Curriculum Vitae

Jess Mitchell
Toronto, ON, Canada
(dual citizen Canada and USA)
https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5873-2170

Research & Practice Interests:

Ethics > Pedagogy > Communities > Inclusive Design > Diversity, Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility

Education:

Thomas Jefferson University

2023-expected May 2025
PhD Candidate, ABD, Department of Architecture & Design, SMARTlab.
Pedagogy of One: Designing an Inclusive Pedagogy That Prioritizes Individual Voice
A pedagogical approach aimed at elevating student voices and creating an environment for transformational learning.

University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN

1997-1999
Master of Arts, Department of Philosophy.
Full fellowship. Modern Ethics, Social + Political Philosophy.

Tulane University, New Orleans, LA

1993-1997
Bachelor of Arts, Department of Philosophy,
Minor Political Science + Sociology

Academic Positions

OCAD University, School of Graduate Studies, Toronto, ON

Adjunct Professor in Inclusive Design (MDes) programme

Courses

• 2022-present The Difference
  Building an inclusive design practice. Developing a pedagogical practice that blends Philosophy, Psychology, Design, Disability Studies, Sociology, Education, etc. Focusing class topics on design for inclusion through diversity and equity. Maintaining an emphasis on ethics.
• 2024 Inclusive Art, Design & Community
  Explore communities that form, grow, change, and end over history. Examine controversies in Art and Museum practices. Learn how to conduct co-design and critique it. Form a community of practice.

University of Victoria, Victoria, BC

Instructor, Faculty of Education Department of Curriculum, and Instruction

Courses

• 2021-2024 Learning Design for Technology-Mediated Environments (asynchronous undergraduate)
• 2024 Distributed and Online Learning Open Ed, Open Data, Open Tech, Open Pedagogy

Wilfrid Laurier University, Waterloo, ON

Instructor, Faculty of Design

Course

• 2019-2022 Diversity and Inclusivity in Design
  Introductory undergraduate elective course.

Duke University, Durham, NC, USA

Adjunct Professor, John Hope Franklin Center for Interdisciplinary and International Studies

Course

• 2005-2008 Information Science + Information Studies
  Interdisciplinary certificate. Capstone project-based course. Structured course as a start-up organization where students planned and built a project.

University of Minnesota (Twin Cities), MN, USA

Lecturer, Department of Philosophy

Courses

• 1997 Introduction to Philosophy
• 1998 Logic
• 1999 Political Philosophy
• 1999 Ethics

Student Supervision

• 2015-present OCAD University MDes students
• 2019 SPARC Fellow Mentor
• 2016-2018 Ontario High School Coop Students
• 2017-2018 Google Summer of Code (mentee won Google Women Tech Maker Scholarship award in Asia/Pacific)

Publications:

• Mitchell, J., Lo, L., Scheuhammer, J., Treviranus, J., Spence, R. (2024). Framework for Accessible and Equitable Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Education. eCampus Ontario. https://openlibrary.ecampusontario.ca/item-details/#/3e12459e-1d24-4f1b-b12a-a00cd6dfd25c?k=ai%20in%20education&itemTypes=6&itemTypes=12&sortCol=2&increasePopularSearch=true
• Mitchell, J. (November 2023). A Novel Inclusive Design Framework for Contributing to an Inclusive, Open Pedagogy. In M. Nix (Ed.), AMPS Proceedings Series 36.2: Teaching beyond the curriculum: A focus on pedagogy 2023 (pp. 57-63). AMPS (Architecture Media Politics Society). https://amps-research.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/09/Amps-Proceedings_Series_36.2.pdf
• Mitchell, J. (2023). What is Co-design? Design for All Institute of India Journal, 18(7), 9-17.
• Killam, L., Chumbley, L., Kohonen, S., Stauffer , J., & Mitchell, J. (2023). Co-Creation During a Course: A Critical Reflection on Opportunities for Co-Learning. The Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association Journal, 3(1), 1–12. https://doi.org/10.18357/otessaj.2023.3.1.43
• Killam, L., & Mitchell, J. (2022, April). A Critical Examination of Learner-Educator Co-Creation Within a Course. In The Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association Conference.
• Learning to be Human Together. Published February 28, 2022. https://ecampusontario.pressbooks.pub/onhumanlearn/
• Mitchell, J. (2022, January 7). An attempt to disrupt education – age of awareness – medium. Medium. https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/an-attempt-to-disrupt-education-6c743efb2df0
• Mitchell, J. (2021, December 24). An Attempt to Disrupt Education (part 2) – Age of Awareness – Medium. Medium. https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/an-attempt-to-disrupt-education-part-2-7a6261fbd81c
• Mitchell, J. (2021, December 24). An attempt to disrupt education – age of awareness – medium. Medium. https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/an-attempt-to-disrupt-education-cc44e64bce7
• Mitchell, J. (2021, December 8). The damage we do: assessment – age of awareness – medium. Medium. https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/the-damage-we-do-assessment-ff7c1e3fae88
• Mitchell, J. (2020). “Chapter 31: The Tyranny of “Clear” Thinking.” Open At the Margins. https://press.rebus.community/openatthemargins/
• Mitchell, J. (2021, December 7). The Ethical Edges: What is Our Tolerance for Failure? Who are we Comfortable Leaving Behind? Medium. https://medium.com/age-of-awareness/the-ethical-edges-what-is-our-tolerance-for-failure-who-are-we-comfortable-leaving-behind-9214d380772a
• Mitchell, J., and J. Treviranus. (2017) “Chapter 4 – Inclusive Design in Ecosystems A2 – Vimarlund, Vivian.” E-Health Two-Sided Markets. Academic Press, 43–61. Web.
• Clark, C., Mitchell, J., Shahi, S., Stolarick, K., Trevinarus, J., Vanderheiden, G., & Vimarlund, V. (2017). “Use Model for a User Centred Design in Multidisciplinary Teams.” Studies in health technology and informatics, 242, (pp. 1063-1066).
• Shahi, S., J Mitchell, D Ayotte. D103.1 Foundational Design for Prosperity4All. Prosperity4All EU project, FP7-610510, 2016.
• Mitchell, J., K Stolarick, S Shahi, V Vimarlund. D404. 1 Prosperity4All prosperity indicators, data analytics and usage metrics design and modelling tools. Prosperity4All EU project, FP7-610510, 2016.
• Cheetham, A., Ayotte, D., Hung, J., Vass, J., Clark, C., Mitchell, J. & Treviranus, J. (2014) Accessible Metadata Generation. Springer International Publishing, 101-110.
• Treviranus, J., Clark, C., Mitchell, J., & Vanderheiden, G. C. (2014). “Prosperity4All–Designing a Multi-Stakeholder Network for Economic Inclusion.” In Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Design for All and Accessibility Practice (pp. 453-461). Springer International Publishing.
• Treviranus, J., Mitchell, J., Clark, C., & Roberts, V. (2014). “An Introduction to the FLOE Project.” In Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Universal Access to Information and Knowledge (pp. 454-465). Springer International Publishing.
• Schwerdtfeger, R., Vanderheiden, G. C., Treviranus, J., Clark, C., Mitchell, J., Petrides, L., & Brennan, M. (2014). “PGA: Preferences for Global Access.” In Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Design for All and Accessibility Practice (pp. 325-336). Springer International Publishing.
• Cheetham, A., Ayotte, D., Hung, J., Vass, J., Clark, C., Mitchell, J., & Treviranus, J. (2014). “Accessible Metadata Generation.” In Universal Access in Human-Computer Interaction. Universal Access to Information and Knowledge (pp. 101-110). Springer International Publishing.

Self-Published Works:

• Mitchell, J. (2023, January 25). Can Trust be Built Online? A Journey Toward Creating Brave Spaces. Medium. https://medium.com/@jesshmitchell/can-trust-be-built-online-a-journey-toward-creating-brave-spaces-fde5cca547f1
• Mitchell, J. (2022, January 5). What is Co-design? – Jess Mitchell – Medium. Medium. https://jesshmitchell.medium.com/what-is-co-design-851d731286ec
• Mitchell, J. (2021, December 12). Binaries, boxes, the grid and sorting — an exploration through habit, form, function, art, and philosophy. Medium. https://jesshmitchell.medium.com/binaries-boxes-the-grid-and-sorting-an-exploration-through-habit-form-function-art-and-15d4082b4548
• Mitchell, J. (2021, December 10). ‘Open’ and ‘Inclusive’: what the heck are they? – Jess Mitchell – Medium. Medium. https://jesshmitchell.medium.com/open-and-inclusive-what-the-heck-are-they-7b0960c1c05a
• Mitchell, J. (2021, December 10). ‘Open’ and ‘Inclusive’: how we get both wrong – Jess Mitchell – Medium. Medium. https://jesshmitchell.medium.com/open-and-inclusive-how-we-get-both-wrong-1f908a9517c7
• Mitchell, J. (2021, December 9). Inclusive: what is it? – Jess Mitchell – Medium. Medium. https://jesshmitchell.medium.com/inclusive-what-is-it-55acfd8094dd
• Mitchell, J. (2021, December 8). What will it look like and feel like to do Inclusive Design? To address Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion. Medium. https://jesshmitchell.medium.com/what-does-it-look-like-and-feel-like-to-do-inclusive-design-thinking-and-practice-1ac489d58c8b

Editor & Reviewer:

• 2018 Designing with Sound, O’Reilly
• 2017 Ontario Digital Service Digital Inclusion Research Fund project reviewer

Presentations:

Selected Keynotes:

• December 2022 Open Oregon Keynote: Designing Education for Equity: Moving Beyond Inclusion 101
• December 2022 Experiences of Change in Teaching and Learning; McMaster University Innovations in Education Conference
• November 2022 Normal it Wasn’t What could it look like to have equitable access to education? e-Campus TESS panel creator and moderator
• November 2022 Designing Education for Equity: Moving Beyond Inclusion 101
• June 2021 CACUSS workshop pre-conference
• April 2021 Centennial College “Assessment Days”
• October 2020 Moving beyond Talking and Planning to Doing. ProDev event Canada Life, online
• November 2019 eLearning in Libraries Symposium, 2019, Toronto Metropolitan U, Toronto
• October 2019 Open Education in the Mitten: Michigan Community College Association OER meeting; Delta College, Bay City, Michigan
• October 2019 Louisiana LOUIS Users Conference (LUC); Baton Rouge, LA
• October 2019 Achieving the Dream coaching event; Louisville, KY
• July 2019 Inclusive Design in Education. Open Textbook Network Summer Institute,
• May 2019 Cambrian College Inclusive Design. Sudbury,
• April 2019 Inclusive. Creative Mornings, Toronto,
• March 2019 How Do You Practice. Digital Pedagogy Lab Toronto, Toronto
• March 2019 The Revolution is Now. Brock University Open Education Week, St. Catharines
• February 2019 Inclusive Design: Tools, technologies, and strategies. Centennial College, Scarborough
• February 2019 Inclusive | Design |Education. Star Symposium,
• January 2019 Inaugural meeting of #a11yHAM (Hamilton Accessibility MeetUp) Mohawk College, Hamilton,
• January 2019 Curiosity, Stream of Consciousness, Critical Thinking, and Communities of Practice. ATI New Hampshire, Manchester, NH,
• November 2018 The Ethical Edges We Build; University of Guelph Library speaker series,
• November 2018 This New Thing: Inclusive Design: Leadership and Inclusive Design in a Changing Time. Gilbert + Tobin, Sydney, Australia,
• October 2018 Tolerance for Failure: Open Education and its Ethical Edges. OpenEd Niagara, NY
• June 2018 Nothing is Neutral: Inclusive Design Thinking, Healthcare Outcomes, and the Best Way to Open a Door. Sunnybrook healthcare conference,
• June 2018 What You Measure is What You Value. Ted Rogers School of Management: Diversity and Inclusion in Corporate Leadership, Toronto,
• March 2018 Equity, Inclusion, & Diversity: questioning, reflecting, disrupting; co-presented with Mark Campbell, PhD, Ontario Museums Association: Inclusive Museum Leadership Symposium; Toronto

Podcasts & Interviews:

• 2018, 2019, 2021 Gettin’ Air with Terry Greene by voiced Radio
• 2019 Ask the Flipped Learning Network
• 2018 Open Ed Rising: How Can OER Be More Inclusive?
• 2018 CC Humans of the Commons
• 2018 EdSurge
• 2016 Quantization: Episode Two, Gender

Workshops, Consulting, and Facilitation:

• 2023 Macalester College, Open Pedagogy consultation including Keynote and open workshop with faculty
• 2021-2023 Google, lululemon, IKEA workshops and consulting on Inclusive Design and Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion
• June 2021 CACUSS workshop pre-conference,
• 2020 University of Alaska, Fairbanks faculty seminar in making distance education inclusive and accessible during COVID-19
• February 2019 Inclusive Design; Centennial College workshop;
• April 2019 OpenStax Workshop days Presentation, Houston;
• 2018 Open Textbook Network – inclusive design in education: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U7NVsebgx70
• 2018 Curriculum Developers Affinity Group Back to Basics Conference, Inclusive Design in Curriculum
• October 2018 Centre for Inclusive Design (week-long training for team); Sydney, Australia
• 2018 Royal Ontario Museum staff Inclusion workshop,
• 2018 Ontario Public Service 5x workshops with various departments
• 2018 City of Toronto Museums & Heritage Services, Design Thinking workshop
• 2018 Southern University – inclusive design in Education
• 2018 BC Campus – inclusive design Webinar Series

https://video.bccampus.ca/media/Inclusive+Design+Webinar+Series+Part+1A+Inclusive+Design/0_vo0at97w

• 2018 Mozilla, Diversity and Inclusion for Communities and Contributors:https://wiki.mozilla.org/Diversity_and_Inclusion_for_Communities_and_Contributors/DI_Call_09_04_2018
• 2017 Rebus; Accessibility in Open Textbooks;

Other Relevant Experience

Senior Manager Research + Design

2008-current
Inclusive Design Research Centre (IDRC), OCAD University; formerly the Adaptive Technology Resource Centre, University of Toronto

• Lead education: executive, conduct workshops, perform long-term consultations, and facilitate groups in inclusion, innovation, and diversity (across education, government, industry, and non-profit partners).
• Manage multi-year projects with budgets from $300,000 – $10 million.
• Manage community, open-source projects: Fluid Project, Infusion, Floe Project, Inclusive Design Institute, and more.
• Write grant proposals, research reports, policies, and standards.

Senior Project Manager

2004-2008
Office of Information Technology
Duke University, Durham, NC

• Directed innovative and strategic projects centrally.
• Catalyzed groups of technologists and faculty to discover, plan, build, implement, and support high-impact projects while managing a $1 million budget.
• Built infrastructure, planned, purchased, and worked with vendors to support the Duke Digital Initiative, including iPods in the classroom, HD cameras, podcasts, and blogs.
• Led the creation of Apple’s iTunes U.
• Created 1st year movie-making event called Froshlife.
• Brought together technical and non-technical groups around the University and the Durham community to achieve collaborative, innovative technology solutions while changing University policy and culture along the way.
• Created partnership with Youth Document Durham, a program of the Duke Center for Documentary Studies.

Volunteer Consultant

2003-2004
Geekcorps, Accra, Ghana, West Africa

• Built the Ghana Internet Exchange Point, a L-2 switching device that allows local traffic in Ghana to bypass expensive international bandwidth and stay local, saving the ISPs and NSPs money and building a national “web.”
• Established the Ghana Internet Exchange Association (GIXA) and then built membership to over 20 ISPs and NSPs.
• Built collaborations among Ghana’s private and public sectors, telecommunications regulator, government ministry, and international aid agencies.
• Procured $100,000 worth of equipment and resources as donations from Cisco, Intel, Motorola, Siemens, and community members. The project included a 60-meter mast, 360˚ wireless antennae, switch, wiring, switch closet, air conditioner, backup power, monitoring plan, policies for members, etc.
• Secured a location for the exchange at the Ghana-India Kofi Annan Centre of Excellence in ICT – at no cost, and in perpetuity.
• Wrote a strategy with the Government of Ghana’s Deputy Minister of Communications and Technology for the highly politicized transition of the country code top-level domain, ccTLD, to a non-profit group of stakeholders who broadly represented Internet interests in Ghana.
• Worked to stabilize and develop the Ghana Internet Service Provider Association (GISPA). Grew association membership and helped members work together toward common interests.
• Helped GISPA develop a common voice on policy and lobbying issues, resulting in the monopoly Telco lowering prices for and reselling connections to the SAT-3/WASC fibre.

Service

Event Coordination:

• 2019 Guerrilla Education! A Very Hands-On Open Education Week Event March 8, 2019, at OCAD
• 2014-2019 DEEP conference co-coordinator

https://deep.idrc.ocadu.ca

Membership:

• 2019-current OTESSA (Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association) Board Member
• 2019 Founding Board Member of Association Name: Open/Technology in Education, Society, and Scholarship Association (OTESSA). Equity Member
• 2022-2024 AACU (American Association of Colleges and Universities) Institute on Open Educational Resources Faculty Advisor
• 2019-2022 Rebus Ink scholarly research and publishing group Advisory Board Member
• 2021 THUNDER Indigifest Volunteer