![Jessica Ulmer headshot. She is smiling and wearing a grey top]([{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_1/v1649176084/westfield/s2zgslzlriambyaueev5/Jessica.jpg","width":256},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto,t_image_size_2/v1649176084/westfield/s2zgslzlriambyaueev5/Jessica.jpg","width":512},{"url":"https://resources.finalsite.net/images/f_auto,q_auto/v1649176084/westfield/s2zgslzlriambyaueev5/Jessica.jpg","width":600}])
March is Women’s History Month and this year’s theme is Break the Bias. Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) recently recognized nine women leaders for their contributions in breaking the bias, including Dr. Jessica Ulmer ’06. Ulmer embodies Break the Bias because she fights for accessibility for all, particularly individuals with sensory disabilities. She advocates for deaf, blind, and deafblind individuals to be given the same opportunities given to others.
Ulmer earned her bachelor’s degree from Westfield State in English and secondary education with a double minor in women’s studies and multicultural studies. She taught middle school English and special education while earning her master’s degree in education from College of Our Lady of the Elms. In 2013, she taught post-secondary composition courses, and earned a master’s degree in English composition from Rhode Island College in 2015.
Ulmer lost her hearing in 2013 and continues to excel in career and personal life. She earned her Ph.D. from Texas Tech University in 2020 in technical communications and rhetoric with a focus on disability and accessibility. In 2020, Ulmer joined SAIC as an instructional systems designer for the Defense and Civilian Sector and recently moved to the Enterprise Solutions and Operations organization as a senior instructional systems designer.
Ulmer has also been on SAIC’s Accessibility Employee Resource Group’s (ERG) leadership team since its inception. She created "The Disability-focused Gift Guide" for SAIC employees to use for the holiday season and has been working on education and workshops with the ERG to spread the word about disabilities and disabled individuals’ needs.
She is a board member at large in charge of sponsorship for Deaf in Government, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that supports deaf and hard-of-hearing individuals nationwide, and she is the transformative justice officer for the Rhetoric Society of America, an organization of scholars dedicated to studying, teaching and practicing rhetoric.
One of her favorite quotes is, "We can’t continue to move forward in society unless the disability community feels properly seen and heard." —Keah Brown
Read more here.