Kelly Mears

Resume

Experience & Skills

A decade+ building web platforms, open source tools, and digital infrastructure for organizations working to make a difference.

Years of Experience
15+
Professional software development
Open Source Repos
130+
Across personal and org accounts
Pull Requests
854+
Merged across the Roots ecosystem

Experience

    Senior Software Engineer

    2022–Present

    Carrot

    Building scalable web applications for a SaaS platform powering lead generation, marketing, and SEO-optimized websites for real estate investors and agents.

    TypeScriptReactNext.jsTailwind CSSWordPressGutenbergNode.js

    Core Maintainer

    2018–2024

    Roots

    Core maintainer within the Roots organization. Building modern development tools for WordPress.

    TypeScriptJavaScriptwebpackSWCesbuildPostCSSTailwind CSSPHPNode.js

    Principal Engineer

    2017–2022

    Tiny Pixel Collective

    Founded and led a consulting studio building digital infrastructure for progressive nonprofits and advocacy organizations.

    WordPressLaravelReactTypeScriptPHPDockerNode.jsTailwind CSS

    Technology Director

    2014–2017

    Other98

    Built and maintained the digital backbone for a national grassroots advocacy network reaching millions.

    WordPressPHPJavaScriptDevOpsNode.jsMySQL

Mission-Driven Work

A common thread across my career has been building technology for organizations working toward justice and equity. Before writing code professionally, I was organizing — work that shaped how I think about the relationship between tools and power. From the digital infrastructure behind Standing Rock solidarity campaigns to platforms for NDN Collective and the Fight for $15, I have spent years ensuring that advocacy organizations have access to the same caliber of tools as any well-funded startup. At Other98, that meant rapid-response publishing systems reaching millions. At Tiny Pixel Collective, it meant open source tooling and consulting for dozens of nonprofits and grassroots networks — including building digital infrastructure for the Twin Cities Tenants Union.

Featured Projects

Skills

Languages

  • TypeScript
  • PHP
  • Ruby
  • HTML
  • CSS
  • SQL
  • Bash

Frameworks & Libraries

  • React
  • Next.js
  • Laravel
  • WordPress
  • Gutenberg
  • Tailwind CSS
  • Sass
  • PostCSS
  • MDX
  • Storybook

Architecture

  • Monorepos
  • Plugin Systems
  • Design Systems
  • REST APIs
  • GraphQL
  • CI/CD
  • Static Analysis

Tools & Infrastructure

  • webpack
  • Vite
  • SWC
  • esbuild
  • Babel
  • ESLint
  • Prettier
  • Docker
  • Git
  • Node.js
  • GitHub Actions
  • AWS
  • MySQL
  • Redis
  • Nginx
  • Netlify
  • Vercel