I am a balancing act between a private, quiet, monastic Yoga practitioner and a veteran (over 20 years of experience) software professional. I am currently curious about making beautiful software in service of people, society, and life.
I had a software technology career from 1991 to 2009. From 2010 to 2022 I moved into a quiet and secluded life in a Romanian village. There I was deeply immersed and transformed by a life embedded in the physical world (sometimes literally “chop wood & carry water”). During this time, I continued to develop my digital skills and work on digital projects in support of social-benefit initiatives.
In 2022, I was gifted the opportunity to join Open Collective as a Senior Product Manager (and now Product Lead). Although the role was remote, in retrospect, it pulled me out of my isolated existence. In 2024, life circumstances compelled me to move back to Israel, where I currently live.
My current thinking about software is informed by:
- The rhythms and attitudes I developed and practiced while taking on challenging (sometimes seemingly impossible) physical projects while living in a village where I was directly responsible for my physical environment and well being (soil, food, woodworking, earth-based construction, stove construction, etc.).
- The life work of Christopher Alexander, an architect who dedicated his life to the question of how to make buildings that support human life (and how/why did we stop making buildings this way). Studying his work taught me how to systemically navigate complexity and how to integrate a practical notion of beauty into it. Alexander’s work also stirred my appetite to take up drawing and painting, where I continue to explore his approach to making and to beauty.
- The ShapeUp framework for “delivering software that matters”) created by Ryan Singer during his time at 37Signals/Basecamp. Ryan was also inspired by the work of Christopher Alexander and is a thought leader in applying his ideas to software development.
I bring a calm and thoughtful presence. I am a good and attentive listener (to both what is said and what is unsaid). I am a capable facilitator and am drawn to healthy social processes that nurture collective insight. I am comfortable with complexity and able to identify and commit to strategic long-term efforts.