I build Drupal websites and author front-end code between Chicago, IL and Calcutta, India.
So far in 2017, I’ve begun a technologist-in-residence position in Calcutta mentoring startups, spent two weeks in Washington DC at the cherry blossom festival and developing Drupal training materials, and spent a couple of weeks in Afghanistan (where I’m writing this bio) to train 11 universities in Drupal site-building and administration for the Afghan Ministry of Higher Education.
I began working with Drupal 4.5 during a VISTA fellowship in ‘05, building websites for the Chicago chapter of the Community Technology Centers’ Network (CTCNet) and the Illinois Community Technology Coalition, and co-presenting on Drupal as a CMS solution for the nonprofit sector at the ‘06 CTCNet national conference in Washington, DC. Drupal remained my CMS solution of choice as the Director of Programs at Grassroots.org, providing free hosting, web development, and tech support to 2,000+ nonprofit organizations around the world, and as Member #2 at the Chicago Technology Cooperative, a worker-run cooperative building Drupal and CiviCRM solutions for the nonprofit / community tech sector.
I’ve presented at or co-organized several events in the tech sector. Favorites include the first two Drupal Camp Chicago events, the Flourish open source conference, the Illinois Community Technology Coalition conference, a couple of NTEN’s Nonprofit Technology Conferences, several Penguin Days, and of course, three of Aspiration’s Nonprofit Software Development Summits (the one must-do event for technology do-gooders around the world).
Past presentation / training topics include web / content strategy, Drupal site-building, front-end code for Drupal, and information architecture for search engine optimization.
I’m currently learning more code (more Javascript, some Ruby) and dabbling in light systems administration / automation (have to keep the VPSs running and happy); I’d like to see myself playing more developer-focused roles and doing less project management in the future.
I launched Nonprofitable.org in ‘09 with two former colleagues as a web development / design shop, and relaunched it in ‘15 to reflect my current life as a nomadic developer. This past year, I’ve written code from a consulting partner’s office in Chicago, at a conference in Oakland, at a counter-kidnapping / close quarters combat certification in Tijuana, at a friend’s apartment in London, on the beaches of Goa, and at a coffee stall high in the Himalayan mountains.
When I’m not working and traveling, I’m usually tinkering with the motorcycle, teaching self defense classes, or reading (everything I can get my hands on).
I’d like to get paid to write someday.