About Dr. Jess

Storytime, folks!

I began my career teaching music, volunteering in elementary music classrooms when I was 15. I love seeing that moment when people realize that they can do something they didn’t think they could! I put myself through college teaching violin throughout Vermont, then became a public school music teacher for nine years. During those teaching years, I moved to NYC and started my graduate studies at Teachers College, Columbia University, leading to a doctorate in music education and assessment.

Later, I shifted into software engineering. The how is a long story, but I stayed with engineering because I was drawn to how systems work, how people work, and how teams solve complex problems together. Initially, I learned to code because I found the repetition of software testing routines to be boring. But my fascination with Python and softwware development turned into a decade of leading quality engineering teams and building reliable, human-centered software. I am especially proud of the time I worked at the Salesforce Foundation (2016 – 2020).

All that time, I continued to play music in orchestras, chamber groups, improvisation circles, rock bands, small stages, and living rooms. I have used my violin to give talks about software development to hundreds of software engineers! Performing as MasquedViol.in, my explorations into sound design, identity, and music-as-philosophical practice continue. These artistic explorations, and the encouragement of my family (particularly my husband Andre and bonus-kiddos Disa and Emrik), has led me to found Electric Violin Labs. I’m genuinely pumped for this new chapter.

For me, music, engineering, and education are not competing disciplines. Studying education and aesthetic philosophy taught me the possibilities opened by curiousity of mind and viewing problems through multiple lenses. Music continues to teach me discipline and tactical problem solving, so that I can bring to life the sounds I imagine. Engineering is a mindset, a desire to build systems and efficiencies in the mundane so that there is time and space for true exploration.

Practice, pedagogy, and systems

I have applied learning through multiple fields to how I practice my professional lives. In my practice as an educator, I worked to encourage students through holistic, creative approaches and co-created learning spaces and experiences.

The foundational principals of human learning apply to all people (who knew), and engineering organizations benefit from the application of flexible frameworks based on research and borne out of human creativity. I’ve written about these connections in pieces like Creating a Learning Organization, Focus on Failure. Learning cultures don’t emerge from slogans or mission statements. They grow from small, consistent practices enabled by smart people and supported by good systems, and Jazz Leadership: A Flexible Framework for Engineering.

On resilience and access

Like all of us, my work is deeply shaped by lived experience. I’ve written about trauma and recovery in Things I Wish People Understood About Trauma Recovery and Trauma, Story.

Those pieces aren’t side notes, and they weren’t easy to share. The experiences that bore those pieces inform how I show up to my life, teach people, and lead teams. Access, pace, and agency matter. Good coaching/teaching meets people where they are and invites them to go further than they ever thought they could. These are key principles of growth and leadership that have made me a successful manager and teacher.

I’m grateful to communities that shaped me, like the Python education community I wrote about in How the PyCon Education Summit Changed Me. I keep giving back because that’s how the next person finds the open door to their next opportunity.

Where I am now

I live in the Hudson Valley with my family. I’m currently completing my Master’s in Software Engineering, teaching music, performing in several local orchestras, and doing research and experimentation in sound design and electronic music to build great content and curriculum for the Electric Violin Labs. Drop me a line anytime!