Gender as a Dimension of Inclusive Innovation, with Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Devina Srivastava

This seminar is a transdisciplinary survey of the notion of inclusive innovation as a means to not only inject equity but rather approach innovation with inclusion by design. It will acknowledge the value of dimensions like socio-economic status and ‘race’, and explore how gender can be an effective starting point for innovative equity-seeking public policy and programs.

Speaker Profile

Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques is a philosopher of science, with a practice in inclusive innovation at the intersection of tech, entrepreneurship and big ideas. He recently completed three years as Special Advisor on Decolonization, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion (DEDI) in the Office of the Dean at the Schulich School of Business, where he remains as Instructor and the Academic Director of the Schulich Business Excellence Academy (SBEA), a virtual summer program that introduces business education to senior Ontario high school students. 

The former Inaugural Technical Advisor in Innovation, Science and Competitiveness to the President of the Republic of Haïti (2017 – 2019), he is Adjunct Faculty Fellow at the Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research and Fellow at the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC).

Jean-Jacques completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Explainability & Trust in AI Systems at the Lassonde School of Engineering (2020 – 2022), and holds a B.A. in Law and Philosophy from Carleton University, MBA from the Schulich School of Business, and PhD in Philosophy of Science from the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science & Technology at the University of Toronto.

Devina Srivastava

Devina is passionate about reducing the systemic exclusion from basic rights amongst vulnerable and underserved populations in the world. She has worked extensively at the intersection of gender, inclusion, and digital development. She is a development practitioner with experience with non-profits, research institutes, multilateral organizations, and funding organizations, using behavioral science, human-centered design, and technology to design inclusive programs that enable all populations, especially those marginalized, access human rights. Throughout her career, she has applied rights-based approaches in results-based management, program design and implementation, monitoring and evaluation, and research. As a Global Fellow at the Center for Human Rights and Humanitarian Studies (CHRHS) at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs, Devina studies the social norms surrounding the use of mobile phones, the internet, and financial instruments by women and girls across urban cities in India, Sri Lanka, Kenya, and Egypt. She earned a master of public administration in development practice from Columbia University, where she specialized in technology, gender, and human rights. She also holds a post-graduate diploma in human rights law from the National Law School of India, and a bachelor of science in economics and politics from the University of Bath.

Register below and join us on Wednesday, April 24, at 10 a.m.

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