Ebony L. Kenney
Author, Designer & Researcher
Ebony L. Kenney is Graphic Design, Market Research and Usability Veteran, excelling at the art of inquiry. Said to be a "clear wifi signal whose insights elevate any conversation", she draws from a scientific approach which yields itself to facilitating discussions that inspire thought and action. She holds a BA in English and MA in Design. Having most recently served as a User Experience Analyst and Data Analyst for Workforce Morale efforts as a federal agency employee.
She is the founder of Ripefruit Foundation, a non-profit effort dedicated to identifying and strengthening peripheral skills as they appear along the spectrum of neurodiversity, and Ripefruit Creative, a design agency dedicated to the realm of education and equity.
Capabilities
Virtual and In Person Presentations/Classes on...
Neurodiversity as the lost DEI conversation - Participants understand the importance of having an understanding of Neurodiversity and what it has to do with you, Whether you're neurodiverse or not. As a neurodiverse, how to advocate for yourself in the workplace and your children in their learning environments without shame. How to activate the ABILITY!
How to get from Empathy to Equity - Helping participants make a Social Justice journey from reality to justice using the vehicle of a software development framework.
Black in White Collar - How to thrive as a BIPOC in a corporate environment
Expert in Usability, Graphic Design & Equity (as a panelist or Feature presenter)
2022 Projects
The DEI+N Talks: Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Neurodiversity
Join us for The DEI+N Talks! , a monthly virtual panel with Neurodiversity, Education professionals, parents and advocates positioned as the missing piece of DEI. Tickets are complementary. Role: Organizer and interviews artists for this series.
Learn more about Ripefruit Foundation
Follow the IG for entertaining content @RipefruitCreative
“Ain’t None of Y’all Safe!": A theoretical and practical approach to achieving Social Justice in digital spaces using a User Experience Approach (Feb, 2023)
Don't Mean to be Rude: Leaning into Disruption as a Woman of Color in STEM (11/1 6-9pm)
Role: Moderator
Starts at beginning through 1:04:53.
Women of Color STEM 10/7 @ 7a
Contributing Writer in Onyx Magazine (Sept/Oct Issue)
Guest Speaker at UXPA International
San Diego, CA June 21-23, 2022
Role: Presenter
Topic: Safe Third Spaces: Using a User Experience research process to achieve social justice in the virtual hybrid spaces we build and explore.
Guest Speaker in June at SoDA
Topic: The Age of Equity : Re-evaluating Perspective
Recent Work
I played Lisa in a super fun play in May!
Improv Festival in August!
Exhibit
Safe Third Space @ Stevenson University
This Creative Research Practices exhibit displayed this exhibit which took an Agile software development methodology and overlayed with an international trip to Rwanda, demonstrating insights and reactions as a framework for social justice.
10/7/21- 11/12/2021
Including two Guest Lectureships at the University
Praise for the Exhibit
Editorial:
The Villager - Stevenson University
The US Times Digital Magazine - Feature Article
Panel Appearance
Spoken on a panel of artists to explore stories as a means of creating community and increasing belongingness. A lively discussion followed.
New Release
Title: I Humbly Submit
Description of the book:
This collection of affirmations was collected over a two week mission trip to Rwanda, my first time to the continent, on the heels of a broken relationship and on the cusp of the next phase of my journey into self awareness and acceptance. As I watched the people of the lovely country, I noticed their resolve and their strength, as they completed their daily activities steeped in gratitude. In those moments of observation, I received an idea from a divine place. I am loved, I am ordained and I belong on this planet at this time. That a lifetime so far of seeking to prove I belong, has distracted me from the next leg of this race, purpose.
This heart offering...seeks to reconcile texture and tactile, shades of brown and light, origin of the human race and the base of it. Mother of all DNA, know who you are, before you have proof. And if only what is real persists, than I humbly submit that you persist. And you have arrived, at the full circle of having suffered, been submitted, been submerged and emerge remembering that the only acceptance, celebration, and embrace comes from within. And was never without. That being seen is to be admired and to be held is to bewilder. When you know who you are, you find it easier, and quite amusing to see the attempts of humans, to demand you bow your head, and bend your knee. Then with awareness and with no threat to your heritage, you humbly, submit.
Productivity Tips
Created a series of tips to help with productivity for everyone from the sudent to the busy professional.
Homeless Drive Jan-March (Gifted $200 Gift Card from Giant and Storage Shed from Home Depot)
Where's Home: Baltimore, Maryland
Follow me: Lyricallye (ig), LinkedIn, Lyrically_E (twitter)