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Kendra (Sr. Manager, Learning Design and Delivery) and I (Project Manager) were colleagues at Walmart Canada. We worked as collaborative partners, building a strong team of instructional designers who created 100s of learning assets for approximately 90,000 associates. In this fast-paced environment, we often had multiple projects running at the same time. To manage the demands on the team, Kendra and I created a seamless workflow to ensure every projects came in on time and on budget. We worked tirelessly to develop our diverse virtual and onsite team. One highlight was our "Make an Instructional Video in a Day" event that demonstrated how collaborative and creative our team had become.
Kendra's creative vision and ability to envision innovative learning projects is unparalleled.. She always encourages new approaches to learning and champions the design of inclusive and accessible resources. At Walmart, in addition to developing the overall learning strategy for every project, Kendra also edited all assets (script & visual design), managed SME expectations and ensured all assets were on the LMS, ready for launch. To support the business, Kendra often took on additional projects (outside vendors - PPP, Western Union) and supported international colleagues (Cyber Security). Beyond being a manager, Kendra was always available to support the team by writing scripts, creating videos and eLearnings, building and managing our website (AEM), building paper-based assets and creating decks for launch calls and YBM.
A highlight of our time together, was the agile development of training materials (including 165 instructional videos) for the launch of Workday. Kendra's vision not only saved us money but also allowed us to meet our deadlines while producing high quality videos.
She is a positive and supportive leader. She models the quality of work, collaboration, respect and lifelong learning she expects from her team. I would absolutely work with Kendra again.
Monica Grewal, Manager of Business Transformation, Walmart Canada
Kendra was an exceptional designer and manager at Walmart Canada. As the Sr Manager, Learning Design, she guided the team to deliver many successful projects. Her outstanding instructional and visual design skills greatly influenced the quality of the deliverables from the team. Kendra used her expertise in UDL principles to guide me and the rest of the team to raise our learning projects to the next level. She has a strong grasp of how to present complex information in a way that is accessible and inclusive, regardless of learners’ backgrounds. Kendra is always looking for new ways to design curricula and content and is not afraid to take risks and try new approaches.
Kendra has also conducted multiple sessions for my Training Development and Storyboarding class at Lambton College in Mississauga on UDL and all students enjoyed her sessions immensely. She has a natural delivery style and her deep knowledge of UDL engaged the students right from the start of the sessions. Kendra is creative and a wonderful collaborator. She is a clear communicator, always open to feedback and suggestion, and would be a great asset to any team.
Shubhada Deshmukh, Education Specialist at Health Standards Organization (HSO)
Kendra demonstrates a wealth of knowledge in a variety of areas related to the effective use of technology to facilitate learning for all. She keeps up to date with the latest apps and suggests creative solutions that go well beyond the use of the technology for its own sake. Working with her on this project (creation of an online course) really added to my own toolkit and I can say that she has made me a more knowledgeable person when it comes to Universal Design for Learning and emerging technology. Kendra is a pleasure to work with as a colleague, a consummate professional, and someone I would not hesitate to work with again in the future (as evidence of that, we recently published the second edition of our book Dive Into UDL).
Luis Pérez, Ph.D, Accessibility and Inclusive Learning Consultant, Recognized Apple Distinguished Educator with expertise in the areas of accessibility, mobile learning and technology integration in education.
I have had the pleasure of knowing and working directly with Kendra Grant for over 6 years. While working as the Assistive Technology Department Lead for San Diego Unified School District, I worked closely with Kendra as she developed and implemented numerous specialized training modules for our teachers. These modules demonstrated how the integration of good teaching methods, technology, and Universal Design for Learning (UDL) principals supported struggling learners while challenging all students to grow. She is a knowledgeable, excellent presenter with innovative but very practical ideas. Her workshops were well very received by all of our staff. I highly recommend Kendra Grant and would work with her again.
Anne Callies, Assistive Technology Specialist/Speech Language Pathologist at Callies AT Associates
I have had the pleasure to work with Kendra over the course of several projects. Her professionalism, attention to detail, problem solving ability, and technical know-how make her a valuable addition to any team/project. Kendra possesses a unique set of tools and knowledge that allow her to take an active role in scope development and/or project management and yet can also participate in production, design, and development. Kendra is one of those rare people that brings an instantly recognizable value-add to any project. I wouldn't think twice about the opportunity to work with her again.
Josh Hoover, Product Development
I would like to share my admiration for Kendra Grant's ability in helping to prepare digital content for an educational audience. I have had the pleasure of working with her on a number of projects, most recently an online professional development program for teachers, and I have found Kendra a professional and insightful judge of educational trends and interests . She is a tireless team member who is dedicated to producing digital content at the highest standard, while still being aware of deadlines and budgetary constraints. Beyond that, her collaborative nature makes her a joy to work with and a valued educational colleague! I cannot recommend her highly enough.
Edmond Dixon, Ph.D, Teacher, Principal, Author of "Helping Boys Learning", with a focus on helping boys and men reach their potential in school, community and work settings.
Kendra brings passion, creativity and knowledge as she inspires educators to more fully use technology to engage learners and address varying learning styles. Teachers gain insights on how the technology tools can be used to support student learning, are excited to get back to the classroom to implement new teaching strategies and report their students are more engaged and successful.
Lucy Roman, Retired Coordinator of Instructional Technology, Business Education and Library Media Specialists, White Plains City School District, White Plains, NY
Kendra Grant has greatly contributed to re-developing our proven blended learning product, a serious game called Prelude, into a cloud-based virtual resource, both for education and business. She has a profound grasp of where the global market is headed for learning products. Moreover, she has the deep, broad acumen to help enterprises reimagine their traditional offerings and transform them for high value use in inclusive digital environments.
Howard Esbin, PhD, Social Entrepreneur. Serious Game Developer. Virtual Team Trust Through Creativity, Founder
Kendra has an excellent business acumen, extraordinary knowledge of professional development, and is an inspiring manager.
She has the educational vision and management skills to clearly set a path and move her company in that direction. She's also able to identify creative solutions to problems and use the agile/lean methodology to pivot as needed when the business needs to. But most importantly, she is a person of upmost integrity and honesty- which is a rare find.
Johnny Hamilton, Award-Winning Author and Thought Leader in Strategic Innovation, Design, and Workplace Learning
Kendra Grant was awarded the Galen Weston Award by the Canadian Safe School Network in recognition of her invaluable contributions to the development of three anti-bullying resources using technology assisted learning materials. Combining her broad range of special education, library and administrative skills with her creativity as a consultant and trainer in e-learning assisted technologies, she helped craft anti- bullying and violence prevention resources. These materials continue to reinforce healthy non-violent values and relationships in over a million children in Canada today.
Stu Auty, President Canadian Safe School Network
Kendra did an outstanding job as a team leader and active team member of the Wearable Technologies educational venture analysis (EVA) team in the UBC Master of Educational technology (MET) program in summer 2014. Kendra's leadership abilities, along with her advanced technical skills and business acumen made for a formidable combination of skills that was demonstrated in an outstanding project by her team
David Porter, Ed.D, Adjunct Professor - Master of Educational Technology Program (MET)
“As more students with special needs are mainstreamed into standard classrooms, teachers need to find ways to use technology tools to serve those students well. Kendra inherently recognizes the needs of struggling students and how assistive technology can support their learning through implementing Universal Design for Learning principles.”
Dr. Dave Edyburn, Professor, Department of Exceptional Education, University of Wisconsin‐Milwaukee
Kendra was an outstanding student in the Fall ETEC 512 course on Learning Theories, she offered insights and well-formulated and argued papers and discussion points contributing to the overall success of the course.
Janet McCracken, Associate Director, Technology-Enhanced Learning at the University of British Columbia
"Kendra Grant is an exceptional educator who is especially talented in supporting the growth of other teachers as they seek to extend their instructional and learning prowess. She is inventive, encouraging and often inspirational."
Jamieson McKenzie, ED.D, Teacher, Principal, Author, and Editor of "From Now On", dedicated toward innovative learning via technology
