Jean-Jacques Rousseau

Jean-Jacques Rousseau is a philosopher of science, with a practice in inclusive innovation at the intersection of tech, entrepreneurship and big ideas.

A member of the 2024 Task Force on the Future of Pedagogy at York University, Jean-Jacques is an Instructor in Organizational Studies and Academic Program Director of the Schulich Business Excellence Academy (SBEA) at the Schulich School of Business. He is also an Adjunct Faculty Fellow at Dahdaleh Institute for Global Health Research, and Fellow at the Centre for Research on Latin America and the Caribbean (CERLAC). In addition to his academic pursuits, Jean-Jacques leads a boutique consulting firm which has served a diverse clientele over the past decade, including a large national industry association, postsecondary institutions, a cultural center, community centers, entrepreneur incubator spaces, tech startups, and a foreign government.

From 2021 to 2024, he advised the Office of the Dean at the Schulich School of Business in Decolonization, Equity, Diversity and Inclusion. Between 2017 and 2019, he was Inaugural Technical Advisor in Innovation, Science and Competitiveness to the President of the Republic of Haïti, and before that spent ten years in the Ontario Public Service, starting as an Economist in the Ontario Ministry of Finance, concluding as Investment Attraction Lead and Senior Manager of Life Sciences Programs at the Ontario Ministry of Research and Innovation.

Jean-Jacques holds a B.A. in Law and Philosophy from Carleton University, MBA from the Schulich School of Business at York University, and a PhD in Philosophy of Science from the Institute for the History and Philosophy of Science and Technology at the University of Toronto. He completed a postdoctoral fellowship in Explainability & Trust in AI Systems at the Lassonde School of Engineering, and intensive training in Philosophy of Physics (University of Geneva), Teaching Modern Physics to high school audiences (Perimeter Institute for Theoretical Physics), and in Machine Learning (Vector Institute for Artificial Intelligence).

An active member of his community, he is a regular speaker to academic, professional and community audiences on inclusive innovation, public policy and governance, digital and scientific literacy, and Haiti.

Jean-Jacques is Past Chair of CARE for Internationally Educated Nurses, former Board Member at Groupe Média TFO, former member of the World Summit AI Board of International Government and UN Advisors, and former Chair of the Board of the Obsidian Theatre Company. He was also Mentor at NextAI (Montréal).

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