Jasmine Lawrence

I attribute my success to perseverance. I heard someone say at some point in my life that anything worth having is worth working for, and that really stuck with me. I think that both personally and professionally, persistence will ensure that you're on the path and that you can continue strong, regardless of whatever you're trying to attain. Being persistent will get you there. I also attribute my success to support and community. I think that having a well-rounded community, whether that's family, friends, colleagues, or a combination of all of those things, can take you far in life. In times where you need to lean into your community, specifically as you think about growing professionally or even your own personal growth, I think that having the support of those around you is a huge marker of your success, or your ability to be successful.

I would definitely encourage young women who are interested in education technology to be curious. Don't assume that you don't have the skills, or the knowledge, or the resources to enter the field. Sometimes when we think about technology, we think about going the traditional route through college and receiving a degree in a tech-related field like management information systems or cybersecurity, and while those things are great, there's also something to be said about someone like me who is really leveraging my education side and started to develop my understanding around the tech as I got into my role. So be curious and be open to the possibility of transitioning, even if it doesn't seem like a natural move. I would also say, study. There are a wealth of either free or highly accessible resources to help grow your understanding of what education technology is. So in that curiosity, take some time to actually build your understanding and capacity around what EdTech is and the problem that it solves. And I would also encourage other women to connect. I've had a lot of women reach out to me on LinkedIn after seeing my profile, and I can count maybe 5 that I've connected with, either on the phone or in person, just to share a little bit more about my experience. We're excited to network with women who want to move into education technology and have questions. So don't be afraid to put yourself out there.

I think right now, a big challenge in the field of education technology is ensuring that we are continuing to value educators in a way that pulls them in, and really allows us to think about where we fit in an educator's ecosystem versus where an educator fits in our ecosystem. We're at a really pivotal moment now where we are out of the pandemic and face-to-face instruction is more than likely at or close to 100%. We're no longer living in a space where teachers are having to use a lot of technology to touch students, so we have to think about how do we position this tool as a resource for educators in a world that is not really reliant on remote learning anymore. We also need to ensure that we're continuing to deliver high-quality tools to educators in the face of AI. AI has its benefits, but for those tools that folks are still building through the manual lens, are we ensuring that these are quality resources that are in the hands of educators versus something that they could easily turn to AI to create? On the opportunities side, I think there's ethical leverage of AI in the field of education technology. It's the new shiny tool that everyone wants to use, but we have to make sure that it makes sense within our programs and that it has an advantage, and that it's not just something that we're building in for the sake of saying we're leveraging AI. I also think there's a great opportunity to increase educator voice and the voice of students in our resources. Are we considering those educator pain points? If students are saying this is too much screen time, we'd rather more time with our educators, are we adjusting to ensure that their preferences are respected and elevated in the program? And I'll add families onto that as well. Making sure that our families understand that our resources should help students, not hinder them, and also considering their voice in improvements and future versions of our tools.

In my work and personal life, compassion, empathy, and care are three values that I think ground me both professionally and personally. I think those are values that anyone can tap into, and it doesn't cost money to be a compassionate individual, extend empathy, and show care and concern to others. As we start to consider how we can improve the lives of anyone we encounter, I think those are three values that for me allow for a strong foundation to build on.