Ess Pokornowski is a program manager of the Justice Initiatives program at Ithaka S+R, studying how policy, technology, and practice intersect in higher education in prisons. Her work focuses more broadly on issues of censorship and self-censorship, and educational access and equity.

Ess earned a bachelor’s degree from the University of Illinois and a Master’s and PhD from the University of California, Santa Barbara. She has over a decade of experience as an instructor and pedagogue, developing and teaching courses in literature, writing, and the health humanities. Her previous research has examined how power, violence, and identity intersect in culture, politics, and science.