Jessica McKellar

I am a startup founder, software engineer, and open source developer living in San Francisco, California.

I enjoy the Internet, networking, low-level systems engineering, relational databases, tinkering on electronics projects, and contributing to and helping other people contribute to open source software.

"Be the change you wish to see in the world" may be clichéd, but what can I say, I believe in it. I am committed to applying my skills, in individual and collective efforts, to improve the world. Right now, this means I spend a lot of time volunteering, engaging technologists about education, and empowering effective people and initiatives in my capacity as a Director for the Python Software Foundation.

A few recent initiatives I'm proud of.

Contact

jesstess@mit.edu
@jessicamckellar on Twitter
jesstess on Freenode

Open source

Github profile

2013 O'Reilly Open Source Award recipient
Director for the Python Software Foundation
- Co-chair of the PSF Outreach and Education Committee
Developer for the CPython Python language interpreter and related core packages
Maintainer for Twisted, an asynchronous networking platform written in Python
Maintainer for OpenHatch, an open source involvement engine
Organizer for Boston Python, the largest Python user group in the world
Inaugural and perennial Hacker School resident
Google Summer of Code mentor (CPython, 2014; Twisted 2013)
GNOME Outreach Program for Women mentor (CPython, 2014; Twisted, 2013)
Volunteer with Software Carpentry
Organizer, curriculum developer, and lecturer for the Boston Python Workshop, a series of project-driven outreach workshops and follow-up events aimed at beginning programmers

Writing

Author, Linux Device Drivers, 4th Edition (O'Reilly, upcoming)
Author, Twisted Networking Essentials, 2nd Edition (O'Reilly)
Author, Twisted chapter for The Architecture of Open Source Applications, Volume II
Numerous blog posts for the Ksplice blog. Personal favorites include:

Talks

An incomplete list of upcoming talks and talks I've given recently.

Keynote, Python UK 2014, Coventry (upcoming)
Keynote, EuroSciPy 2014, Cambridge (upcoming)
Keynote, PyCon APAC 2014, Taipei
Keynote: Python, the next generation, PyCon North America 2014, Montreal (slides, video)
Building and breaking a Python sandbox, PyCon North America 2014, Montreal (slides, video)
Keynote: Python, the next generation, PyTennessee 2014, Nashville (slides)
Building and breaking a Python sandbox, PyTennessee 2014, Nashville (slides)
Introduction to regular expressions, Boston Python, October 2013 (slides, video)
Keynote with Angie Byron: Diversity outreach in open source: a case study, All Things Open 2013, Raleigh (slides)
Python for the Enterprise, All Things Open 2013, Raleigh (slides)
How the Internet Works, RuPy 2013, Budapest (slides)
Keynote: The Future of Python - A Choose Your Own Adventure, Kiwi PyCon 2013, Auckland (slides, video)
How the Internet Works, PyCon US 2013, Santa Clara (Keynote slides [so you can see the videos], video)
Tutorial: Contribute with me! Getting started with open source development, PyCon US 2013, Santa Clara (video)
Tutorial: A hands-on introduction to Python for beginner programmers, PyCon US 2013, Santa Clara (video)
Architecting an event-driven networking framework: Twisted Python, Philly Emerging Technologies for the Enterprise 2013, Philadelphia (slides)
Keynote: Make me make good choices, DjangoCon Europe 2012, Zurich
Diversity in practice: how the Boston Python user group grew to 1700 people and over 15% women, PyCon US 2012, Santa Clara (video)

Education

MIT Master of Engineering in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science (2010)
MIT Bachelor of Science in Computer Science (2009)
MIT Bachelor of Science in Chemistry (2009)
Member of the MIT Student Information Processing Board