Where are you from?: I’m from Far Rockaway, born and raised. My mother is Panamanian and my father is Egyptian. Naturally they would meet in New York City and here I am.
Where/what did you study? When did you graduate?: I went to college at SUNY Oswego but unfortunately I couldn’t complete my education there. It turned out to be a blessing in disguise, though, because after that, I got a scholarship to attend the Flatiron School, which has opened a lot of doors for me.
What made you make the jump to get involved in technology?: I’d always been interested in coding, making apps, and designing video games, so once I’d been out of Oswego for a bit, I decided to see if I could go to Flatiron to pursue that. I got a much more practical education then I would have gotten at a traditional university.
And how did you get involved with the Civic Tech team? I joined this team immediately after graduating from Flatiron. I was familiar with organizations like Games for Change that use technology and games in service of the public good, and I decided I wanted to be part of a team that would build things to help people. When the opportunity arose to find jobs after Flatiron, this team was very attractive to me. I knew it would give me the chance to build a better society through my programming.
What projects are you working on with the team?: I was initially working on the Civic Graph, specifically on the front end. Now I’m working on Tech Jobs Academy. Danielle and I have been a real dynamic duo and it’s been great to get so much done in such a short time with all of the engineering resources we have on hand. I’m also really excited to get to start working with Microsoft Translator.
What Microsoft technology excites you the most?: Definitely Skype Translator. I personally know a lot of people who would benefit enormously from a real-time translation service like this. There are so many applications for it, I just can’t wait to see how much of a transformational impact it has. From politics, to education, to healthcare, to community relations, there really is no end! I’ll give you a simple example. I lived for a time in a predominately Hispanic neighborhood in the Bronx. The streets where I lived were a mess but not because the city actively neglected them. The simple truth is where other neighborhoods would have reported the issue, there was no one in this community who could bring attention to the problem. Skype Translator will fix this, among many other issues.
Are there any other technologies you see emerging to improve cities?: I love the idea of setting up wifi hotspots around the city. Closing the digital divide is one of the most important steps we can take to fight income inequality.
What would you like to do after your fellowship?: I love the idea of developing socially conscious games. We’ll see though!
What do you love about coding?: Oh man, it makes me feel like a kid again! You work on your little project and show it to everyone and there’s an undeniable sense of accomplishment too. Like, I built this. That’s cool to think about. I sat down, worked my soul into my computer, and out comes this tangible thing. You can’t beat that.
How would you Bing yourself without using your name?: Gamer. Thinker. Doer. Yeah, that sounds good.