2023 Speakers

Clarissa Peterson is a digital technology strategist and educator. With more than 20 years experience working on websites and software, she is able to blend an innate ability to see how things could work better with the solid technical background needed to turn ideas into reality. As UX Director at WebFirst, she leads a team working to improve the user experience of federal government websites. Clarissa is the author of “Learning Responsive Web Design: A Beginner's Guide” (O'Reilly Media), as well as an instructor for LinkedIn Learning. She is based in Chicago.

Amanda Thornton is a team lead and software developer supporting researchers and research administrators at the UW Madison Space Science and Engineering Center working to expand the boundaries of human knowledge. She is a co-chair for Leadership Improv and organizes the DataWonks and the Distributed Developers Communities of Practice. She is committed to creating inclusive communities for everyone and received the 2020 UW Madison CIO Award for Community Engagement. Outside of work you’ll find Amanda at the rink teaching adults how to play ice hockey.

Jason Erdmann is a UW-Madison alumni who is an IT Project Manager for the School of Education at UW-Madison and has been working for them since 2000. In his current role for the School of Education he works with departments and users on IT projects, hardware and software support, networking, and security. He is also active on the campus level as co-chair of Leadership Improvisation, co-chair of the Policy Planning and Analysis Communications committee, and as a member of the IT Professionals group and ITLP Forward. Outside of work you will find Jason spending time with his family and doing volunteer work for the National Ski Patrol as both the patrol director of the Tyrol Basin Ski Patrol and as an Outdoor Emergency Care instructor.

Paul Pham (he/him) is the Engineering Manager at The Trevor Project, which is the leading suicide prevention and crisis intervention services for LGBTQ+ youth. He has a background in technical consulting serving as the tech lead and project manager for various industries, including banking, finances, telecommunications, automotive, energy, and non-profits.

Brandon is a software engineering leader and builder, and a self-described jack-of-all-trades, deliberately leaving off the "master of none" part (though it's absolutely true). He is currently an engineering lead and manager at Fetch in Madison, WI.

In his spare time he enjoys playing and watching soccer, and wilderness backpacking.

Amanda Daering is a speaker, business strategist, and entrepreneur. She loves nothing more than when smart people come together to solve important problems.

For over fifteen years, she has built teams for some of the world’s most stellar companies including KKR, Seven Seven Six and more. She sees the future of work as something to be created rather than feared. She has brought that mindset to features in Inc, Forbes and Parade.

When not nerding out about the future of work, you’ll find her either reading or taking too many photos of her mini-Schnauzer named Ruth.

Sayan is a software developer with 3 years of experience doing full stack development in React, TypeScript, and C#.

In their free time, they’re also a contributor to the Chromium project, the code that powers Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge. Most of Sayan’s work touches the accessibility code in Blink, Chromium's rendering engine.

Ross Larson became a software developer through the nontraditional path of obtaining a double major in Psychology and French from Luther College. He later obtained a software development degree from Fox Valley Technical College. He works as a Software Developer for Paradigm in Middleton, WI. He currently serves on the board of the Forward Festival. He has volunteered teaching computer science at a local high school through the TEALS program. He enjoys indie and retro video games, board games, the NFL Draft, creating obscure fantasy leagues, and making charts.

Kat is a writer of code and speculative fiction who is interested in intersectionality, the interstitial, ideas interdisciplinary, and in other things between.

David Bacisin is a senior software engineer at Fetch, where he developed translation workflows and guided teams to launch the Fetch app in Spanish. He is passionate about building inclusive, performant software, and while he currently focuses on backend distributed systems, he encourages everyone to see how their work ultimately impacts users—that is, real people with diverse experiences and abilities. Outside of work, you'll find him hiking and taking photos in national parks.