Resume
TEACHING
TULANE UNIVERSITY New Orleans, LA, 2024 – ongoing
Visiting Assistant Professor in Design, School of Architecture - Design Program
Undergraduate Design Classes
TULANE UNIVERSITY New Orleans, LA, 2023
Adjunct Faculty, School of Architecture - Design Program
Undergraduate Design Classes
DECLUTTERING FOR CREATIVES Online class, 2015 - ongoing
CREATING CHARACTERS WITH CHARACTER Online class, 2015 - 2021
FIND YOUR LIFE PURPOSE Online class, 2015 - 2020
IBM EXCITE CAMP Research Triangle Park, NC, 2006-2010
Facilitator, Local schools, elementary and junior high
Design workshops
THE COLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIES Detroit, MI, 2002 – 2004
Adjunct Faculty, Senior Portfolio Development, Industrial Design - Transportation program
Undergraduate classes
NIKE KIDS CAMP Beaverton, OR, 1999
Facilitator, elementary
Design workshops
MENTORING
QUEST TO LEARN New York, NY, 2012, 2013
New York City Public School, Guest reviewer
THE NEW SCHOOL’S PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN New York, NY, 2011-2013
Guest reviewer, various programs
NEW YORK INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY New York, NY, 2012
Guest reviewer, Architecture
NORTH CAROLINA STATE UNIVERSITY Raleigh, NC, 2006-2010
Undergraduate mentor, various departments
VIRGINIA TECH Blacksburg, VA, 2007-2009
Guest reviewer, Industrial Design
PARTICIPATORY PERFORMANCES
PILGRIMAGE for Ayden Leroux, New York, NY, 2016
An immersive performance for an audience of one by Odyssey Works Collective.
My roles: public participation coordinator with Eulani Labay, and performer
STRANGE TOURS Grand Central Station, New York, NY, 2015
A public participatory experience by Odyssey Works Collective.
My roles: producer, tour creator, and performer
JEN’S ODYSSEY for Jen Harmon, New York, NY, 2014
An immersive performance for an audience of one by Odyssey Works Collective.
My roles: participant choreographer and performer
WHEN I LEFT THE HOUSE IT WAS STILL DARK for Rick Moody, New York, NY, 2013
An immersive performance for an audience of one by Odyssey Works Collective.
My roles: a lead fool, performer, and production crew
THE MAP IS NOT THE TERRITORY for Carl Collins, New York, NY, 2012
An immersive performance for an audience of one by Odyssey Works Collective.
My roles: participant choreographer and performer
DESIGN FOR SOCIAL CHANGE
TOGETHERING New York, NY, 2013
A set of participatory games by Subodh Divekar and Kelly Jo.
Togethering activities help reveal unique personal experiences with difficult topics like LGBTQIA life, financial insecurity, debt, access to higher education, and more.
These activities use performance methods like theatre exercises, improvisation, and social games to help community participants connect generously with each other, creating the foundation needed for collaborative future visioning.
STORY GO ROUND New York, NY, 2012
A collaborative community game by Jane Friedhoff, Kelly Jo, and Mike Susol - with support from Red Cross Red Crescent and Parsons the New School for Design.
Story Go Round is a community future visioning tool that uses humor and the creative spontaneity of improvisational storytelling to address climate change-related disasters. It was first tested at Parsons in New York City before being tested and further developed in high-risk villages on the Zambezi river basin in Africa.
_PARK_IT_ New York, NY, 2012
A collaborative community activity by Steven Dale, Kelly Jo, Minuette Le, and Rachel Lehrer - with support by AMPLIFY - DESIS Lab at Parsons the New School for Design with Aaron Cansler, Eulani Labay, and Kiersten Nash.
_Park_It_ is a collaborative community future visioning tool that engages the public in a discussion of public space use, and asks ‘Can a community ‘park’ their desires in your spot?’
In the spring of 2012 AMPLIFY organized and hosted a Rockefeller-Funded Exhibition and Workshop Series where community stakeholders and activists from North Brooklyn engaged in a _Park_It_ visioning activity to explore how the community might creatively repurpose public (parking) spaces.
CURIOUS Union Square subway platform, New York, NY, 2011
A public participatory experience by Amy Findeiss, Kelly Jo, and Eulani Labay.
We surprised New York subway commuters with a facilitated exchange of wishes and dreams during the height of holiday shopping with the aim to make commuters more aware of each other, feel a sense of community and generosity while considering the value of non-commercial exchanges. Utilizing the mechanics of narrative, props, and performance in public space, CurioUs was designed as a prototype for potential design methods and tools to be used by organizations to engage with communities.
FUTURE VISIONING / STRATEGIC DESIGN
IBM New York, NY and Research Triangle Park, NC, 2004 - 2014
SENIOR STRATEGY CONSULTANT, PROJECT MANAGER
Worked on multi-million and billion-dollar worldwide projects for IBM, IBM Research, and IBM’s broad range of clients. Roles include project manager, team leader, facilitator, futurist, business strategist, strategic designer, design thinking specialist, service designer, experience designer, UX designer, brand strategist, design researcher, and industrial designer.
Created new visions for the future for a wide range of topics including play, personal communications, social home media experiences, and reimagining healthcare into a holistic Patient-Centered Medical Home with the American Academy of Family Practitioners which would evolve into what is now known as Obama Care.
Developed a system for collaboratively creating future visions and strategic roadmaps with IBM clients and potential clients in growth markets including China, India, Singapore, and Brazil. This work includes a sophisticated narrative system, immersive simulations, adaptive demos, staff education, and unique physical environments across the world.
Helped produce, and manage the immersive THINK exhibit at the Lincoln Center in New York City, 2011. This included large-scale real-time data visualizations created from data captured onsite including in-the-moment traffic patterns, the heat on NYC roofs, and air quality as well as immersive film and integrated interactive activities.
Collaborated with the New York Hall of Science to develop a platform of lesson plans built from the principles of the THINK exhibit utilizing the THINK app. Now in classrooms around the world, distributed by Teachers Try Science.
DAIMLER CHRYSLER Auburn Hills, MI, 2001
DESIGNER - car design
Created exterior and interior automotive designs within the Advanced Packaging Studio, a unique creative lab focused on near-future concepts.
DAIMLER CHRYSLER Detroit, MI, 2000
DESIGN INTERN - car design and manufacturing innovations
Created a totally unique new vehicle platform (the way the engine, drivetrain, and seats are configured) that dramatically changes the look of vehicles, reinvented the ownership experience, and defining a new flexible global sales strategy.
To help illustrate this new concept all the design and engineering interns applied my concept as the basis for their own designs - creating a fleet of concepts unlike any that had been designed before.
NIKE Beaverton, OR, 1999
DESIGN INTERN - shoe design and manufacturing innovations
Created research-led strategic design proposals for immediate use, near-future, and far-future concepts for sneakers, slides (soccer sandals), and kids’ shoes that focused on innovative ideas for sustainable manufacturing including material use, physical production techniques, and new strategies for assembly and purchasing.
Concepts also included new concepts for shoe closures - alternatives to traditional laces and velcro.
PUBLICATIONS / BIBLIOGRAPHY
RESEARCH
Benz, Peter, Eulani Labay, Kelly Jo Tierney, and Amy Findeiss. “CurioUs: The Logic of Performance.” Essay. In Experience Design: Concepts and Case Studies. London: Bloomsbury, 2015.
Findeiss, Amy, Kelly Jo Tierney, and Eulani Labay. “CurioUs: Design-Led Aesthetics of Performance.” For Participatory Innovation Conference. Lahti, 2013.
Co-author, “Design & Social Sciences.” Curriculum Proposal. New School University, New York, 2011.
Researcher, “IBM Academy Study: The Innovator’s Innovator.” IBM Academy, 2008.
CREATIVE NONFICTION
Tierney, Kelly Jo. Past Present: A Personal Account Of Life In Death. New York, NY: Our Future Memories, 2012/2015.
Tierney, Kelly Jo. The Minivan Only Gets You to the Suburbs. New York, NY: Our Future Memories, 2012/2015.
Tierney, Kelly Jo. Honey. New York, NY: Our Future Memories, 2012
Tierney, Kelly Jo. Memory, Happiness, Empathy - Essays. New York, NY: Our Future Memories, 2012
ILLUSTRATION / GRAPHIC DESIGN
REBEL MIND 2020 - ongoing
Posters and products
BRAINS! 2018
A card game by Jellybean Games
HIDDEN PANDA 2018
A social deduction game by Jellybean Games
NINJITSU! 2017
A card game by Jellybean Games
SCUTTLE! 2016
A card game by Jellybean Games
AWARDS
DESIGN & MECHANICAL PATENTS 2005-2008, 2010
Various U.S. and worldwide patents for design and mechanical innovations in electronics and healthcare devices.
iF - INTERNATIONAL FORUM 2005 and 2006
Design Awards in Advanced Studies
EDUCATION
THE NEW SCHOOL’S PARSONS SCHOOL OF DESIGN New York, NY, 2012
MFA Transdisciplinary Design - Inaugural class
THE COLLEGE FOR CREATIVE STUDIES Detroit, MI, 2001
BFA Double major, Fine Arts and Industrial Design - Transportation
THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN Ann Arbor, MI, attended 1997
Undergraduate program - Language, Science & the Arts (LS&A)