1<!DOCTYPE html> 2<html lang="en"> 3 4 <head> 5 <meta charset="utf-8"> 6 <meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=edge"> 7 <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1"> 8 9 <title>About</title> 10 <meta name="keywords" content="business, analysis, analytics, process, improvement, management"> 11 <meta name="author" content="Kenia Soares Sousa Mendonça"> 12 <meta name="description" content="This is my personal website, where I share my own views, knowledge and interests. I don't represent the views of my employer or clients."> 13 14 <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.7/css/bootstrap.min.css" integrity="sha384-BVYiiSIFeK1dGmJRAkycuHAHRg32OmUcww7on3RYdg4Va+PmSTsz/K68vbdEjh4u" crossorigin="anonymous"> 15 16 <link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com"> 17 <link rel="preconnect" href="https://fonts.gstatic.com" crossorigin> 18 <link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Asap:ital,wght@0,100..900;1,100..900&display=swap" rel="stylesheet"> 19 20 <link rel="stylesheet" href="/assets/css/custom.css"> 21 <link rel="canonical" href="/about/"> 22 <link rel="alternate" type="application/rss+xml" title="Kênia Sousa" href="/feed.xml"> 23 24 25 <!-- Google tag (gtag.js) -->
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33 34 35 36</head> 37 38 39 <body> 40 <header role="banner"> 41 <nav class="navbar navbar-default navbar-fixed-top"> 42 <div class="container"> 43 44 45 46 <div class="navbar-header"> 47 <button type="button" class="navbar-toggle collapsed" data-toggle="collapse" data-target="#bs-example-navbar-collapse-1" aria-expanded="false"> 48 <span class="sr-only">Toggle navigation</span> 49 <span class="icon-bar"></span> 50 <span class="icon-bar"></span> 51 <span class="icon-bar"></span> 52 </button> 53 <span class="site-title"><a href="/">Kênia Sousa</a></span> 54 </div> 55 56 <div class="collapse navbar-collapse" id="bs-example-navbar-collapse-1"> 57 <ul class="nav navbar-nav navbar-right"> 58 <li><a href="/">Blog</a></li> 59 60 61 62 <li><a class="page-link" href="/about/">About</a></li> 63 64 65 66 67 <li><a class="page-link" href="/career/">Career</a></li> 68 69 70 71 72 <li><a class="page-link" href="/education/">Education</a></li> 73 74 75 76 77 78 79 80 81 </ul> 82 </div> 83 </div> 84 </nav> 85</header> 86 87 88 <main class="page-content" aria-label="Content"> 89 <div class="container"> 90 <div class="row"> 91 <div class="col-md-8"> 92 <article class="post"> 93 <header class="post-header"> 94 <h1 class="post-title">About</h1> 95 </header> 96 97 <div class="post-content"> 98 <p>I am Kenia Sousa, mom to two beautiful and creative kids and wife to an amazing 99man. Iâm a Process Engineer at TD Bank in Canada. Iâm a Lean Six Sigma Black Belt 100applying advanced statistical analysis of process improvement. 101I love working with a group of people who are always looking to improve customer 102and colleague experience using a continuous improvement philopsophy.</p> 103 104<p>Previously, I was a business analyst in one of the biggest education programmes 105of the European Commission, <a href="http://ec.europa.eu/programmes/erasmus-plus" target="_blank">Erasmus+</a> in Belgium. 106I elicited requirements leading workshops, modeled business processes using BPMN, 107specified system impact, created prototypes, created user manuals, 108monitored processes and identified and applied process improvements.</p> 109 110<p>I have a PhD in Economics and Management Sciences, achieved with a strong academic 111participation with several publications and a thesis on usability for business. 112Since my Masters, I had been focused in usability because 113of its direct impact on people. What impressed me the most was how small changes 114in user interfaces make a huge difference in how people perform their tasks. When 115I started to bring this idea to companies, I got immediately drawn to the issues 116they had in their processes and saw how much usability could improve these 117processes. So, I wrote my PhD thesis on bridging the gap between 118usability and business processes.</p> 119 120<p>In 2011, I became a mother and it made me a different person. I 121discovered a strength and desire to succeed more powerful than ever. Before my 122kids, success was about having fun, after that, it was a commitment. 123I became more eager to learn new things and be a better version 124of myself each day.</p> 125 126<p>The greatest events in my life have made me value:</p> 127 128<ul> 129 <li> 130 <p>Balance: Every Wednesday, I go to the local market looking for organic fruits, 131vegetables and bread. I have started a new process of conscious choices. I donate 132or sell whatâs no longer used, give the proper destiny for what is broken, and recycle as much 133as possible. Even though every action seems to have a minor impact, Iâm proud 134of how far they have taken me to lead a healthier and more sustainable 135life.</p> 136 </li> 137 <li> 138 <p>Equality: I have a boy and a girl and you will often see me teaching them to 139dance, cook, play with any kind of toy, be strong and kind, both of them, 140irrespective of their gender. Of course, he is an athletic boy and she is a sweet 141girl. But she is also active and decisive, and he is also caring and attentive. 142I value each of their unique personality traits and I donât label them to be 143anything different than what they want to be.</p> 144 </li> 145 <li> 146 <p>Patience: For a long time, I have been anxious. On one end, it has helped me to 147be that focused person who achieves her goals. On the other hand, Yoga helped me 148tame whatever was not valuable from that anxiety. I have gone through pregnancies, natural 149births, demanding projects, and other cases of âmake a dream 150come trueâ or more mundane activities of toddler education that constantly put 151me to test. Patience is a daily, useful exercise!</p> 152 </li> 153 <li> 154 <p>Simplicity: My concept of simplicity is to value wellbeing and 155life experiences more than owning things. Freedom from standards make it easier 156to follow my unique path and make changes more easily. The more I study, the more 157I see that actions have to be direct and simple to be efficient.</p> 158 </li> 159</ul> 160 161<p>I have a passion for cooking. Iâm constantly looking for and trying new recipes. 162Cooking has greatly influenced me, but it goes beyond health, it makes me feel 163life as an act of love. The strongest memories I have from my beloved late grandma 164are the smell and taste of her unique food. If I could use my work vocabulary: 165Food is a deliverable with immediate user feedback and it better be good!</p> 166 167<p>In 2016, I have taken the challenge to start Aikido. It has definitely 168changed who I am. It has taught me not to be afraid of making mistakes and that has 169given me the chance to try until I get it done. Now, I am more confident in my 170movements and that resonates in every single aspect of my life, making me 171a better person, more balanced and healthier.</p> 172 173<p>In 2018, I started running and today I call myself a runner. I have run many half marathons 174and completed my first full 42k marathon in October 2023 running the Marine Corps Marathon
175in Washington D.C. I apply the Kaizen philosophy to implement daily small improvements in what 176I do.</p> 177 178 179 </div> 180 </article> 181 </div> 182 <div class="col-md-4"> 183 <div class="panel panel-default"> 184 <div class="panel-heading"> 185 <h3 class="panel-title">Recent Posts</h3> 186 </div> 187 <div class="panel-body"> 188 <ul class="post-list"> 189 190 <li> 191 <span class="post-meta">Jan 3, 2026</span> 192 <h3> 193 <a class="post-link" href="/2026/01/fifth-discipline-part-1.html">Two Books and an Invitation to Learn about Systems Thinking</a> 194 </h3> 195 </li> 196 197 <li> 198 <span class="post-meta">Dec 27, 2025</span> 199 <h3> 200 <a class="post-link" href="/2025/12/books.html">Books I read in 2025</a> 201 </h3> 202 </li> 203 204 <li> 205 <span class="post-meta">Nov 8, 2025</span> 206 <h3> 207 <a class="post-link" href="/2025/11/designing-agent-systems-people-in-mind.html">Designing Agentic Systems with People in Mind</a> 208 </h3> 209 </li> 210 211 <li> 212 <span class="post-meta">Aug 3, 2025</span> 213 <h3> 214 <a class="post-link" href="/2025/08/agentic-ai-process.html">Using a Process Mindset to Drive Innovation with Agentic AI</a> 215 </h3> 216 </li> 217 218 <li> 219 <span class="post-meta">Jul 17, 2025</span> 220 <h3> 221 <a class="post-link" href="/2025/07/generative-ai-critical-thinking.html">Is Generative AI Weakening Our Critical Thinking?</a> 222 </h3> 223 </li> 224 225 </ul> 226 </div> 227 </div> 228 </div> 229</div> 230 231 </div> 232 </main> 233 234 <footer class="site-footer"> 235 <div class="container"> 236 <div class="footer-col-wrapper"> 237 <div class="footer-col footer-col-3"> 238 <p>This is my personal website, where I share my own views, knowledge and interests. I don't represent the views of my employer or clients. 239</p> 240 </div> 241 </div> 242 </div> 243</footer> 244 245 246
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