Jessie Johnston

Experience

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  Self-employed

  Jan 2000 - now

  Project Management/Operations Consultant

  I help clients in various industries come up with the processes, schedules and plans that they need to successfully complete their initiative, whether that initiative be building a digital profile for their company, or writing their latest novel.Dependent on the client's need, I may also be involved in helping building out the deliverables of that plan, from content implementation to data migrations to developing small scale websites. I am especially good at building out educational/training tools and other documentation, as well as supporting user testing, feedback and remediation.This is all done with the goal of working with their stakeholders & user base to provide the support they need to make both themselves and their users feel supported & successful. Show less

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  Forestry Research Partnership

  Jun 2000 - Jun 2001

  Web Intern

  My responsibility during this internship was as a Marketer/Communicator with a strong online & technical focus. As part of this position I created & maintained the website for the organization, but as well as that created associated materials to match, including brochures, portable displays, outdoor & indoor signs and posters. I then appeared at trade shows & other events with the displays to interact with the public & explain to them the purpose of the partnership & the related ecology centre.As this was an outdoor-related position, it also involved more outdoor communications tasks, primarily organizing the creation of a marked nature trail within the park where our office was. This included not only creating the brochure and signs but also coordinating the creation of the actual path based on our scientist's recommendations, and ensuring the maintenance of the path. I also visited forestry job sites to provide support for on ground evaluation & to provide photographic support.At the end of my internship I worked on a project that brought many of these elements together, creating an interactive cd for teachers who were doing a session with us. This included creating all of the non-text content (photography, videography & graphic design) and then building a self-loading cd with an Flash interactive interface to access the information, and a virtual version of the path I had created above. Show less

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  Western University

  Sept 2001 - Jul 2011

  Coordination of a busy website & application development team as co-supervisor of 5 full-time programmers & designers, and direct supervisor / hiring authority for up to 5 part-time staff. Project manager handling development from start to finish: proposal, scope/requirement gathering, determination of required resources, prioritization, assigning to appropriate staff, & monitoring of progress, making adjustments to resourcing, priorities and scope as required throughout the process. Includes creation & organization of relevant project documents, estimates, update reports, and all communications & associated presentations to managers & clients - while balancing potentially 20+ projects at various stages at a time and still continuing to code projects myself.Other duties also included user experience design & information architecture for large-scale websites and web applications as part of the project scoping process. In addition was also in charge of digital communications coordination to the userbase - planning & creating content updates and social media strategy. Show less In charge of various print ventures, most notably the Academic Calendar; collecting updates from various areas, creating layout & design, coordinating revisers, creating RFPs, taking bids from & working with printers for final product.Creating & maintaining not only the print versions but also the online versions of relevant publications.Overseeing the renumbering of all courses at Western; heading up a team that solicited updates & changes from faculties, organizing incoming content, and putting together a new numbering system.(Maternity Leave Cover) Show less

  • Student Services Web Coordinator

    Jul 2008 - Jul 2011

  • Publications Coordinator

    Jun 2007 - Jun 2008

  • Web Developer

    Sept 2001 - May 2008
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  Let's Talk Science

  Jul 2011 - Aug 2017

  For Let's Talk Science, I ran digital operations and managed their web products, providing guidance and strategic planning to grow the organization's infrastructure, online presence and increased focus on eLearning.This involved planning priorities by working with various program staff to determine functional needs and derive technical solutions to fulfill them, and then managing both a 5-6 person in-house team as well as coordinating RFPs & work with external vendors to ensure that all our websites, online programs & data systems run efficiently and well. I was also responsible for investigating best practices and new innovations in the eLearning sphere, including bringing recommendations for continued growth & helping with research projects to learn more about what users needed. Show less This role was a transitional role during my time at Let's Talk Science. Due to my experience in edtech and web technologies, although I was primarily the Program Manger for CurioCity I also began supporting web initiatives and program decisions at Let's Talk Science, including starting to provide project and technical lead roles for system builds & online program and event creation - which led in a natural progression to a new role being created for me within the organization.However, creating new positions and shifting organizationally does take time, requiring a period of time where my position balanced responsibilities for both. This was a useful period for me as it truly helped me expand my capacity for multi-tasking, as well as people management as I had two teams to help keep engaged. Show less As Program Manager, I was responsible for all aspects of developing and managing CurioCity/CurioCité (http://www.explorecuriocity.org / http://www.explorecuriocite.org)on a strategic & operational level, including ensuring it matches the needs of the audience - from youth to educators. This included ensuring a flow of appropriate content for the magazine section, managing online citizen science initiatives and corresponding events as well as other online resources and community designed to be relevant to youth & resources for educators that are curriculum-aligned & STSE focused.I managed a cross-functional team, including working with remote employees across the country, keeping us on track and motivated to continue to explore new ideas for the program. Show less

  • Manager, Web Strategy & Development

    Jul 2015 - Aug 2017

  • Manager, CurioCity & Web Strategy

    Jul 2014 - Jul 2015

  • Program Manager, CurioCity

    Jul 2011 - Jul 2014
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  PSEWEB

  Aug 2012 - Nov 2016

  Operations Director

  As Operations Director, it was my responsibility to keep the balls in the air and the pieces running for this yearly event. I worked for the Conference Owner & then the executive director, coordinating tasks with the conference staff to help in planning, organizing & running this yearly conference and all associated materials. As the staff was a purely volunteer force from various universities across the country, this involved a lot of balancing schedules and remote coordination.As well as organizing tasks for the executive director throughout the year, I ran the day-to-day operations on site during the conference, running registration, coordinating student interns, and being the main point of contact between the team members (who were also attending the conference). Show less

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  Digital Echidna

  Aug 2017 - Dec 2019

  Senior Digital Project Manager

  - Acted as the main client contact for web projects, ensuring high quality, on time, and on budget work.- Led project planning, scheduling, and communication to drive successful project execution.- Collaborated with project team to execute project tactics effectively.- Supported PMO initiatives and championing of Project Management discipline, both within and outside of the company. (as seen in the below presentations/articles)

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  Western University

  Jun 2019 - now

  For Continuing Studies @ Western I developed an online course on Web Strategy: Audience, Content and Usability, which provides basically an introduction/overview to many of the things I do - giving a first look at major strategies for focusing on your web content and how to make sure your message works with your technology to support a meaningful, interactive experience.I have taught this course once a year now since 2012, trying to keep it updated & fresh both before & during each year's course, engaging a group of interesting and various students from various locations in actually thinking through the course materials not just in principal, but also practically - trying to get them to begin building something they can actually take away with them.Along with my work on my own course, I work with the Continuing Studies staff to help other instructors with setting up their courses, both from an effective elearning point of view as well as programmatical/LMS setup help. Show less

  • Course Developer & Instructor, Continuing Studies

    Apr 2012 - now

  • Web and Technical Support Specialist

    Jun 2019 - now
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  10up

  Dec 2019 - Feb 2025

  - Supported foundational change in company infrastructure by project managing and QAing new system implementations and integrations.- Personally handled primary data migrations between old and new systems for seamless transitions.- Handled onboarding and training for new users to the system and processes, as well as providing administrator level support for these onboarding users - Managed a cross-discipline team at 10up, overseeing resourcing, project assignments, while also serving as a senior project manager on client accounts.- Led direct reports to successful project execution, ensuring strong collaboration and high-quality deliverables.- Achieved increased client satisfaction and retention through strategic project management and team leadership. - Managed multiple enterprise client projects from discovery to launch, ensuring strong execution and client satisfaction.- Led cross-discipline project teams, fostering collaboration and achieving project milestones.- Implemented ongoing retainer services, resulting in long-term client partnerships and revenue growth.

  • Lead Project Manager

    Apr 2024 - Feb 2025

  • Senior Team Lead

    Dec 2021 - Mar 2024

  • Team Lead

    Feb 2021 - Dec 2021

  • Senior Project Manager

    Dec 2019 - Feb 2021
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  Evolving Web

  Mar 2025 - now

  Associate PMO