Ozivell Ecford

Ozivell Ecford is a fourth-year doctoral candidate in Learning Sciences at Northwestern University, studying how interdisciplinary arts empower marginalized communities to heal from trauma and develop self-agency. He serves as lead teaching artist and student researcher for Shakespeare Behind Bars at the Illinois Youth Center in Chicago. Through his Shakespeare Behind Bars research, Ozivell made a significant discovery in the field of Learning Sciences with his paper, To Be or Not to Be: A Study on Shakespeare, Incarcerated Youth, and Future Orientation. He presented this research at the 2025 International Conference of Learning Sciences in Helsinki, Finland, where it was nominated for an Outstanding Student Paper award, and has since won multiple honors at the University of Illinois's 16th Annual Graduate Student Conference. Ozivell has presented his work as an inductee at the 2026 Edward A. Bouchet Graduate Honor Society Induction and Annual Meeting, as an invited guest at Northwestern University's AMPED conference, and at Steel Point Theater's Art for Change Conference, among many other places. As a Lead Facilitator for Northwestern's Cities Mentor Project, Ozivell trains undergraduates to serve as mental health educational facilitators and researchers, and is the 2026-2027 Central/South American Regional Representative for ILSSA (International Learning Science Student Association).