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Children's Literacy Initiative (CLI) is a mission-driven organization fueled by the passion and enthusiasm of our employees. Our dedicated team works together to equip teachers with the right tools to ensure all children have the power of literacy. We pride ourselves on having a workplace that is fun and engaging, and a team that is smart and motivated. 

Today, our Team Spotlight series highlights our Director of Multimedia and E-Learning Technologies, Jordanne Owen. Jordanne leads the production of our educational resources, print and online. She works every day to make a difference in the lives of teachers and students across the all our regions, ensuring our resources are available and accessible. 

We sat down with Jordanne to learn more about her experience at CLI, what motivates her every day, and who are some heroes she has as we celebrate Women's History Month. Check out her answers below:

Q: What attracted you to working at Children’s Literacy Initiative? 

A: I started working at CLI straight out of college with a freshly minted teaching degree that left me feeling completely unprepared to face a room of 6 year olds and actually TEACH. When I saw the job post for CLI I was initially fascinated by an organization that was committed to treating teaching like a profession and centered around making teachers feel prepared and valued- all in service of giving children the education that they deserve.

Q: What are some of your key duties within your role?

A: As the Director of Multimedia and E-Learning technologies my main responsibilities center on the production of our educational resources, whether those are printed materials, media, or online courses. I work with an incredible team whose vision and attention to detail blow me away every day.

My team is part of the larger Content Department, but our focus is really on editing, formating and translation into other mediums. Once content has been researched and written it is my team's responsibility to take that content and get it ready to be put in front of a variety of audiences, and to create any supplementary materials such as videos, presentations, and online modules, etc.
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Q: What aspects of your role do you enjoy the most?

A: One of the things I love most about my role is getting to be creative with my team around how best to design content for audiences. Storyboarding videos and working on scripts can be incredibly energizing, and on the physical production side I work with a team that is constantly innovating in strategies around quality control, ease of access to materials, and efficiency.

I work with incredibly talented people and I appreciate their energy and commitment to our organization's mission more each day. Something I also love that I have missed since COVID is being able to film lessons in classrooms and have that additional connection to the work we do with schools and teachers and children. Telling a 6 year old that they are about to be a movie star because we heard about the AMAZING learning that has been going on in their classroom is one of the best feelings in the world.

Q: In celebration of Women’s History month, can you name woman or women who have inspired you? and why?

A: There are so many women who I look to for inspiration every day, and honestly I work with many of them. However if I were to pick one woman who has shaped me more than anyone else I have to pick my mother. My mother moved to America as a teenager and has never let any obstacle, opinion, or "disadvantage" stop her from accomplishing her goals and pushing me and my brother to do the same. What I appreciate most about her is that her encouragement never meant hiding her struggles from us, it was about showing us how the reward was all the better for having to work for it.

Q: Please share a fun fact about yourself that most people would not know. For example, do you play any instrument, or have a unique hobby? 

A: I'm not sure there is much about me at this point that people don't know, but something that I love to do is cook and this past year has given me a lot of time to try new recipes. Something that I can't wait to do as soon as it is possible is to start cooking for other people again! My latest obsession is homemade pasta so I hope everyone is ready for a carb load as soon as we are back together again.

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Interested in joining Jordanne and the CLI team? Check out all our open positions on our Careers Page

Join Our Team Today! >>

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