Andrew Nacin
Andrew Nacin is a Lead Developer of WordPress. He’s led major releases, mentored contributors, and spearheaded new development. He has strong feelings about the core philosophies of WordPress, among them “decisions, not options” — software should be opinionated in lieu of burdening the user with too many options. In January 2014, he joined the U.S. Digital Service where he worked to improve the usefulness and reliability of the country’s most important digital services. He currently works for the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative.
Stephanie Walters
Stephanie began her career as a freelance designer / developer but soon moved on to a fast-paced, global marketing services firm in 2010 as a frontend developer. Throughout her career, Stephanie has worked for multiple agencies and created custom solutions for a diverse range of clients including Fortune 500 companies and big pharmaceuticals, as well as small law practices and young start-ups. Currently, Stephanie is a Senior Web Engineer at 10up with 6 years of WordPress experience. Stephanie was born and raised in New Jersey but currently resides in northern Virginia with her husband and their two dogs. She is an active member of the Potomac Curling Club, a yoga practitioner, and a New Jersey Devils hockey fan.
Jessica Parsley
As an Associate Director of Project Management for Matrix Group International, Jessica oversees the day-to-day execution of projects by collaborating with the Matrix Group team and constantly communicating and guiding clients, to ensure everything stays on track and within budget. Jessica has managed web redesign projects for nearly ten years, and has an impressive ability to keep dozens of plates spinning at once while keeping clients happy.
Portia Burton
Portia Burton is principal developer at Cecil Digital Agency. Before Cecil Digital Agency she worked as a community engineer at Protocol Labs and as a software developer at the Atlantic Magazine.
Danielle Held
Danielle Held is on the Web Services team at Georgetown University.
Danielle is a senior project manager who is responsible for helping content editors build and maintain their websites and is passionate about developing a communications strategy with site editors. She also loves baking cakes (and eating them, too) and practices vinyasa yoga.
Mikel King
Mikel the VP of Engineering at Haymarket Media Inc and has been a Technology leader for over 20+ years. He is a veteran of the U.S. Coast Guard and early in his career was a columnist for BSD Magazine, He has written for BitRebels and Huffington Post and is currently serving as the Senior Editor of JAFDIP.com.
George Stephanis
George (he/him) works on the Jetpack Security team at Automattic, building tools and systems to help keep WordPress sites safe. He has also been a contributor to the WordPress core software for the past nine years. In his “spare time” (theoretical, not yet proven to exist), he enjoys woodworking, 3D design and printing, electronics projects, and assorted card and board games.
Catharine McNally
Catharine McNally is the accessibility lead at Phase2, a digital experience agency. Addressing accessibility on a website or mobile application can be overwhelming and confusing, that “looking the other way and begging forgiveness later” is a common approach. But this leads to technical debt and inaccessible user experiences that affect everyone, not just those with disabilities. Adoption of accessibility on a product succeeds best not when under regulatory pressure, but when there’s an organizational culture shift. McNally has devoted her career to training and consulting internal teams and clients around the country to implement and prioritize accessibility processes and programs. Both at Phase2 Technology and as chair of the Alexander Graham Bell Association for the Deaf and Hard of Hearing, her work has been recognized by the American Association of People with DIsabilities and listed in the “Tech Titans: People to Watch” feature by the Washingtonian Magazine.
Tara Johnson
Tara Johnson is the founder of AlchemyThree: a digital agency focused on the empowerment of women owned businesses. She’s committed to humanizing the online experience by way of smart design, compelling content and elevated branding. In her free time Tara loves to knit, ride bikes, hang out with her 2 kids and watch scary movies.
Dustin Pfeifer
Dustin Pfeifer has over 16 years of experience designing and developing websites. Dustin’s wide range of experience includes full life-cycle work for ecommerce, nonprofit, and higher education organizations. Since co-founding Drexler in 2009, Dustin has utilized this extensive development knowledge to build forward-thinking sites for clients including, Evergreen Health, California Tortilla, United States Naval Academy, and many others. As Drexler’s technical director, Dustin ensures all digital work is held to the highest technical standards.
Jaime Quiroz
As a Lead Front-End Developer at Matrix Group International, Jaime is charged with implementing CMS systems, migrating data and creating custom modules and widgets. He’s an experienced javascript developer, often tasked with creating the immersive and highly interactive experiences that his clients love. Jaime is also in charge of helping Matrix Group identify front-end trends and tools that will make client sites better. He is a wizard at working with Sitefinity and WordPress content management systems and he has developed many mobile apps, including an Apple Watch App and a benefits calculator.
Courtney OCallaghan
Who I am … professional listener, enthusiastic teacher, culture connoisseur, museum digital technologist, book hoarder, rabid museum lover, CA native, proud DC resident in search of an ocean.
Kevin Koehler
A proud longtime citizen of D.C., Kevin works at Automattic trying to make the web a better place through policy, humane technology, and animated gifs.