Toronto host
Mar Reyes
@designbymar
Ashley Jane Lewis
– Hosted at Design Exchange
About the speaker
Ashley Jane Lewis is a 28 year old Interactive Artist, Maker and Youth Tech Educator. In the summer of 2016 she was listed in the Top 100 Black Women to Watch in Canada.
In her undergrad (New Media, BFA at Ryerson University, 2008 – 2012), Ashley designed The Obama Board, a keyboard that swaps the sound of the note with a word from Barack Obama’s inauguration speech. After showcasing the project at the Toronto Mini Maker Faire she was invited to demo the installation at the Detroit Maker Faire for 20,000 people where she won Make Magazine Editor’s Choice and was highlighted on Barack Obama’s website.
As a graduate, Lewis spent over a year leading the ground-up development of Girls Learning Code, a company aimed to encourage more young females to learn technological skills to help close the gender gap in the field. She has designed educational new media content for the TIFF Bell Lightbox including gadget making workshops for the 50 Years of Bond exhibition, coding and robotics programing for the Maker March Break Camp and various ongoing initiatives. For the past two years Ashley has acted as production lead for the feature art installation at the TIFF DigiPlaySpace, Canada’s largest interactive festival for kids.
Ashley’s previous roles have included interning at Kids’ CBC’s Interactive Department, Digital Media Production at TVO, web content for Mozilla and event host for NASA Space Apps, to name a few. In 2014, with a project that inspires kids to read using interactive and collectable story beads, Ashley’s team won Toronto’s Startup Weekend Maker Edition and placed 2nd globally. Lewis has been featured as a Tech Activist in Metro News and has highlighted diverse tech education as a keynote speaker on numerous occasions for audiences at TEDx, FITC, International Women’s Day and Maker Faire.
In 2014 she was profiled in Reader’s Digest for BYTE, a program that provides creative tech workshops for kids of colour, and Spark Makers, her maker culture meets girl guides start up supported by the Transmedia Zone at Ryerson University. Spark Makers was also featured at Google Geek Street’s youth tech festival and has travelled as far as Johannesburg, South Africa to lead workshops at the Fak’ugesi African Digital Innovation Festival in the summer of 2015. Lewis also currently works at the RTA School of Media as a New Media Specialist at Ryerson University, aiding students in the exploration of art through code, laser cutting and 3D printing.
Ashley Jane Lewis feels honoured to have had the opportunity to help more than 2,000 youth learn how to code to date.
Local partners
Community Partner - Creative Commons
Creative Commons helps you legally share your knowledge and creativity to build a more equitable, accessible, and innovative world. They unlock the full potential of the internet to drive a new era of development, growth and productivity.
Their 2018 Creative Commons Global Summit in Toronto, CA from April 13-15, 2018. Don’t miss out! Join 500 open advocates from around the world for a weekend of celebration, creativity, and community.
Coffee Partner - Foodora
Foodora is an online food delivery company which offers meals from over 9,000 selected restaurantsin 10 countries worldwide. Using the foodora app, website or the corporate platform, customers can browse local restaurants, place an order, and track it as it’s prepared and delivered by a bike courier or delivery driver.
Venue Partner - Design Exchange
Design Exchange, is Canada’s only museum dedicated exclusively to the pursuit of design excellence and preservation of design heritage. At the crossroads of multiple disciplines, from furniture and architecture to graphics and fashion, our exhibitions, talks, workshops, and youth education programs are curated to reflect the popular zeitgeist and contemporary culture while demonstrating the relevance and importance of design to everyday life. They are committed to delivering accessible design experiences and education and aim to provide the tools necessary to connect design learning to the ordinary and extraordinary.
Printing Partner - PrintNGOriginally from Newfoundland, Nola Grimes brought her passion for art and creativity to the printing industry over 20 years ago and has been managing all types of print projects for a diverse group of clients ever since. She enjoys working with designers and being part of the creative process. Over the years, Nola has built relationships with a network of suppliers and can produce everything from small postcard orders to catalogs and signage. Whether the project is simple, with a tight budget or more complex, with embossing and other special effects, Nola can help you meet your objectives and treats every order with equal care.
Additional details
Theme
February’s theme, CURIOSITY, was chosen by our Malmo chapter Illustrated by Oelweinr
