Christian Long is an educator, school planner, technology expert, passionate advocate for innovative learning communities, and educational futurist.
Christian is the founder of Be Playful, a collaborative global design agency focused on the intersection between school planning/design, emerging technology, professional development, and future trending. Additionally, Christian speaks nationally and internationally on topics ranging from emerging trends in education, 21st century technology and social media, and innovative school planning practices.
Christian currently serves as a national juror on the American Institute of Architects annual school architecture awards program. He also served on CEFPI's (Council for Educational Facility Planners International) World Conference 2010 / San Jose (CA) planning team, the national CEFPI Innovation planning team, and the CEFPI Southern Region planning team. He is also the founder/co-developer of Prototype Design Camp, an innovative national design program for young creatives collaborating on real problems in the real world in real time.
He previously served as President/CEO of DesignShare, a global research and consulting practice dedicated to the school architecture/planning industry, and was the Director of Research for Learning Environments for Huckabee, a K-12 architecture firm in Texas. Christian holds a master’s degree in education, with a concentration in school design, from the Harvard Graduate School of Education. Additionally, he received a bachelor’s degree in English and a certificate of secondary education from Indiana University (Bloomington).
Beyond his work in the school design industry, he spent 15 years as an educator, coach, program director, and experiential education leader in the US, as well as an educator in Tokyo, Japan and on the Navajo Reservation (New Mexico). He also authored and directed an innovative architecture, design, and planning program for urban high school students in Washington D.C. and was a volunteer educator at the National Building Museum.
Christian is married to Karla -- a middle school principal (and history teacher); they have 2 young children (Beckett, class of 2024, and Berkeley, class of 2027). He hopes to retire (many years from now) as a summer camp counselor.
