About Me

jade dominguez picture

Hello!

My name is Jade Dominguez, I was born in 1985.

I grew up in Alhambra, CA.

I am a self-taught professional software developer with no post-secondary education.

I currently work in San Francisco, CA at Gild where I was recruited on the basis of my Open Source contributions.

I got hired as a mid-level developer and have since transitioned into a product lead responsible for system design, direction, and implementation of our flagship user-facing web application.

I was serendipitously featured in the New York Times.

I owe everything I know to the Open Source community so all my work is Open and Free. My most popular project and claim to baby fame is JekyllBootstrap which ironically has the least amount of actual code than any of my other projects; a testament to the importance of being user and usability driven.

Why should you care?

You are likely assessing whether you should trust anything I write or say. To that point, I believe my story and experiences illuminate the power of open information and self-directed learning.

I'm a kid from a non tech-hub that googled "how to make a website". From the moment I saw the text on the screen turn red because I instructed it to, I was sold. I love making stuff and so I just made more and more stuff.

I think people of most any background are fully capable of becoming productive in the tech industry. Whether that means programming, project management, usability, or design -- the tools and technologies are out there for you to learn from. It becomes more a matter of discipline, direction, and iterative problem solving -- all of which can be learned.

I believe in you, and that's not an empty superficiality -- I really do.

I don't have all the answers but my plan is to build out educational resources and raise awareness in such matters. Please contact me if you'd like to share your story, want to help, or if I can help you in some way.

Thanks for reading.

- Jade =)