Speaking Engagements
Join me at upcoming events or explore past presentations.
I regularly speak at conferences, meetups and do some workshops at the intersection of software development, my developer experience, and creating inclusive tech communities. Here you'll find my upcoming speaking engagements and some of my past events.
Past Events
And It Was Written ~ An Introspective in the Importance of ReadMes.
Carolina Codes 2025
You've created the perfect solution, but it's useless without proper documentation. In our open-source-driven world, countless powerful tools sit unused because developers skip the documentation step. This creates a critical gap as software becomes increasingly dependent on open-source components. Learn practical tips, templates, and strategies to transform your documentation from afterthought to essential craft. Drawing from experience as both science educator and full-stack developer, discover why clear documentation isn't just helpful—it's the bridge between brilliant code and actual impact.
Social Goodness || Civic Hacking - What's in it for me?
DevOpsDays Atlanta 2025
This talk explores how participating in civic hacking can benefit your career while making a positive community impact. Through personal experiences with Marta Hackathons, AT&T C3 Hackathons, Civic Hack Nights, and Atl Thinks competitions, the speaker demonstrates how donating time and talent led to improved development and project management skills, networking opportunities, and even charitable contributions of $40,000. Attendees will learn actionable strategies for leveraging civic hacking to enhance technical abilities, develop essential soft skills, expand professional networks, and strengthen their position in the job market.
Skills to Bills: A User's Guide to Demonstrated Competency
Orlando Code Camp 2025
This session focuses on bridging technical competence and professional confidence by teaching developers how to effectively demonstrate and communicate their skills through building solutions, sharing knowledge, and presenting work. The practical framework includes speaking about experiences, building projects both at work and elsewhere, sharing expertise through social media, and managing impostor syndrome. By the end of the session, participants will have practical strategies to confidently discuss their work and prove their capabilities as developers.
Back to Basics: Essential JavaScript Foundations for Modern Framework Development
200OK Developer Conference
In an era where AI and tech influencers promote jumping directly into frameworks, this talk emphasizes mastering JavaScript fundamentals before diving into frameworks like Vue.js. Through practical demonstrations, we'll explore how core JavaScript concepts directly map to modern framework features, using Vue 3 as our primary example.
How !To Be Mentored
DevNexus 2025
How does one get the best out of a mentorship while providing value to both mentee and mentor? This talk provides actionable steps from wins and losses based on experience in a learn-to-code mentorship group, covering value propositions, relationship fundamentals, time management, and dealing with challenges.
This is a Technical Talk : Essential People Skills for Developers
Orlando Code Camp 2024
This session focuses on bridging technical competence and professional confidence by teaching developers how to effectively demonstrate and communicate their skills through building solutions, sharing knowledge, and presenting work. The practical framework includes speaking about experiences, building projects both at work and elsewhere, sharing expertise through social media, and managing impostor syndrome. By the end of the session, participants will have practical strategies to confidently discuss their work and prove their capabilities as developers.
The Engineer's Guide to Socialization: DB Associations as Networking Patterns
Modern Web Meetup
This talk reimagines professional networking through the familiar lens of database associations, making relationship-building more approachable for developers. By mapping Rails/db associations to networking scenarios, we'll transform technical knowledge into effective social strategies including belongs_to, has_many through, and has_and_belongs_to_many patterns.
ConnectTech 2024 - How to Conference : A User Guide
ConnectTech 2024
Tech conferences can feel overwhelming for introverts, but they're essential for career growth and skill development. Our guide shows you how to navigate these events effectively, from packing strategies to finding quiet spaces for recharging. Learn practical strategies for navigating professional events, from preparing effectively to maximizing networking opportunities while maintaining your energy levels.
Unlocked: Growing Your Skills Through Open Source Development And Civic Hacking
Orlando Code Camp 2024
As a developer, there are many ways to grow your career beyond tutorials and books. This talk explores two powerful paths: contributing to open-source projects and civic hacking. Learn the who, what, and how of open source contributions, and discover civic hacking's basic tenets: do what you can, where you can, with what you've got.
ConnectTech 2023 - This is a Technical Talk - Essential People Skills for Developers
Connect Tech 2023
Essential interpersonal skills are just as crucial as technical expertise in software development. This guide explores seven fundamental areas including communication, teamwork, and leadership, providing practical strategies to enhance each skill. Learn how to boost your effectiveness as a developer through actionable tips for better problem-solving, time management, and innovation. Tech conferences can feel overwhelming for introverts, but they're essential for career growth and skill development.
How !To Be Mentored
Connect Tech 2022
How does one get the best out of a mentorship while providing value to both mentee and mentor? This talk provides actionable steps from wins and losses based on experience in a learn-to-code mentorship group, covering value propositions, relationship fundamentals, time management, and dealing with challenges.
Social Goodness || Civic Hacking - What's in it for me?
Atlanta Developers' Conference 2022
Giving away time and talent for free - how do you benefit from civic hacking? This talk explores concrete benefits of joining local civic hacking communities, using examples from Marta Hackathons, AT&T C3 Hackathons, and other civic events. Learn how civic hacking helps grow soft skills, technical skills, networking, and job hunting capabilities.