Alessandra Affinito is the Youth Services Manager at the Saint Paul Public Library, George Latimer Central Branch. Previously, she spent seven years as a Children's Librarian at the Chatham Square branch of the New York Public Library in Chinatown. She's especially passionate about innovative STEAM projects, language learning, and science fiction graphic novels! When she's not at the library you can probably find her playing an overly complicated board game, or swinging from the ceiling on aerial silks.
Hello! I am a Senior Product Manager at Etsy, working on internationalization and localization. I am a data enthusiast and studied the intersection of privacy and open data at the Oxford Internet Institute. I'm far from a software engineer but enjoy coding for fun and feel lucky to have spent time at The Recurse Center programming retreat in Brooklyn. I grew up in NYC.
Taiyaba Ali is as an Associate of Financial Planning & Analysis supporting the Marketing divisions within Vanguard. She is passionate about technological improvements to create change, and using data to create a story. Throughout the roles she has held, she has been able to use data to drive process improvements, a joy which has inspires her to help others use digital innovation as a tool. She has a degree in Accounting from the University of Richmond.
Hello. I'm a curious creative, mentor, leader, innovator, design thinker and doer — with focus on UX, UI and Design Strategy in product design. The outcome is often telling brand stories through the intersection of design, culture, and technology.
My mission is to empower our society by designing experiences that are equitable and enjoyable. I thrive on cultural diversity as a catalyst for growth and enjoy collaborating with others. The "emerging" and "alternative" spheres of society excite me just as much as the analytical ones. My work spans between UX, growth, product, brand, and research. Ultimately, I would like to drive positive change for under-resourced communities through thoughtful and inclusive projects.
I work at Google Cloud within Google and focus on building out data infrastructure and analyses for product analytics.
I graduated from the University of Florida with a B.S. in Finance and minors in Sustainability and Entrepreneurship. I'm certified as a Data Analyst in Python, have extensive SQL experience and I'm currently studying for my Masters in Analytics at Georgia Tech.
Joshen began his career at the YMCA of Greater New York, delivering leadership, civic engagement, and STEM based programming to Middle School and High School aged youth. He is passionate about providing youth with opportunities to create a brighter future for themselves. Outside of work, you can find Joshen binge-listening to podcasts or chasing after his fluff-ball pet chinchilla!
Robert is a Product Manager for RIA in a Box where he leads key new product developments and enhancements for their industry leading financial compliance software. Before that, Robert graduated from Harvard College in 2020 with a degree in Applied Math and Economics with a secondary degree in Computer Science. In his free time, Robert loves to adventure, play sports, and discuss his favorite television shows.
Rae Blumenthal started her career at the United Nations in community-based development strategy and now works on Trust & Safety in the tech industry. She leads Meta’s risk mitigation and management strategy as a Program Manager, focusing on support for vulnerable populations, crisis response, and the company strategy for the severe real world harms facing the 3.5 billion users across Facebook and Instagram. Outside of work, she loves hiking, traveling, and exploring the Bay Area.
Corinne Brenner is the Director of Learning for Killer Snails, where she contributes theoretical knowledge about learning sciences to design and research interactive media for education. She is a PhD candidate in Educational Communication and Technology at NYU, where she researches the effectiveness of educational games and virtual environments. She received her BA in Psychology from Cornell University, and MSc in Social Psychology from the University of Amsterdam.
I chose to study biology and pre-med since I had experience with them, knew that I enjoyed them, and knew that I could do well in them. I was intrigued by CS, but I didn't want to take a class, risking thousands of dollars in tuition on a subject that I didn't know if I would be good at or enjoy. I distinctly remember seeing the CS majors' projects, programming robots to play music and dance around the floor, and wishing that I could do that...yet I never did.
Fast forward a few years, and I am a high school science teacher. A friend tells me about an opportunity to be trained in something called Exploring Computer Science, an introductory high school curriculum for students with little-to-no background in CS. This is perfect! I can provide my students with the opportunities that I wish I had in school. I ended up creating a pathway for students to take ECS, AP CSP, and AP CSA, but I knew that I had done all I could at that school.
I left to become a professional developer. I now spend my time designing and implementing trainings for K-12 teachers who want to start teaching CS, either as a standalone class or integrated into another subject area. And I still occasionally run coding events for kids at my local library.
Jonah Brucker-Cohen is an artist and Associate Professor at Lehman College. He received his Ph.D. from Trinity College Dublin and his artwork has been exhibited at venues such as SFMOMA, Canadian Museum of Contemporary Art, MOMA, ICA London, Whitney Museum of American Art, Palais du Tokyo, Tate Modern, Ars Electronica, Transmediale, and more. Two of his artworks are included in the permanent collection of the Whitney Museum of American Art. His writing has appeared in publications such as WIRED and Make and his Scrapyard Challenge workshops have been held in over 15 countries on 5 continents.
Hi, I''m Raquel - I'm a design researcher in Austin, TX. I’ve had an almost simple life. I was born in Texas and raised in Mexico City, Houston and Austin. As a kid I loved drawing and reading - I even wrote stories on the family typewriter! I found my love for technology after getting our first home computer and eventually got my degree in Digital Design. Thereafter, I taught myself how to code and have been working in UXD since 2012. In my free time I enjoy yoga, film, traveling, and food!
Vanessa Carrasco (she/her, they/them) is a Young Adult Library Trainee who loves to find out different ways to use what exists to create more interesting possibilities, from programs about making video games online, to taking recyclables and turning them into planters. Vanessa loves cats, chocolate and knitting and is excited to see what creative ideas come from your Emoti-con projects!
I'm a tech enthusiast who enjoys educating people about AI and Cybersecurity. I got involved with Mouse.org through my work at ArcherPoint and love seeing how the next generation is making the world a better place. As technology evolves, I believe it's essential to adapt and diversify skills to succeed.
An educator for more than 25 years, I currently lead a team that provides academic and organizational supports to NYC’s alternative schools and programs. Prior to this role, I did similar work in Manhattan, as well as a citywide network of schools. My first love will always be School of the Future where I taught math and science, then served as middle school director.
Sarah is a product manager in the Healthcare Tech industry, currently working at Vida Health leading both the New Member Experience and Mental Health product teams. She is originally from Chicago, went to Vanderbilt University in Nashville, and currently lives in San Francisco. In her free time, she likes to ski, hike at National Parks and travel.
Alexa Curtis currently leads a global design team at Verizon responsible for millions of digital customer and agent interactions with every month. She understands the complexities of design at scale for a business that moves at light-speed.
Prior to joining Verizon, Alexa had the pleasure of consulting with companies like EY, PwC, TD Ameritrade, Disney, ESPN, USA Today, Amex and others to define, build, and evolve strategic digital products and platforms.
Kathleen Dolan is a Director in Accenture’s Strategy Consulting practice where she provides technology-driven strategy consulting expertise to a variety of the largest national and global communications, media, and technology companies. Ms. Dolan serves as the Vice President of the Mouse Associate Board.
Saul lectures at the Lifelong Learning programs of Tufts, Rutgers, and RIT since retiring in 2020. Previously he held senior technology, business, and strategy roles at Bell Labs, Lucent Technologies, uReach Technologies and Spirent Communications. After a career in computer and communications systems he created the Demystify Technology series to bridge the gap between media hype and reality, covering topics such as AI, driverless cars, private space exploration and CRISPR gene editing.
I am heavily inspired by pop culture and the insane combined fantasy imagination of me and my friends who run an online ttrpg gaming community, The Purple Academy. I am one of their artist, producing Illustrations for various Dungeons and Dragons campaigns and adapting our main campaign into a web comic!
I also use all the skills I learned in Mouse Design League to help build and fix fun puzzles with Nerd Escape Room! Our escape rooms are packed with Arduino's and Raspberry Pi's galore which (when paired inside fun crafty props and secret rooms) provide hours of fun for players as they solve our hands-on mystery themed puzzle rooms!
Check out my art portfolio here!
Check out NERD Escapes here!
Amelia graduated from Queens College in May 2018 with a Bachelors of Arts Degree in Economics with a minor in Accounting. On her days off she likes to explore New York City and search for amazing food spots.
Brettney Fountain is a Garage Designer in IBM's Client Engineering. Her actual scope of responsibility is to deliver a unique client co-creation experience to accelerate client technological transformation. Inside and outside her virtual office in Saint Augustine, FL., Brettney embraces any opportunity to create intuitive and meaningful experiences with her colleagues, friends, and family.
Cora is a creative lead with more than 10 years of experience designing consumer-facing, education, and enterprise digital products, as well as content, and branding. Currently she is the interaction design lead of Spaces, Google's product for chat and collaboration.
Former Mouse Corps (Design League) alumni, Kim Francisco is first-generation American, queer and currently works at Dutchie as an implementation guru for the East Coast.
Suzy is a Strategy Manager in Accenture Strategy's Customer, Sales, and Service practice. Her background is in customer experience strategy, contact center / service strategy, marketing strategy, and digital product roll outs including AI-powered transformation. Suzy graduated from Johns Hopkins University with a Bachelor’s Degree in Psychology, and a Minor in French, and Entrepreneurship and Management.
I am Steffi Gogoi, a UX / Product Designer. Currently, I am working as a Senior UX Designer at ADP. I graduated with a master’s in Human-Computer Interaction from Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis. I have had a penchant for art since childhood. What began as pencil sketches, canvases, portraits, writing, craftwork, and dance went on to become an interest in design, technology, and manner of communication that came with it, shaping me along the way.
IT Professional with over 15 years of experience leading business and technology teams through the planning, design, development and management of large scale, enterprise applications and product development.
Marie Hamlett is passionate about leadership development, bringing over 10 years of experience educating middle-schoolers and supporting instructional leaders. Marie currently teaches math, science and technology integration virtually. Prior to returning to the classroom this year she served as an Instructional Technology Coach where she blends her love for technology in the classroom with her experience supporting student learning to empower teachers to innovate and spark meaningful change.
I am an electrical engineer and have worked for hi-tech companies all my career, mostly software companies. Currently, I lead the US operations for a European software startup. I live in New York City.
Jessica Hochman, PhD, has 20 years of experience working as a teacher, professor, researcher, and consultant. She is one half of We Need 2 Talk, an educational partnership that facilitates critical conversations about race. Jessica also works for the Equity and Disproportionality Lab at Temple University. She has taught workshops and courses, and facilitated professional development programming in addition to publishing articles and book chapters on technology, literacy, and identity.
Sariyah Idan is an internationally touring performing artist and educator. Recognized for her solo theater show “Homeless In Homeland” about Jewish identity and the occupation of Palestine, awarded by the LA Women’s Theater Festival and highlighted by the ONE Festival NYC. As a music artist she has rocked iconic venues like The Kennedy Center, The Skirball Cultural Center, and The Nuyorican Poets Cafe. She is an educator with Pockets Change teaching financial resilience through hip hop culture.
Olivia Ing is an entrepreneur, a designer and a creative strategist whose work spans at the intersection of technology and creativity. She is currently the founder of Playspaces, a platform aimed to cultivate the next generation of creators through hands-on collaborative learning experiences.
Sylvester Jackson is a motivational speaker, consultant, and film maker who values dedication, service and excellence. Sylvester brings unique perspectives gained from his life experience and creative career in technology, film making and photography, sharing with you how all of us are under evaluating our untapped potential Using real-world examples, Sylvester sheds light on how the invaluable talent each person brings to your organization can positively impact your mission.
Aurelia is a NYC-based UX designer, currently at Capital One Bank. After pivoting from a long career in graphic design, she currently uses her experience to work in the space where technology and humans meet. Aurelia is an enthusiastic champion for: the thrill of collaboration, the challenge of aligning stakeholder & user goals, data-driven problem solving and most importantly, leveraging design for social and environmental change.
Stew Katz has been a Director of Innovation at Verizon since fall 2019. He stood up a team whose mission is to find customer and business pain points, and match them up with startups and other technology partners to form pilots. His team works across channels and focuses on improving the customer experience. Stew comes to Verizon from Warner Music Group where he headed up a Product Design and Innovation group for several years. Prior to that, he ran User Experience at Digitas NYC.
Hi! I'm a User Experience Designer who is interested in sustainable and ethical design practices.
An experienced UX and brand researcher with a proven track record of achieving actionable results for Fortune100 and startup technology companies. David's early UX research was integral in successful online launches for Google, HBO, Verizon, and Absolut Vodka. Later, his work for clients like Citi, FedEx, Samsung, and Globant have helped these companies build better experiences online and off.
Krysta has over 8 years of experience in technical recruitment. Most recently she has worked in-house at health-tech startups, helping these organizations to scale rapidly. In her current role as Director of Technical Recruitment at Lightyear Health, Krysta is using data analytics to build recruitment strategies and drive results across teams.
In her free time, Krysta enjoys cooking or exploring all that her neighborhood, Astoria, has to offer alongside her micro-golden doodle pup, Maggie.
I am a tech specialist who's worked in the IT field for over a decade. Just like many of the participants in the Emoti-Con event I too was able to experience a collective space through Mouse Corp when I was in high school, and to be able to learn and critique your projects is an honor and privilege to be a part of. I am looking forward to this, and wishing you all the best!
Eric Lewis is the Engineer Of Things at Power Home Remodeling where he focuses on cyber security. He is also a Hacker, Programmer and Maker. Board member of DEFCON 610, a member of TOOOL, and 2600. When he is not breaking things, he likes to teach others programming, fixing, hacking and other useful skills.
Larry is well known as a media executive and for his long-standing mental health advocacy work with the JED Foundation on behalf of high school and college students. He works to create strong communities with equal access to education, healthcare, clean energy, and professional opportunities.
During the evenings, you are likely to find Larry on Manhattan’s Lower East Side where he is Chairman of Caveat Media.
Christina Macchiarola is a marketing and communications professional with experience in the arts, education, nonprofit, and tech sectors. She currently works in marketing for Microsoft, helping connect nonprofit organizations to technology grants and solutions. Christina holds an MBA from Duke University's Fuqua School of Business, an MFA in Theatre Management and Producing from Columbia University's School of the Arts, and a BA in English Literature from the College at Columbia University.
Eileen is Instructional Technology Director for Brooklyn North NYCDOE Borough Office, supporting 235 schools with developing a vision for technology and supporting educators with meaningful integration of technology to support instructional goals and student outcomes. She also serves as Chair of the Brooklyn North e-STEM committee, whose mission it is to build a culture of STEM across Brooklyn North schools.
Tess is a managing consultant in IBM’s iX. She has advised multiple Fortune 500 companies on digital transformation and user experience strategy in the oil & gas, electronics, and industrial products industries. Prior to joining IBM, she graduated from Skidmore College in May 2016 where she received a B.S in Management and Business.
I have instructed the following courses:
1) Network Security and Design
2) Advanced Persistent Threat Hacking and Countermeasures
3) Cloud Computing from the Ground Up
4) MySQL Database Development
5) Cybersecurity and Homeland Security
6) Protection of Intellectual Property
7) Forensic Data Retrieval Techniques
8) Computer Forensics and Investigation
9) Ethical Hacking
10) Computer and Data Networking
11) Network Defense and Countermeasures
12) Development of SH, BASH, PYTHON, and TCL Scripts for Cyber Security Education
Perri has always maintained an interest in experiential learning and credits her high school experience at a progressive boarding school for this. She believes deeply in empowering youth and educators and is excited to be working with the Mouse team toward these goals.
Katherine Moriwaki is Associate Professor of Media Design in the School of Art, Media and Technology at Parsons School of Design. Her work has been featured internationally in conferences, festivals, and museums around the world. Katherine is co-founder of the "Scrapyard Challenge" a workshop focused on creating electronic interactive objects out of found materials and junk. She is co-author of “Fashion and Technology: a Guide to Materials and Applications” published by Fairchild/Bloomsbury.
Claire is the Creative Director for the IBM Security X-Force Cyber Range. She works with clients to fine tune their incident response planning to a cyber crisis. Claire is a digital storyteller with experience working in video game design, app design, UX, graphic design, and video storytelling.
Ryan is a management consultant in Accenture’s Talent & Organization practice. He has over 15 years in corporate and consulting project leadership and operations roles. He is also an adjunct instructor at Stevens Institute of Technology in the innovation and entrepreneurship program. He served as an Officer in the US Navy for 5 years prior to joining the private sector. Ryan earned his MBA from Georgetown University and his BS in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Michigan.
I'm obsessed with problem-solving! I currently collaborate with senior leaders at J.P. Morgan to drive key strategic projects forward, business improvement / optimization, and mergers & acquisitions as a Senior Strategy Associate. Prior to that, I was solving problems for private equity firms and principals as a Financial Sponsors Analyst after graduation from the University of Virginia in 2018. I credit the Mouse Design League, as a former student, for nurturing my problem-solving abilities.
Amanda is a key member of Emoti-Con's Steering Committee. When she was a high school student, Amanda presented her Mouse Design League projects at Emoti-Con several years in a row. Now, as an alum, she has returned to Emoti-Con to help design, plan, and lead it.
I design the future state with insightful precision as an Experience Strategy Designer by translating Human-Computer interaction into mission-critical business value that maximizes delightful user experience globally. I design the new world.
I'm a trained UX Designer in multiple disciplines (visual, interaction, research, strategy) who can deliver production-quality front-end code. I love to work on web-based or native mobile applications that users use to get something done...and delight them while doing it! I'm a systems thinker and empathizer with a knack for translating business needs into user-friendly interfaces. I'm an explorer and a Toys R Us kid, constantly learning about myself and the world I live in.
Joey focuses on strengthening his community and making a positive impact on society, especially for our world’s most important change-makers: learners. His current job working for the Meta Education Modernization Team gives him the opportunity to support this educational audience and many more individuals across the nation through its many programs and initiatives. Joey always encourages others to follow their passion, and he knows that leading by example will build a stronger world.
After about 9 years in the ad tech space, I segued into Product Management on both the advertising side and now for the Core App experience at Tinder. Throughout my Product Management career, I have had a passion for UX/UI, and have done everything from ideating new ad formats, building internal tools, and building unique shared mobile experiences.
A first generation Latina who is a computer science graduate with a special interest in frontend development. Through the years as a student I have worked on many amazing projects such as creating an interactive BINGO website and have interned in an amazing technology company. On my free time you can catch me reading articles on the Medium or coming up with ideas for potential apps!
Doug studied Computer Science as an undergrad at Princeton University and earned a PhD in Computer Science and Computational Neuroscience at Carnegie Mellon. He now works as a software engineering manager at Google, trying to keep the search engine fast and reliable.
Janthony Roman is a film writer/director. His work was featured in the Nosotros Ya Tu Sabes monologue slam, produced by NBC. His last film, Scarfaced made it into the HBO NYC Latino Film Festival. His latest film Burn, Baby, Burn is currently playing in festivals. He is in pre-production for his next set of shorts scheduled to film in 2022. He currently works for Martin Scorsese's Sikelia Productions as the production assistant to the post team, and personal assistant to Thelma Schoonmaker.
Kate is the Director of Instructional Design in the Boot Camps division of online education provider, 2U. She oversees the development of intensive short courses that teach adults in-demand technology skills. She's worked at the intersection of media, tech and education for over 15 years and obsesses over the ways those things influence our culture--and how we can harness them for good! Before working at 2U, Kate was lucky enough to geek out on this stuff with fellow nerds at Mouse, the San Francisco Film Society and the Jacob Burns Film Center.
Kathy is a Biomedical Engineer who works with very cool medical devices. For the last 8 years Ms. Rutherford has taught robotics for FIRST Lego League, FTC and FRC’s 130 pound robots! Kathy also works with the Greater NY Girl Scouts and has judged FIRST FRC, FTC, World Robot Olympiad, NJ Science Olympiad and Makeblock’s MakeX Spark competitions. Engineering is the coolest profession that no one has ever heard of. Kathy is devoted to showing students how cool tech careers can be!
Experienced Sr. Quality Engineer with 16 years of experience in development, manual and automation testing. Works extensively with engineering and quality teams to foster quality product development. Systematic and highly productive QA team leader with subject matter expertise in automation framework. Skilled in working with project quality teams and manufacturing quality control staff to produce best-in-industry products.
Eustacio (Andy) Saldaña is COO & Co-founder of QueerTech, a non-profit based in Montreal focused on empowering, connecting and increasing the visibility of 2SLGBTQ+ technologists and entrepreneurship with the mission of Queering the Tech Ecosystem across Canada.
He is a strong advocate for increased diversity, access, and all-around inclusion in tech, but above all, he enjoys cultivating connections and all of the conversations that evolve.
Hi! My name is Abhishek and I work as a Lead Software Engineer at ADP. ADP is a payroll processing company and I specifically work on the chatbot team making sure that all of our clients & customers get the best support that they can. I moved to Hoboken, NJ in 2020 and since then, I spend almost all of my free time exploring NYC with my friends!
I'm a designer and storyteller curious about data ethics, media and information sharing, and equity-centered design practices. My design process comes from a curiosity in how people interact with the systems and processes around them and a desire to see things change for the better. I believe great design simply empowers those it affects and use design as a tool to share my power. I'm currently a designer on IBM's Client Engineering team and helping shape the Design for America alumni network.
Ashley is a facilitator, design thinker, educator, and strategist committed to advancing equity through collaboration. Ashley has been a consultant at IDEO and Clear, Head of Creative at Tough Mudder, 7th grade English Teacher at Girls Prep Bronx Middle School, and Director of TC NEXT at Teachers College, Columbia University. She has a BA in English and Art History from Georgetown University and an M.Ed. from Harvard University. She lives in New York with her partner and rambunctious toddler.
I'm a senior programmer at Studio MDHR, working on the 1930s-style video game Cuphead.
Pablo is a multi-disciplinary creative director and strategist with a career spanning entertainment and technology. Originally from Berlin, having co-founded and led design on his first startup at 15, currently living in NYC, running an XR firm as well as working at Godling Studio as a Creative Director, where he helps brands, venture funds, and web3 companies identify and build out core branding and digital infrastructure.
Liza Stark is a designer, artist, and educator. She is currently the Sr Manager of Curriculum at Girls Who Code focused on bringing high quality, equity-focused CS curriculum to students across the US. Liza has also designed games and created playful learning experiences around the country with the Institute of Play, littleBits, and others. She nerds out with conductive thread often, most recently by stitching talking memory quilts. She has a toddler named Zelia who is way cooler than her.
Sierra Stone is a creative problem solver, an empathetic relationship builder, and a fierce advocate for equitable education and opportunities. While serving as a Teach for America Corps member, she received her Masters in Secondary Education and worked as a research analyst for The United Nations Education Commission. She now leads the growth and partnership work for Wix Education - a platform working to make web creation, design, and development available to all students.
San Tong has over 17 years of experience in marketing and advertising. For many years, San’s passion has been to build better conditions for enabling under-represented voices and communities to be heard in the film, media, and entertainment industries. She is on the board of CPAF, the Center for Asian Pacific Family, and has been active in fighting violence against women in the Asian community. She is also an active volunteer & fundraiser for 826LA and the Girl Scouts.
Mike is a FinTech executive with over 15 years designing and implementing technology solutions for global investment banks, utilities, and software companies. He has studied social and behavioral sciences, humanities, and computer science at The Ohio State University in Columbus Ohio and Oregon State University in Corvallis Oregon. In his free time, Mike enjoys spending time with family, sports / outdoor activities, personal dev projects, and gaming.
TBD
Peizhu joined the Mouse family in her high school sophomore year as a Mouse Design League student. With bilingual proficiency in both Chinese and English and working on her Japanese, Peizhu hopes to better serve the greater communities of youth that deserve valuable knowledge and opportunities to foster technology for good.