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Join us online on Tuesday, May 25, 2021 for a free systems thinking webinar with Jean Ellefson, assistant professor of analytics and holder of the Jon and Mary Tabor Chair in Family Business and Entrepreneurship in the College of Business at Alfred University. The talk will stream live on YouTube.

About the talk: “Utilizing systems thinking to gain insights around inclusive engagement in institutions. Suggesting a path to reduce the impacts of racism by examining our personal views and the social dynamics for those in the system.  In other words, what can each of us do, every day, to understand bias and make a difference to the outcomes that matter.”

About the speaker:

Following a successful career as a Xerox executive, Jean Ellefson made a transition to academia in 2019.  Ellefson is currently an Assistant Professor of Analytics and holds the Jon and Mary Tabor Chair in Family Business and Entrepreneurship in the College of Business at Alfred University. Her role in education enables her to share her experiences and knowledge with students striving to make a positive difference to their futures.

Her experiences include successfully scaling businesses, including the transformation of teams, processes and tools.  Ellefson enjoys tackling ambiguous and distributed processes and issues while delivering insights leading to deeper understanding for effective action. She has global experience through living and working in the United States, India (four years) and Europe (six years). 

Ellefson earned a master’s degree in engineering and management from the System Design and Management program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2001. She also holds a master’s degree in applied statistics from Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT), as well as a Bachelor of Science degree in chemical engineering and Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from Washington University in St Louis. She is a Lean Six Sigma and Design for Lean Six Sigma certified Black Belt. Ellefson resides in western New York State with her husband and their two youngest children.  She is also the Founder and Managing Member for Gilletek LLC.

About the series

Sponsored by the System Design & Management program at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the MIT SDM Systems Thinking Webinar Series features research conducted by SDM faculty, alumni, students, and industry partners. The series is designed to disseminate information on how to employ systems thinking to address engineering, management, and socio-political components of complex challenges.