Community Engagement
Friends of Ganondagan
Board of Trustees, VICE PRESIDENT
The Friends of Ganondagan lends physical, spiritual, and financial support to Ganondagan State Historic Site. The Friends of Ganondagan believe in preserving and promoting the Message of Peace by fostering an informed interest in Native American history and culture–in particular, the Seneca relation to the Haudenosaunee Confederacy. Board Member since 2017, elected Vice President in 2024. Also member of Finance, Marketing, and Art Committees.
2021–present
Memorial Art Gallery
Art committee
MAG’s Art Committee maintains jurisdiction over all acquisitions to and deaccessions from the permanent collections of MAG, either by purchase, bequest, transfer, abandonment, exchange, gift or sale. Committee also advises museum President and Board on art collection matters including authorization of loans of works of art to other institutions. One of two non-Board Managers invited to join committee.
2023, 2024
Memorial Art Gallery
Clothesline ART Festival Judge
Based on my artistic practice, I was invited to serve as a judge for the juried Clothesline Festival at the Memorial Art Gallery in 2023 and 2024.
2019, 2023
Ganondagan State Historic Site
Hodinöhsö:ni’ Juried Art Show Judge
Honored to judge the Hodinöhsö:ni’ Juried Art Show at Ganondagan State Historic Site in both 2019 and 2023. The role aligned directly with my scholarly focus on contemporary Indigenous design and cultural representation.
2022
Al Sigl | RIT IdeaLab
Team coach
IdeaLab is multidisciplinary design workshop focused on addressing accessibility and medical challenges in partnership with community organizations. Organized by RIT’s Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the program brings together students from all disciplines, including engineering, business, and design.
In spring 2022, IdeaLab was sponsored by Al Sigl, Rochester Regional Health, and Endless Highway. I coached a team focused on developing an accessible lavatory for wheelchair users at flight with support from Al Sigl.
Rochester Refugee Sewing and Repair | T-minus
project co-lead
T-minus is an annual one-week design charette that engages all students in RIT’s Industrial Design Program.
In 2020, the event was sponsored by Rochester Refugee Sewing and Repair (RRSR), a community-driven sewing business employing refugee artisans to produce high-quality textile goods. Students designed accessories, pet products, and household soft goods for production by RRSR. Solutions considered considered ease of manufacture, market expectations, creative opportunities for stitchers, and the stories of refugees in America.
Veterans Outreach Commission | EUREKA!
FACILITATOR
EUREKA! is an annual intensive interdisciplinary workshop with juniors, seniors, and grad students spanning the five School of Design disciplines. Working in small teams, students use design thinking to address social issues in partnership with community organizations. EUREKA! is organized by Graphic Design professor Lorrie Frear.
In 2019, EUREKA! partnered with Veterans Outreach Commission (VOC) of Rochester, NY. Students were challenged to develop new offerings for the VOC to attract younger veterans/soldiers.
2011–2018
Creative Startups
Board of Directors
Creative Startups is the leading global startup accelerator educating and investing in creative entrepreneurs, startups, and growth companies in the Americas, Europe, Asia, Middle East.
Rochester Refugee Resettlement Services | EUREKA!
FACILITATOR
EUREKA! is an annual intensive interdisciplinary workshop with juniors, seniors, and grad students spanning the five School of Design disciplines. Working in small teams, students use design thinking to address social issues in partnership with community organizations. EUREKA! is organized by Graphic Design professor Lorrie Frear.
In 2018, EUREKA! partnered with Rochester Refugee Resettlement Services (RRRS). Students sought to improve space utilization at RRRS’ commercial sewing operation and also propose ideas for products that could be manufactured by RRRS participants using donated materials.
Baltimore Creatives Acceleration Network (BCAN) | Founder Fellows Program
Juror & Mentor
BCAN works towards a stronger, more equitable creative ecosystem and economy in Baltimore. Its Founder Fellowship program offers a business boot camp and incubator residencies for growth-track creative enterprises in their startup phase.
Selected inaugural cohort and, as Mentor, advised entrepreneurs and critiqued product/service designs, business strategies, and communication during one-week deep dive for inaugural cohort of Fellows. Ten companies participated.
Ganondagan NY State Historic Site |T-minus
DESIGN CHARETTE & EXHIBITION, PROJECT co-LEAD
In 2017, I co-led a community-engaged project in which RIT's nearly 300 Industrial Design undergraduate and graduate students developed design concepts both with and for Ganondagan State Historic Site (Victor, NY). Once a vibrant center for the Seneca people, Ganondagan is now a permanent interpretive site that tells the over 2,000-year-old story of Seneca and Haudenosaunee contributions to art, culture and society. My role included securing sponsorship, developing the RIT/Ganondagan partnership, and leading a cross-organizational and interdisciplinary team in designing and implementing the charette. At the request of sponsor, I also delivered a presentation on cultural appreciation vs. cultural appropriation for students.
49 teams (5-6 students/team) responded to briefs, co-created by RIT and Ganondagan, specifying “appropriateness to the Ganondagan site and Haudenosaunee values." Each team designed concepts for one of the following:
Wayfinding
Resting stations
School tour experience
Creative Startups | ABQ Accelerator
mentor
Albuquerque, NM, was the location of the first Creative Startups Accelerator, now the leading accelerator program for creative entrepreneurs worldwide.
As a Mentor, I advised entrepreneurs and critiqued product/service designs, business strategies, and communication during one-week deep dive. Ten companies participated.
RIT Office of Sustainability | RIT Souvenirs
project leader and instructor
Addressing unsustainable design practices in the promotional goods and souvenir market, I partnered with Office of Sustainability in 2015 to create Junior Studio I: Emotional Design for Sustainability. In this semester-long course, students designed RIT souvenirs with the following criteria in mind:
Feasibility
Environmental sustainability
Emotional design considerations
To raise awareness both on and off-campus, the Office of Sustainability awarded two students with offers to sponsor limited-run productions of their souvenirs. Designs selected by a jury of university-wide faculty and staff, including the Director of Sustainability.
Rivers Run Senior Living Center | Intergenerational Learning
project leader and instructor
In partnership with Rivers Run, an active senior living community in Rochester, NY affiliated with Osher Lifelong Learning Institute, I developed and delivered a course on user-centered assistive technology. In the semester-long course, Junior Studio II: Universal Design and Assistive Technology, intergenerational teams of RIT Industrial Design students and Rivers Run community members designed products that facilitated Aging in Place. Two classes offered.
2014
ABVI, Al Sigl, and Heritage Christian Services | IdeaLab
team coach
IdeaLab is multidisciplinary design workshop focused on addressing accessibility and medical challenges in partnership with community organizations. Organized by RIT’s Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the program brings together students from all disciplines, including engineering, business, and design.
In spring 2014, IdeaLab was sponsored by ABVI (Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired), Al Sigl, and Heritage Christian Services. Students focused on designing inclusive tools, games, and technologies to support individuals with developmental or visual disabilities. Projects included adaptive social networks, assistive tools for screen interaction and mobility, and affordable, accessible tech for daily living and communication.
2013
Rochester General Hospital | IdeaLab
team coach
IdeaLab is multidisciplinary design workshop focused on addressing accessibility and medical challenges in partnership with community organizations. Organized by RIT’s Simone Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, the program brings together students from all disciplines, including engineering, business, and design.
In fall 2013, IdeaLab was sponsored by Rochester General Hospital. I coached a team that developed a blood transport container system for the hospital.