Lindsey Dixon

In my K12 years, I thought I would grow up to be everything from an astronaut to an anthropologist to an IT network administrator (the last one was based solely on a charismatic guest speaker on career day in my junior year, and had nothing to do with my actual interests). In truth, I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do, except that I desired to use my skills in communications and creative problem solving to help other people. I wish my high school had made this essential aspect of career identity development and work-based learning a central element of my educational experience, but they didn’t. A big part of my career, as a result, has been in pursuit of that aim—a better, more relevant high school design. After high school, I joined the U.S. Air Force where I was a satellite communications journeyman technician and earned my AAS in electronic systems technology and a BA in English.

After the Air Force, I moved to New York City and became a high school English teacher. Several wonderful years of teaching in the Bronx later, and after earning my master’s degree in education, I pivoted my career to educational technology and learning design at Columbia University Teacher’s College. There, I helped build 2D and 3D educational games, took courses with my professors in virtual worlds, and explored exciting new technologies that could be used to support learners of all ages. I later went to work for a game-based learning company that taught students how to code and program using video game design. And for the past decade, I have worked for several amazing nonprofits like Year Up and the Urban Assembly, to help schools and training programs ensure that students are future ready, with the in-demand skills, networks, and knowledge of their own interests and goals that leads to socioeconomic mobility. Recently I earned an Entrepreneurial Studies: Product Design certificate at the NYU Tandon Future Lab. And I’m currently pursuing my doctorate at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where I’m writing my dissertation on the uses of emerging technologies, like artificial intelligence and machine learning, to help young people choose and succeed in strong-fit careers.