About
BIO
Currently, I am a graduate student at MIT’s Department of Urban Studies and Planning, in the Masters in City Planning program. My concentration is in housing, community and economic development, and more specifically on developing techniques for community activists and members to use the tools of new media and technology to enact social change. In my work as a research assistant for the MIT@Lawrence project, I will be focused on developing community partnerships and youth voice, while incorporating new ideas from the new Center for Future Civic Media.
I just completed a second year as a VISTA Leader at the CTC VISTA Project and program coordinator and trainer at MassIMPACT. My workplan included supporting two online collaborative social networks (the CTC VISTAs resource portal on CTCVISTA.org and community digital storytelling facilitators on StoresforChange.net), conducting train-the-trainer digital storytelling workshops for massIMPACT’s Spreading the Stories program, and working to bring new programs and collaborations to technology centers in MassIMPACT technology and community centers. In 2005-6, I served the Community Technology & Media Program at UMass Boston, as a curriculum and resource coordinator as well as the Assistant Editor of the Community Technology Review and the Project’s newsletter, the Digest. Additionally, I researched media policy as part of the Tactical Media group and conducted several digital storytelling trainings for both adults and youth. Previously, I was the Technology Director at the Charlestown Boys & Girls Club (MA) Computer Clubhouse and a MIT Media Lab IDEAS Institute Fellow. My background is in after-school multimedia programs for youth, instructional design for web-based trainings, and fundraising and development.
PHILOSOPHY
I have this vivid memory of the day my father brought home our first personal computer, a Commodore 64. I instantly rebelled against what seemed like an unnecessary burden of learning, like proofs in geometry or sit-ups in gym class. Fortunately, I met several teachers along the way that introduced me to project based learning, where I could explore the things I valued (beauty, communication, and creativity) using new media and technology. Multimedia technology has thus become the quiet undercurrent of almost all of the major projects of my life.
I have grown to value media technology as a tool in the process for social change and not just a “magic bean” product. I have seen technology centers, along with other non-profits, fail to holistically approach integrating technology into their programs or allocate enough resources and time to weave technology into the context of their daily operations. The adults and youth in my recent new media workshops are not only often surprised at how easy it is to create the media but also that their voice might matter in a larger conversation. To fight this ignorance, I continue to teach workshops in blogging and digital storytelling in community technology centers and after-school programs, as well as with my fellow VISTAs, literacy educators, and public access producers. I often present new media and technology fluency as both a persuasive and accessible skill as I search for practical solutions to issues of urban planning, public policy, and community development.
But even amid my questions, I can still be excited about the possibility of new media and technology to give meaningful public voice to the under-heard. My personal objectives are to continue fine-tuning my media-making and outreach skills with community groups and youth, particularly in an urban setting, as an educator, advocate, consultant and mentor. But the leap (whether you say it is over the digital divide or the participation gap) is still daunting for people who have never used a computer or struggle to put food on table instead of buying the so-called “inexpensive” tools of new media. A big part of making the leap may be in realizing it is possible. I have seen the simple act of bringing out a digital camera, taking a photo, and uploading it to a blog can become the first step to fluency. The focus of my work is to construct a practical framework for fostering the value of technology and media fluency in local community builders and activists while they implement new programs and initiatives for both individual and group empowerment.
