JES CAHN-THOMPSON

London / jescahnthompson@gmail.com / s01e01.xyz

COMMUNITY PROJECTS

• Processing Foundation ( 2016 - 17 ) Director of Innovation
• The Foundation promotes software literacy within the arts by developing and distributing a group of related software projects, which includes Processing (Java), p5.js (JavaScript), and Processing.py (Python), and facilitating partnerships and collaborations with allied organisations and individuals, to build a more diverse community around software and the arts. During my time there, I conducted the first community survey and launched the online membership drive and website redesign in collaboration with Folder Studios. I was a co-mentor, along with Lauren McCarthy, for an afterschool and summer camp program called DIY Girls. The artist-led partnership created code-based curriculum for future community initiatives. With board members, Casey Reas, Ben Fry, Daniel Shiffman, and Lauren McCarthy, I organised and helped select Processing Foundation Fellowships, which are annual awards for ambitious software development and community projects with funding and guidance from the Foundation.
• David Lynch Foundation ( 2013 - 16 ) Program Specialist
• The nonprofit organisation aims to reduce stress and the side effects of trauma to support cognitive and emotional well-being through meditation programmes. Over the three years I was with the organisation, I led Los Angeles outreach efforts and participated in numerous projects [ e.g. board meetings and minutes, events and digital fundraising efforts, grants, celebrity and high-income donor management, regional budgeting ]. With the help of school leadership, teachers, and parents, I launched and led the Quiet Time Program [ the specific title for school initiatives ] in South Los Angeles at Frederick Douglass Middle School. I tracked statistical and subjective outcomes such as attendance, behaviour, and performance to strategise and optimise future initiatives. Teacher and family buy-in was vital for success, so it was crucial to foster relationships based on consistency and trust. I also researched, edited, and wrote grants. I dealt with high-profile donors, which required a high level of sensitivity because of their public status. For Los Angeles fundraising events, I provided production assistance for The Music of David Lynch at The Theatre at Ace Hotel, 2015; Lifetime of Peace & Love Concert feat. Ringo Starr, 2014; Lifetime of Harmony Gala feat. Rick Rubin, 2014. I served as the Los Angeles-based assistant director for the development office based in New York City.
• St. Benedict's Prep ( 2012 - 13 ) Resident Tutor and Advocate
• The preparatory school prepares adolescents in and around Newark, New Jersey to fulfill their potential as emotionally mature, morally responsible and well-educated citizens. Approximately 50 students live on-site. These students tend to come from volatile home environments that impede their ability to academically perform well. I was one of several live-in tutors and mentors and gave both academic and holistic support on weeknights.
• Link Charter School ( 2012 - 13 ) Middle School Classroom Teacher
• Shortly after the 1967 Newark Riots, Link was founded as “Project Link,” a non-denominational school, by the Sisters of St. Dominic, Caldwell. It provided community education, both adult and youth, to bring together the city's fractured population. From June 2012-13, I worked as a classroom teacher for English and US History.
• Schools That Can ( 2011 - 12 ) Regional Coordinator
• STC works with a network of urban schools to enhance and expand real-world learning opportunities for low-income students in order to revitalise the education-to-employment pathway and ensure young people are prepared to succeed in a rapidly changing world. I organised community roundtables with local government officials, philanthropic and academic leaders, and other nonprofits. I led outreach for the Newark, New Jersey region, writing nationally distributed newsletters and oversaw local network school recruitment, which expanded from three to ten schools from December 2011 to June 2012.
• Open Door Community of Atlanta ( 2010 ) Weekend Manager
• Part of the Open Door Community at large, the Atlanta branch was a residential community formed in the original ecumenical, pacifist, anarchist spirit, and gentle personalism of Dorothy Day and Peter Maurin, founders of the Catholic Worker Movement, which seeks to dismantle racism, sexism, hetero-sexism, and abolish the death penalty. I served in a temporary role as the summer weekend manager overseeing the grounds, the homeless in residence, and community activities such as food handouts and medical exams provided by Emory University Med students.