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Experience & Qualifications

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EXPERIENCE & QUALIFICATIONS

JAZZ BELL (they/ them) has lived experiences as a multiply disabled, neurodivergent, queer, trans, intersex, and biracial person (with primarily Han Chinese and Western European ancestry). Their most important teacher has been their 9+ years of experience in community care, care work, advocacy, and organizing work. Jazz has collaborated with over a dozen organizations and individuals in their efforts to improve accessibility to their programs and services.

Selected Experience Highlights:

ARIANA BROWN— Teaching Assistant

Ariana Brown is a poet, educator, and librarian teaching creative writing with a social justice approach. Jazz’s work with her included:

  • Serving as a live access point person and digital assistant during several of Ariana Brown’s online workshops and courses.

  • Education for Ariana around best practices for access.

  • Providing insight and emotional support related to Ariana’s courses.

EARTH TO KB— Social Media and Marketing Assistant

KB Brookins is a Black, queer, and trans writer, educator, and cultural worker from Texas. Jazz’s work with them included:

  • Social Media Work including:

    • Scheduling posts across Instagram, TikTok, Twitter (X), Facebook, and LinkediN

    • Regularly updating KB’s website

    • Video Editing and the development of graphics

    • Event photography for social media

    • Analyzing social media trends and

  • Access work including:

    • Development of captions

    • Creation of image descriptions

    • Education for KB about best practices for access

    • Brainstorming access considerations for KB during their events

  • Outreach to various individuals and organizations to build relationships and help book KB for workshops, performances, and speaking engagements

  • Providing insight and emotional support to KB.

INTERFACES— Access Team

Responsibilities and special projects included:

  • Developing the foundations for INTERFACES’ Access Policies and Procedures.

  • Developing relationships with access providers such as ASL (American Sign Language) interpreters and CART (Communication Access Real-Time) Captioners.

  • Engaging in professional development opportunities such as workshops, talks, seminars, and webinars to increase knowledge and awareness of accessibility options, assistive technology, and disability justice.

  • Engaging in access work such as the development of image descriptions, captions, and access statements for INTERFACES.

Note: The organization of Interfaces is currently dissolved. Interfaces was an arts organization in Austin Texas centering marginalized artists.

CRITICAL DISABILITY STUDIES PROGRAM (University of Texas at Austin) — Graduate Social Work Intern

Responsibilities and special projects included:

  • High involvement in programming for the “Crip Conversations Speaker Series” including communications with speakers, fundraising for speaker stipends, funding advocacy, organizational collaboration, development of marketing materials, outreach, facilitation of events, and accessibility coordination.

  • Involvement in coding focus groups with Dr. Alison Kafer and Dr. Nick Winges-Yanez that explored the experiences of disabled students on UT Campus.

  • Involvement in the development of curriculum to aid in training University of Texas (UT) professors around educational accessibility. Jazz’s involvement was primarily focused on student experience and intersectionality.

  • Served on the Disability Cultural Center (DCC) Advisory Board to advocate for the creation of a Disability Cultural Center at UT Austin.

  • Presented to campus advisors to increase awareness and presence of the Critical Disability Studies (CDS) Program on campus

  • Built relationships and collaborated with community members and campus supporters of CDS.

SPITSHINE POETRY— Co-President, Coach, Competitor, Performer.

Throughout the six years Jazz was involved with Spitshine, their responsibilities included:

  • Securing/ booking venues for events.

  • Securing and communicating with featured performers.

  • Organizational Fundraising, Event Fundraising, and Crowdfunding.

  • Organizational Collaborations.

  • Planning and coordination for events such as open mics, poetry workshops, fundraising events, tabling events, collaboration events, and more.

  • Marketing development and outreach such as development of social media posts, networking and sharing events in online and in-person channels, development of fliers and graphics, and more.

  • Creation, printing, and formatting of poetry booklets.

  • Facilitating writing workshops.

  • Hosting events.

  • Securing Performance Bookings for the Spitshine CUPSI (College Unions Poetry Slam Invitational) team.

  • Delegation.

  • Coaching the Spitshine CUPSI team

Selected Events

  • Disability Justice and Feminism Panel, Panelist — Gender and Sexuality Center (UT Austin).

  • IDEA (Inclusion, Diversity, Equity, and Accessibility)-Conscious Principles Panel, Panelist — Austin Design Week (Nov 2020).

  • The Importance of Including Disability When Serving LGBTQIA+ Students, Featured Speaker— UT Systems LGBTQIA+ Summit.

  • Ableism 101 for Medical Students— Class Speaker— Austin Community College.

Formal Education

  • University of Texas at Austin:

    • Bachelor of Arts in Psychology with Honors

    • Minor in Mandarin Chinese

  • Masters of Science in Social Work (MSSW)

    • Concentration in Administration and Policy Practice

PLEASE NOTE: due to their proximity to whiteness, Jazz Bell does not offer racial justice, racial awareness, or racial bias trainings. That being said, discussion of white supremacy is foundational to every discussion of social justice, and is central in how they approach education, consulting, and speaking engagements centered on Disability and LGBTQIA+ justice. If you are looking for trainings with a focus on race, I recommend KB.