Dr. France Jackson — Dominique Sensabaugh

“Recognize and embrace your uniqueness...Being a Black woman, being a woman in general, on a team of all men, means that you are going to have a unique voice. It’s important to embrace that.” - Erin Teague

Dr. France Jackson is a woman who relentlessly chased her dreams yet sacrificed so many facets of her personal life to make her goals come to reality. At 12-years-old, France experienced the sudden loss of her father after he passed away in a tragic accident. Despite losing her dad, she remained active in sports, a scholar in school, and a leader in her church. This and many other adverse situations, served as the catalyst that forced her to develop a coping mechanism to block out any distractions and push forward to her illustrious goals. This experience became essential to her success. France never shies away from adversity, and the mental fortitude she embodies, allows her to navigate the technology industry with ease.

Each year, the Clemson Young Alumni Council recognizes ten outstanding individuals for their impact in business, leadership, community, educational and philanthropic endeavors. The honor is given to those individuals who exemplify Clemson University’s core values of honesty, integrity, and respect. To receive this distinguished award precisely one year after my friend and mentor, Dr. France Jackson, a Gates Millennium Scholar, Clemson alumni who graduated with dual degrees in Industrial Engineering, and obtained a PhD in Human-Centered Computing is evidence that I am moving in the right direction.

France Jackson, PhD, User Experience Researcher now works for Intel Corporation, and is a living legend in the flesh; she is the epitome of a leader; she is #GoalsAF as an educated, driven, boss babe. To even be considered in the same category and receive the same award as France is an honor. Honored is an understatement blessed and favored by God is more like it.

Discover more about this creative genius during our interview perfectly captured by @Golitahworldwide

DOM: Who is France Jackson? What has shaped her as a leader, daughter, sister, bossbabe?

FRANCE: France Jackson is a hustler after God’s own heart. I like to think of myself as a vessel, a tool that is used by God to teach, share, uplift, and motivate. I would say the cardinal ‘thing’ that has had the most profound impact on shaping me into the person I am today is … adversity. For me it hasn’t been about the cards that life dealt me, but more so about how I’ve always managed to play them and win. It has been my experience that life can be sucky, but how you respond is what matters most!

In 1999, on the corner of Beltline Blvd and Two Notch Rd, I remember riding in the car with my Aunt Lucy. She is my mom’s only sister and a minister. She talked about believing in my heart and confessing w/ my mouth that Jesus is Lord and was raised from the dead. Of course growing up in church I knew all about God and the Bible, but it was in THAT moment that I considering myself accepting him into my heart and receiving salvation. She went on to talk about scriptures, the importance of knowing the Bible, and using His word as a guiding light for your life. That she taught me Proverbs 3:5-6:

[5] Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. [6] In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

To this day, that is my favorite scripture and one I still lean on. This was simply one of the poignant ways in which she impacted my life. The following year, she informed us that she had been diagnosed with breast cancer that metastasizes to her lungs as well as sarcoidosis. As a result she was on oxygen 24/7. She never let that stop her for being there for me and it really showed me what it means to have a servant’s heart. But on June 2, 2000, is when I really started to become the resilient, tunnel-visioned, focused and strong person I am today. At 3 am we got a phone call that my cousin found my aunt lying on the floor. Her oxygen wire had become disconnected and she died. The idea of being 11 years old and seeing your favorite person roll pass you with a white sheet covering them, still sits with me today. After that day, I would never be the same. There are no words to articulate the impact she had on my life and the piece of me she took with her. Therefore I choose to focus on the piece of her she left in me. As opposed to using that pain and situation as an opportunity to hate and question God, I remember the scripture she taught me. I leaned on him and relied on him to direct my paths. From that day forth I wanted to make her proud, I wanted her to know that I had not forgotten what she had taught me and that I would live my life following Christ.

Little did I know this type of unconventional response to adversity would be a motif and in my life. When I look back on my childhood; growing up in a home with severe domestic violence, resenting my father, going on to reconcile with him only for him to pass away a year later, losing my aunt, and dealing with my parent’s substance abuse, there is no way I am supposed to be the person I am today. There are so many people that have cracked under the pressure and the things that I faced before I even became a teenager. I like to think that God put me through those things because he knew he had so much in store for me. And in order for me to get to the place he wants me to be, I have to be strong, I have to have thick skin, I have to be resilient and willing to keep fighting. I am grateful for the things I have experienced because they prepared for the trials I faced in graduate school, in my personal life, and even now in my professional endeavors. Now when things go wrong, I typically tell myself. “This is bad, but it’s not the worst thing I have ever been through, I got through it then, and I’ll get through it now”. France Jackson is a fighter and one way or another, she will win.

DOM: What motivates you to achieve greatness?

FRANCE: I feel like “motivation” implies you have other options. I never felt like there was another option outside of being great.

On the chance that I do get distracted or lazy, I remind myself that I’m not doing this for me. I’m doing this for the young brown girls and boys who think they can’t. What I am trying to achieve is bigger than myself, it always has been and always will be. When I was in graduate school and I would feel burnt out or defeated when I wanted to take my master’s degree and go home; I simply reminded myself of the things I had sacrificed to be there. The time, money, relationships, special events missed, etc. would all be for nothing. While my friends were falling in love and building families, getting married, purchasing homes, birthing new life, I was married to school and birthed a dissertation. I had made my choice that my research would be my legacy, my heir. I admire their ability to have successful careers and families following undergrad, but I knew that was not my path. What I had to do required my full focus, so I had to make some sacrifices along the way. Now that I have finished my Ph.D. and have my dream job, I am able to shift some focus to my personal life. And what better time than now, I know who I am, I know what I want, and I have already realized some of my solo dreams. I feel like I am in the best position to realize joint dreams with my life partner.

DOM: What is your official title at Intel? What do you do and how does it benefit society?

FRANCE:

France Jackson, PhD

User Experience Researcher

Intel Corporation

At Intel, I work on a software (SW) innovation team. It is my job to create new SW experiences that help differentiate Intel Architecture. As other engineers create new hardware (HW) form factors, I design and explore SW that creates unique experiences for that HW. I get to work with other companies (Adobe, Streamlabs, Twitch, Magix, Microsoft, etc.) to bring my ideas to fruition. Much of my work over the last two years has been with content creators, gamers and streamers. I have been creating solutions that make video game streaming easier and lowering the barrier to entry for beginners. Although that may seem trivial to some, its really important to a kid who has social anxiety, is bullied, and his only real friends are halfway around the world because they met playing games online. While I was at Twitchcon, I stood in line with 6 people and watch these people bond over games and their own disabilities. By the end of the time we were in line they were taking pictures together, exchanging information, and deciding to do the conference together. Two of the six people had aspergers. Later that day, as I was showcasing some of the technology, a girl was in tears because she had been trying to save money and gather the knowledge needed to get started streaming. She was immensely exciting to see we were creating a more cost-effective solution that did not sacrifice performance and lowered the barrier to entry. Although I may have spent a year working on video game streaming tools, I was able to see the impact it had on a community of people who are different and often swept under the rug.

This is one of the many different projects I work on. My favorite aspect of my current team is that we function as an agency within the company, so I work with several different business units on several different projects at once.

DOM: What are the routines/traditions that you have during your workweek? How are you able to consistently perform at such a high level?

FRANCE: I honestly suck at this. Creating a routine is something I want to work on in 2020. I want to be even more effective and methodical with my time. It is difficult for me to create a routine in my role because every day, every week is different. I do have standing meetings, such as 1:1s with my manager and planning meetings with each project team that happens each week. However, as a researcher, I am often traveling and/or working remotely while doing testing. One week I may be in LA going to YouTuber’s homes to observe their process, in an effort to understand their workflow and pain points. The next week I may be in NY meeting with an agency helping me create an SW demo for another project. In October, I had to pull back from many projects and focus on just one. That one project involved being in the field every day for 4 weeks. We were piloting new technology in homes here in Portland. I had to call into my other project meetings from the car, or schedule in some work time/break time at Starbucks during the day. Even “work time” is not consistent. Intel is a global company and we do work with people around the world. There are days when I have 6 am meetings and 9 pm meetings. I balance that with random Fridays working from home. For my team, it’s not about when or where you are getting the work done, it is all about getting the work done. My manager does not care if I am on a rocketship to the moon with my laptop. As long as this Macbook Pro is working and the deliverable gets delivered, he’s cool.

With this level of rapidly changing circumstances, it is difficult to have a traditional routine. I personally depend heavily on my calendar and staying on top of when I need to be where and what needs to be pushed out by when. Unfortunately, I am a bit of a work-a-holic and find myself working outside of traditional business hours, pretty much every day. I work on the weekends, I work at night, I work based on what needs to get done, not what time it is.

One thing I try to do every day is wake up 2 hours before I need to start my day. This gives me a chance to relax, meditate, talk to my beau, review my agenda and take a deep breath before tackling my challenge to change the world.

High-Level Performance

My mom always told me if you can’t give it 110%, don’t do it. I always try to do my best. I feel pressure to be the best and try to rise to that. I take tremendous pride in my personal brand, so if my name is attached to something, I am going to work hard to make sure it exudes excellence. Finally, there are a few things that come along with being the only person in the room that looks like you:

You stand out no matter what you do, so since you have their attention, show out.
You have to prove yourself BEFORE they respect/trust you and your ideas. You are not simply granted the same respect because you are merely there just like them. You have to earn it and sometimes that means working twice as hard.
They will question/test you, know your ish and be ready!
They will look for flaws in your work, make sure there are none.
They will expect you to fail, don’t.

I perform at a high level, because I can’t afford not to.

DOM: How can we encourage and support women and young girls in STEAM?

FRANCE: Expose them. I hate the myth that girls are not going into stem because they aren’t as good at or don’t like math and science. Girls aren’t going into STEM because little effort is made to make it interesting for them. Little effort is made to expose them to the career path options and women who are in STEM. It is difficult to want to be something you have never heard of or seen. I think we encourage and support women and girls through exposure and embracing STEAM. Understanding that Science Technology Engineering and Math are not mutually exclusive from Art and Design. My job requires a lot of creativity and design elements to be successful. In addition to getting girls into STEAM, we have the challenge to keep them there. I’m still exploring how we keep them in their roles at companies like Intel. So far, I think proper mentorship, creation of safe spaces, micro-aggression training, and support from leadership have all been important factors.