SXSW Edu "Slacker" Lounge

In 2013, Google EDU sponsored SXSW's Edu conference in Austin, TX. Co-leading the effort, I worked alongside our Chromebooks, Apps for Edu, YouTube and STEM education teams to combine Sales, Developer and Education Outreach objectives under one EDU brand. With about 60 days lead time, the challenge was to inspire new teaching and learning practices within a modest budget and leave no question as to Google's relevance in the education technology space.

We designed a multi-purpose space (pictured here) with plenty of room to stretch out and accommodate a variety of bodies and preferences. By building a literal platform for learning, the abstract concepts of open source software, Cloud-based computing and accessible, free resources were felt as well as understood.

See review: http://www.teachergraph.com/blog/top-10-edtech-sessions-sxswedu-2014/

Near-Peer Learning

Hackly, our family-focused, free, programming experience, enabled technology startups like Wonder Workshop and Ozobot to open up their tools to youth for tinkering and feedback. Each event empowered young tech enthusiasts to learn in their own style and at their own pace with opportunities to share and explain their insights to adults (shown here) and their peers in collaborative projects.

Code Review at I/O Youth 2014

With Director of Open Source, Chris DiBona, the closing session of our youth programming track was structured as a code lab where submitted work was projected onto a screen. This gave participants the floor to suggest bug fixes, future iterations and thoughts from the day's events.

Peer dialog like this empowers new coders to contribute and receive feedback as equals, just like we do in software projects at Google. It affirmed DiBona's reflections that "coding was the first time [he] was taken seriously" as a young person.

The Pransome Project

In 2015, I gave myself permission to invent. The result was Pransome, a pre-emptive tailoring concept that uses body data from genderqueer consumers to establish shorter rack sizes that do not exist from their original brands.

We are finding that between 25% and 30% of the online menswear market require alterations, which take between 5 and 14 days to complete. By retrofitting garments in advance, consumers enjoy the speed of online shopping without the burden or expense of designing their own garments. Pransome remains a hobby as I refine my craft and document the garment retrofitting process for potential patent.

As compelling as we think our ideas are, it takes a quick chat with young people to bring us back to reality. Meeting with California high school classes via Google Hangouts over the years has made me a strong advocate for general "disruption" of traditional classroom dynamics and ways of teaching.

The 21st century classroom has no walls. Outreach, then, demands we meet learners wherever they are and supply adequate resources to satisfy all ways of learning. Live chats like the one shown, invite youth perspectives on current technology both in conversation or written form. For example, the white panel to the right of the screen provides a forum for anonymous live comments. The dynamic nature of video broadcasts invite real-time contributions, including hyperlink references or polling data for collective review.

To spur compliance in Amazon’s global launch policy, I stretched our standard tools beyond typical uses to automate steps, design branding (including this logo) and digitize submission data for the first time.

Breaking from traditional document reviews, this strategy availed rich, pre-launch metadata and the justification given for approved launch exceptions. Not only did this enable mobile access and real-time edits from team members but also provided the first bulk transfer of product pre-release timelines for the core technology that runs Amazon.com. By digitizing when we did, our proof of concept directed product refinements in advance of the companywide launch of Amazon’s Global Parity System (GPS) platform in Jul 2019.

As a Tech Advisor for a small, non-profit in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood, I have had the unique chance to serve BIPOC, LGBTQIA, and neurodivergent artist throughout the Pacific Northwest. Forever Safe Spaces invited me to address how I support disenfranchised communities given my areas of racial, and academic and financial privilege so that I freely give what was given without question to me. Over the past few years, I have installed intake and community management tools for the non-profit as well as guided the creation of media and web products for events and donor engagement.

One Team, One Mission

Within the Consumer Experience Technology group at Amazon, I used department-wide events like the CXT Fall 2017 All Hands to ensure our global workforce had a voice in planning, driving content and access to our bi-annual all-staff meeting with executives in real-time. This was the first time we live-streamed the event to 5 separate time zones and established real-time communications between remote team members and our presenters.

Active dialogue with remote sites provided avenues for better team cohesion and multiple forums for anonymous and constructive feedback with our leadership team.

Part of my advocacy work with under-represented communities in led me to consultancy work with mid-career professionals in Tech. Building out a separate resource called Neuroinclusion.io that provides real-world exemplars for managers and colleagues working with neurodivergent team members.

Scientific American Mind Map

An after-hours event at SXSW 2014 invited community members to add to a visual transcript of Scientific American’s panel earlier in the day.

Efforts like these are essential to move the needle forward within communities of practice. will bridge the gap between live attendance and virtual contribution. Editor-in-Chief, Mariette Di Christina, highlights our effort in the magazine's May 2015 print edition.

Visit the live map here: https://www.mindmeister.com/503069105/the-science-of-learning

3D Lunar Landscape

Having small groups investigate real-world problems like the lunar robot maneuvers shown here invites new coders to communicate ideas, test, and brainstorm solutions together. We maintained a 1:5 device ratio (1 device per 5 attendees) to spark further discussion and observation. Additionally, in an effort to promote inclusion and cultural diversity, we ensured that participants represented a cross section of San Francisco Bay Area communities, paying close attention to gender, SES, cultural identity, physical ability, and coding experience.

NASA experts and Google staff were largely "hands off" to let young technologists explore at their own pace and let personal curiosity direct scientific inquiry. Software engineers offered additional explanation and challenges to satisfy a range of learning levels.

Project-Based Learning

Iterative projects like this robotics challenge using Coding with Chrome, invite contributors to document what worked, what didn’t and ideas for 2nd and 3rd session participants to consider later in the day.

We used a pre-made sensor function with Lego Mindstorms instead of having participants start from a blank slate. Newbies have immediately success in their efforts to make the device move and build upon a working model to learn and test assumptions.

Coding with Chrome is a free app that integrates text and visual programing languages with a variety of robot toys and simulations from a Chrome browser and Bluetooth. This removes obstacles like syntax, hardware and consistent internet access to keep the focus on logical reasoning over resources to grow confidence and esteem in young technologists.