From Anthropology to Engineering

I studied anthropology at American University and graduated in 2007 with a B.A. — not exactly the typical pipeline into software engineering. But anthropology taught me something that turns out to be incredibly useful in tech: how to observe systems as they actually work, not as people say they work.

That ethnographic lens has shaped my entire career. When I'm gathering requirements for a platform migration or designing an intake workflow, I'm doing fieldwork — watching how people actually use the tools, where the friction is, what they've built workarounds for. It's the same skill set, applied to organizations instead of cultures.

The Mission-Driven Thread

Every major role I've held has been at an organization trying to make the world better. That's not an accident. I started at Martha Stewart Living Omnimedia building search infrastructure, then spent nearly seven years at DoSomething.org where I grew from Software Engineer to Senior, building data pipelines and platform integrations for the largest youth activism organization in the country.

At The Trevor Project, I built crisis services technology during the most demanding period in the organization's history — COVID had driven call volume through the roof. The systems I built for workforce scheduling and the CTI replatform from Salesforce to Twilio Flex directly impacted counselor availability when it mattered most.

Now at the JED Foundation, I've evolved from WordPress developer to Technical Project Manager to Technical Lead — a path that reflects how I work best: I start by understanding the system deeply, then I start improving it.

What I'm Building Toward

I'm targeting Technical Program Manager and Solutions Architect roles. My background is unusual for that path — most TPMs come from pure PM or pure engineering. I come from both, plus process design, vendor management, and the kind of cross-functional translation that happens when you're the only technical person in a room full of program managers.

I'm honest about my gaps too. I don't have deep cloud architecture certifications. I haven't managed direct reports. My modern frontend framework experience is functional, not deep. You can see the full honest assessment on my skills page.

If you want to dig deeper into any of this, you can ask the AI about my experience — it's trained on my real work, not marketing copy.