Jonathan O.L.H. Porter is a proud native of Seattle, WA, and is a 2008 graduate from Seattle University with a bachelor in business administration, his major being marketing with an emphasis in entrepreneurship. Though he has a degree in business, his first love was and still is technology. He was a participant in the Technology Access Foundation’s (TAF) Technical Teens Internship Program from 200-2004, where he gained invaluable knowledge and experience in various tech skills such as web design, graphic design, software, and coding. Being Black and being a participant in the TAF program, an organization founded by a Black woman, where he saw staff and instructors that looked like him, was a revelation. It is this experience, and seeing firsthand the disparities in access to technology in his community that has driven him towards his passion of creating digital equity and equality for communities of color and those of lower income. For over a decade, he has taught in or operated tech labs throughout Seattle. In these roles he’s been a technology instructor for hundreds of preschoolers, youth, adults, and seniors. He has worked for organizations such as TAF, the YMCA, Associated Recreation Council, Rainier Community Center, Black Brilliance Research Project, and currently he’s a Digital Navigator at the Filipino Community of Seattle.
His other passion, one which he acknowledges he was born with, is disability awareness and advocacy. Being a wheelchair-user with Muscular Dystrophy himself, he has been a proponent for the issues of the differently-abled his entire life. Jonathan is a 2-time Goodwill Ambassador for the Seattle chapter of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), a recipient of the MDA's 2013 Robert Ross National Personal Achievement Award, and has spoken on/for various panels including, Seattle Public Schools, King County's Cultural Awareness series, Seattle University, and at the National Career Opportunities for Students with Disabilities (COSD) Conference in Atlanta, GA in 2006. He served as a commissioner on the mayoral appointed Seattle Commission for People with disAbilities for 4 years, where he held the role of president for 2 of those years, and today he is the President of the Board of Directors for Open Doors for Multicultural Families.
In his free time, Jonathan can be found spending time with his wife Alexis, basenji Cuba, his huge family in the Seattle/Tacoma area, or getting wrapped up in his love of sneakers, comics, video games, and movies.
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