Bob Lenz is executive director of the Buck Institute for Education (BIE), the industry leading organization in
providing professional development and support services for K-12 Project Based Learning. He co-authored
Transforming Schools: Using Project Based Learning, Performance Assessment and Common Core
Standards, and is recognized internationally as a leader in Project Based Learning and school redesign.
Bob began his career as a middle and high school teacher, then co-founded Envision Education and its
innovative project based schools in the San Francisco Bay Area, which help students become the first in their
family to attend AND graduate from college. He was Envision’s CEO and Chief of Innovation from 2001 to
2015.
Bob and his organizations have worked successfully on projects funded by the Hewlett Foundation, Stuart
Foundation, Gates Foundation, Kellogg Foundation, Irvine Foundation, Carnegie Corporation Foundation,
Project Management Institute Education Foundation, ECMC Foundation, and Castle Foundation. Bob has led
efforts to expand deeper learning throughout the United States, and is called upon to speak in the U.S. and
internationally about the power of Project Based Learning to transform learning and lives.
Bob grew up on the island of Catalina, off the coast of Southern California, and now lives near San Francisco.
Now that their children are in college, he and his wife have more time for raising their breeder guide dog,
following rugby matches across the world, cycling, and stand up paddle boarding.