Odysseys: Belonging in a Global Community

Rooted in behavioral science, Odysseys aims to explore and promote the belonging of Africans and Afro-descendants in multi-national, multi-gender, and multi-ethnic communities.

At the IE Africa Center, we believe that the approaches and methodologies employed by African and Afro-descendant entrepreneurs and academics across different fields offer instructive lessons for the world.

We are therefore delighted to announce Jessica D. Tollette, Ph.D., Academic Director of the Bachelor in Behavior and Social Sciences at IE University will join us as Scholar in Residence at the IE Africa Center on the Odysseys project. In this capacity, Dr. Tollette’s work will focus on providing both formal and informal interactions to bridge academic scholarship and community as we foster belonging among the global IE community.

Dr. Tollette will develop a framework to understand the ways in which IE’s community can create a sense of belonging in the face of systemic inequities across nationality, race, gender, sexual orientation and socio-economic class.  This framework will be developed through a series of workshops and seminars with IE’s stakeholders to gather the necessary data for a toolkit.   The goal of the project is to enhance the IE’s educational community and learning experience by promoting a healthy, thriving campus climate and a community of excellence premised on openness and respect for others.

Using tools from behavioral science, Dr. Tollette will develop a holistic qualitative investigation of belonging across the community as a starting point for a broader reimagining of what it means to foster belonging amongst multi-ethnic, multi-national and multi-gendered communities.

About Dr. Jessica Tollette

Dr. Jessica Tollette is the academic director of the Bachelors in Behavior and Social Sciences at IE University. In addition to her role as academic director, she also teaches courses on research methods and behavioral science and is currently collaborating with IE’s Center for Health, Well-being and Happiness teaching a course to undergraduate students on kindness, empathy and compassion.

Prior to starting at IE, Dr. Tollette conducted research on immigration policy, immigrant integration and intergroup relations in Madrid. She has previously received several awards and grants to conduct her research, including a Fulbright grant to Spain. She also co-taught Harvard undergraduate courses in research methods, race, gender and education where she received awards for outstanding teaching. In addition to research and teaching, Dr. Tollette has also worked extensively with bachelor students in the realm of diversity and inclusion and academic advising.

Upon receiving her bachelor’s degree, Jessica worked as a management consultant at Monitor Group in New York where she specialized in marketing consulting and diversity recruitment. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in Sociology at Harvard University and graduated magna cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication and a minor in Hispanic Studies.