Academic Conferences
Looking forward to presenting at the 2018 AIGA Design Educators Make Conference!!
February 20, 2018
Partnerships/Collaborations
Operation Compass & Mosaic Family Services 2018 Collaboration
January 4, 2018
Today Operation Compass signed our third year of collaboration with Mosaic Family Services. We are very thankful for the support of Bill Bernstein and the rest of the team at Mosaic. We look forward to working with you over the year!
Featured, Speaking Engagements
Keynote Speaker & Workshop at the University of Bern, Switzerland
October 29, 2017
What is Operation Compass?
Operation Compass is a 501(c)3 that was a result of the research conducted for my master’s thesis while working toward my Masters of Fine Arts in Design Research at the University of North Texas. The purpose of my research was to propose a successful integration of technology into the humanitarian challenge of combating human trafficking.
The Problem
When I first started to learn about human trafficking I was pretty naïve to the intricacies of helping a victim. I had some pretty grand ideas of the different types of technology I could create with my background as an interaction designer, however after doing some secondary research, gathering both qualitative and quantitative data, I realized this was the wrong approach to helping victims. Continue Reading…
I truly appreciate the opportunity to come and speak about my research especially to an organization like the Genesis Shelter. Thank you so much for the invite and for all of your insightful questions!
I was asked to come and speak to the Residence Hall advisors during their training before the semester began. As an alumni of UNT, I have been so thankful for their support on my research and the opportunity to speak and engage with students at this event.
Academic Conferences
Presented at the Design Management Institute (DMI) Academic Design Conference
July 29, 2016
This conference was hosted by Massachusetts College of Art & Design in Boston, MA. I presented my research and was the chair of two sessions focused on the topic of Leadership, and Organization Design. The cross disciplinary attendees did not go unnoticed by everyone there. It was really nice to hear different perspectives on design, collaborations, and design research. The Design Management Institute (DMI) is an international membership organization that connects design to business, to culture, to customers and to the changing world.
The Design Research Conference was held in the summer of 2016 in Brighton, UK. Not only was the conference full of wonderful speakers and workshops, but I loved the culture in Brighton. I was invited to present the process and methods used in my research and how the factors gleaned from that research guided my design for the mobile application “Operation Compass.” I was also invited to publish my paper presented in the conference proceedings. Out of 500 papers submitted 40% were accepted, and mine was accepted without revisions. The Design Research Society was founded in 1966, and facilitates an international design research network in approximately 40 countries.
After part 1 of Noelle Walker’s piece aired on NBC DFW we continued the discussion with a Facebook chat. We initially had planned on chatting for 15 minutes, however due to the amazing Dallas/Fort Worth community we spent over an hour and a half answering questions!
Tonya created the organization, It’s Going to Be OK, Inc., I’m going to add another post on all the amazing work Tonya and her team are working on!
Part Two Produced by Noelle Walker and the amazing team at NBC DFW, thank you so much for highlighting such an important issue!