Education

Learning Experience Design for Changemakers

by Renee Koster, Learning Design Strategist

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Latest episodes

Episode 019: How to Train Volunteers Without Rebuilding From Scratch Every Season — Stop replanting your orientation every fall and design training that comes back on its own.

October 7, 2026 · 15 min

Every fall, a new group of volunteers walks in, and a week later the same 10 questions are back at your desk. In this episode, Renee shows why those questions aren’t a volunteer problem: they’re a map of exactly where your training needs…
Episode 018 Why Museums Like the Academy Matter (And How to Help Them Last) — The day before Philadelphia's Academy of Natural Sciences closed, and what every kid-serving program can learn.

September 30, 2026 · 18 min

The Academy of Natural Sciences in Philadelphia closed its doors to the public after nearly 200 years. The day before, Renee took her family, along with more than 8,000 other people who showed up in the middle of a nor'easter. This…
Episode 017: What Your Learners Are Avoiding (And How to Find Out) — When someone goes quiet, it's rarely about your program. Here's how to hear the real story.

September 23, 2026 · 11 min

Have you ever had someone in your program just… go quiet? No dramatic exit, no complaint — just an unopened module and a check-in that never comes back. In this episode, Renee shares the time she was that learner, what her coach did that…
Episode 016: How to Find the Data That's Already Hiding in Your Training Program - A monarch caterpillar count taught me exactly where to look for proof my content is working.

September 16, 2026 · 10 min

What does a swamp milkweed plant have to do with your training program? Renee's backyard ran an accidental experiment this summer, and the results are exactly the kind of data you should be hunting for in your own learning program. In…
Episode 015: Why Your Training Program Keeps Breaking (And How to Fix It) — The one design mistake behind almost every training that falls apart.

September 9, 2026 · 7 min

If your training feels like a pile of patches wearing a training's clothes, this episode is your permission slip to stop white-knuckling it alone — and the design method that actually fixes it. In this episode: Why most trainings break…

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Episode 014: 3 Behind the Work Highlights — The real roots behind a learning experience design career, straight from the source.

September 2, 2026 · 14 min

You know what I do — but do you know who I am underneath it? In this solo episode, I trade the usual teaching format for my own back-to-school exercise: sharing where my work in learning experience design actually comes from — a childhood…
Episode 013: Build Your Learning Ecosystem Before It's Ready — How an evolving backyard garden reveals the real secret to organic audience growth.

August 26, 2026 · 12 min

Three years ago, our backyard was one overgrown bed and a dying greenhouse. Today it's a full ecosystem — herbs, wildflowers, tomatoes, roses, blackberries, a grapevine-wrapped patio, and enough birds, bees, and butterflies to prove it…
Episode 012: You Can't Prove It Worked If You Didn't Design For It — Why most program evaluation fails before the program even starts.

August 19, 2026 · 13 min

Most of us find out we don't have real proof our program works right when we need it most — writing a report, walking into a renewal call, or facing a board. In this episode, Renee breaks down why that's a timing problem, not a talent…
Episode 011: How to Notice the Data You Didn't Plan to Measure — A five-minute habit that turns unplanned observations into your next big idea.

August 12, 2026 · 5 min

A goldfinch landing on a basil plant isn't data — until it is. In this short one, Renee tells the story behind her most-requested tangent of the summer and what it taught her about the evaluation plans we build (and the ones we don't). In…
Episode 010: Kindness Isn't a Skill You Teach — It's One You Model — Krista Spadt on raising empathetic kids one Smile Bag at a time.

August 5, 2026 · 26 min

What if teaching kindness was as simple as a drop of food coloring in a glass of milk? In this episode, Renee sits down with Krista Spadt, founder of The Simple Gifts Project, to talk about how one nonprofit turns small gestures into…
Episode 009: More Content Isn't Helping Your Students, It's Hurting Them — Why generosity without structure buries your best material instead of delivering it.

July 29, 2026 · 13 min

You’ve built the milestones. You’ve built the engagement. Now here’s the last piece of the puzzle: how much content actually belongs in your course — and it’s probably less than you think. In this episode: Why "more content feels safer"…
Episode 008: 3 Milestones To Make Trainings Actually Work — Two real rebuilds show what happens when every action ties to a milestone.

July 22, 2026 · 13 min

Emoji drops and polls aren't purposeful engagement — they're decoration. In part 3 of the Roots to Canopy miniseries, Renee draws the line between engagement that just holds attention and engagement that actually reinforces what you're…

Full episode archive on Apple Podcasts →

About the show

Most educators start with content. Renee Koster starts with the outcome. Learning Experience Design for Changemakers is a podcast for nonprofit leaders and heart-led entrepreneurs who want to design learning experiences that engage, transform, and last. No hustle culture. No quick fixes. Just purposeful design that serves your learners and scales your impact.