About
For over five years I've been the sole developer at Koinonia Family Services, building and maintaining Django applications on Google Cloud that help social workers care for foster families. I'm an experienced programmer who can still code without AI, yet in that role I pioneered the use of tools like Microsoft Copilot and Claude Code, embracing agentic workflows. Previously I was a senior engineer at Lull and a lead instructor at Galvanize's coding bootcamp, where I taught eight cohorts of amazing students.
"Sean is an awesome person to work with. He's always got an upbeat attitude and has a keen sense for finding bugs in the code or being able to quickly knock out more functionality." Jim Turpin, Director of Engineering at Simple Energy
I like helping people feel welcome in communities. I founded Central Coast Python in 2021 and co-organized BoulderJS before that. I've also contributed to Django itself, helped run DjangoCon US, and given several talks:
- Contributing to Django @ Central Coast Python, 2025
- The Secret to a Successful Career in Tech @ SBHS, 2022
- Django on Google Cloud Platform @ Central Coast Python, 2023
- Data Science with R & Python @ R-Ladies SB, 2021
I'm deeply interested in permaculture and recently earned a certification in abundant food forests at OAEC in Sonoma County. I have been expanding my meditation practice with Arcata Zen Group and Ancient Forest Sangha here in Humboldt. I also completed a 200-hour yoga teacher training at Yoga Soup and helped teach the donation-based community class at Flow Yoga in Goleta before moving up north.
"Sean was one of our awesome instructors during my Web Development Immersive Course. During our time there, he taught with tons of passion, bringing in plenty of personal experience regarding development best practices from his previous jobs." Scott Rushford, Student at Galvanize
For several years I ran my own consultancy, Blue Hook, focused on technical leadership, mobile web, and accessibility, for clients including Apollo Mapping, Hawaiian Airlines, and KPMG.
I started coding during my BS at Cal Poly SLO, then completed an MS in Computer Science at NYU's Courant Institute of Mathematical Sciences. There I specialized in databases and natural language processing, and built a smart thermostat capstone at EnergyHub. More recently, I earned Stanford Online's Machine Learning Specialization.
I'm exploring my next role now, drawn to work where software helps people and the planet. You can find me on Bluesky, Mastodon, LinkedIn, or Goodreads.