between HGSE and Sesame Workshop, as recently documented in the Harvard Gazette. Blatt directs the HGSE Faculty Focus on Teaching project and programs the "Entertainment through Education series of Askwith Forum presentations. He was also co-creator and initial project director of the Usable Knowledge website, which makes HGSE faculty research available and accessible to practitioners.
Blatt's expertise in children's media has led to consulting and advising relationships with many major production companies, including Sesame Workshop, WGBH, Walden Media, PBS Kids, and Pokemon. For more than twenty years he created educational multimedia and broadcast television programs, currently as president and executive producer at RiverRun Media. Before serving as executive producer of Scientific American Frontiers, the PBS magazine series starring Alan Alda, Blatt made documentaries for the NOVA science series. He also created the Break Through television series to profile contemporary African American, Latino, and Native American scientists and engineers. In partnership with the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Blatt developed an innovative web-based mentoring program to amplify the impact of this PBS series.
Blatt produced close to 100 programs for the Annenberg Foundation and the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, including the popular statistics series Against All Odds, the discrete mathematics series For All Practical Purposes, and a primetime documentary, Surprises in Mind, about children's capacity for mathematical thinking. For six years he was a producer of public affairs and new technology programs at WGBH. Before that, Blatt created Feeling Free, a nationally broadcast television series to facilitate mainstreaming of disabled students into public schools.

Cristoforo Magliozzi, A.B’ 11, is a Creative Director at MASS, where he uses film, animation, and emergent media to translate complex ideas—ranging from climate resilience to design justice—into contextually rooted stories that spark imagination, mobilize action, and center narratives of healing and joy.
His work blends community engagement with visual experimentation, stewarding narratives that help people see the connections between place, culture, and abundant futures.
A 2011 Harvard College graduate in Comparative Literature, Cris has built a career at the intersection of art, technology, and social change. He has collaborated with communities from Rwanda to what is now called Montana, and with organizations including the Obama White House, Techstars, and metaLAB (at) Harvard. Across contexts, he treats storytelling as a form of public design—one that can illuminate challenges, reveal possibilities, and inspire collective agency. He holds an MFA in Film from the University of Texas at Austin.

Kaitlin McGaw, A.B ’00, is an EMMY and GRAMMY Award-winning artist, writer, and cultural strategist whose work bridges the worlds of music, social justice, and education. Raised in Belmont, MA and grounded in Afro-American Studies, Kaitlin is a powerful artistic translator—taking complex ideas, societal challenges, and even scientific breakthroughs, and transforming them into songs and stories that shift culture. As the co-founder of Alphabet Rockers, she has created a platform where all ages engage with themes of identity, belonging, and empathy through music that is both accessible and deeply impactful. Her art invites people of all ages to ask bold questions, imagine new possibilities, and move forward together -- and is currently focusing on amplifying climate solutions and climate care.
At the heart of Kaitlin’s work is a belief in radical imagination and community care. Through Alphabet Rockers, she has co-authored award-winning picture books, released GRAMMY-recognized albums, and developed innovative media projects that reach millions. Her songwriting brings people into dialogue—breaking down systemic issues into lyrics that educate, heal, and inspire. Kaitlin leads with collaboration, mentorship, and love, cultivating spaces where young artists grow into cultural leaders. Whether performing at The Kennedy Center, writing with educators, or partnering with scientists and climate activists, Kaitlin’s creative leadership makes abstract concepts tangible, sparking transformation in classrooms, communities, and the culture at large.

Eileen McGivney, Ph.D ‘23 is the Principal Investigator of the XR Education Design Lab and an Assistant Professor at Northeastern University with appointments in Art + Design and Communication Studies. She researches how people learn with immersive technologies like virtual reality (VR), with a particular interest in affective dimensions of learning like sense of agency, motivation, and emotions. Her work uses design-based and participatory approaches to create VR experiences that leverage the affordances of the technology while also addressing real needs of learners and educators.
Eileen received her PhD in Education from Harvard University, a Masters of Public Policy from Sabanci University, and a Bachelors in Media Studies from the University of Illinois. Prior to academia she researched education policy at the Brookings Institution and the Education Reform Initiative in Istanbul, Turkey.