Carolyn Stransky

Software developer (and sometimes still a journalist) based in Berlin, Germany

Email / Website / LinkedIn / GitHub / Twitter / DEV

👩🏼‍💻 Technical Experience

Google Season of Docs 2020 | Technical Writer @ GraphQL Foundation (Aug 2020 - Present)
Creating a Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) resource for graphql.org

Software Engineer @ Meeshkan (Oct 2019 - Sep 2020)
Early-stage startup focused on automated API testing and NLP.

Building the website and the web app that visualizes the test reports
Maintaining unmock-js, an open-source fuzz testing library
Ownership of documentation and the blog
Technologies used: TypeScript, React, Gatsby, Chakra, Next.js, Node.js, GraphQL, REST, Jest, CircleCI, Python.
Selected open-source work:

Frontend Developer @ Blacklane (Mar 2018 - Sep 2019)
Professional chauffeur service available in over 300 cities worldwide.

Worked in a cross-functional, agile team to rebuild and rebrand the B2C booking experience
Led an accessibility initiative resulting in the website passing WCAG 2.0 requirements
Extended and maintained a company-wide design system
Technologies used: HTML, CSS, JavaScript ES6, React, TypeScript, Storybook, Redux, Next.js, REST, Jest, Mocha, Cypress, TravisCI.

Technical Writer @ Contentful (Sep 2017 - Feb 2018)
API-first infrastructure to create, manage and distribute content.

Ownership of Contentful's technical blog
Wrote developer experience documentation
Assistance with information architecture and UX writing for the web app
Technologies used: React, Gatsby, Node.js, GraphQL, REST, Contentful.
Selected writing:
- JavaScript SDK guide
- Node.js example app and courses
- Concept references: Domain model, Multiple environments

🗞 Journalism Experience

This section only accounts for work done post-career change.

Freelance Writing (Mar 2020 - Present)
Currently on a break from sending pitches. Recent articles in Curve Magazine and DZone.

Contributing Editor @ FLURT Magazine (Mar 2016 - Sep 2018)
Magazine for socially conscious young people who want to create their own media.

Wrote over 20 articles for print and web focused on technology and activism
Edited and curated online-exclusive content
Selected articles:

📌 On The Side

Web Development Instructor @ ReDI School of Digital Integration (Aug 2017 - Present)
Non-profit digital school for tech-interested newcomers applying for asylum in Germany.

Building and continuously developing the course curriculum with a team of 4-8 other instructors
Leading classes to improve student comprehension of React, HTML, CSS and general web design principles
Mentoring students through presentations and job search
Note: Took a break from teaching in 2019

Co-Organizer @ QueerJS (Jun 2019 - Present)
🏳️‍🌈 A meetup for everyone where queer speakers take the stage.

Selecting speakers and scheduling events
Fostering an inclusive community and enforcing the code of conduct
🐻 Previously co-organized BerlinJS from May 2018 - May 2020

Workshop Lead @ New Devs on the Block (Jul 2019 - Present)
Free, two-day workshops to help people build their first website.

Creating a curriculum that covers HTML, CSS and a bit of JavaScript
Preparing supplemental presentations on topics like accessibility and animations
Events in Nürnberg and Vienna, now post-poned due to the COVID-19 outbreak

🎤 Public Speaking

Upcoming Events

Write the Docs on the Internet 🌐 (Oct 18-20, 2020)
Emceeing

Recent Appearances

Women TechMakers Vienna (streamed on Aug 7, 2020)
How AI is Enhancing Journalism
Talk Python To Me Podcast (released on Sep 5, 2020)
Python and AI in Journalism

Want me to speak at your event?
💖 Check out my website for more information.

🏆 Accomplishments

Top Author Recognition @ DEV (2019 - 2020)
Named one of the Top 500 authors in 2019. Also wrote two articles that ranked in the weekly Top 7:

Won Best Project @ Geek Girl Carrots Berlin Hackathon (Oct 2017)
Created Qarma, an online platform to report and retrieve lost & found objects for travelers abroad.

💬 Languages

English: Native
German: A2.2

👩🏼‍🎓 Education

12-week intensive coding course focused on full-stack JavaScript
SPICED Academy - Berlin, Germany (Apr 2017 - Jun 2017)

Bachelor of Arts in Journalism and Media Studies
Beloit College - Beloit, Wisconsin, USA (2011 - 2015)

Washington Semester Program for Journalism and New Media
American University - Washington DC, USA (Fall 2014)

International Exchange studying Political Science
Yeditepe Üniversitesi - Istanbul, Turkey (Spring 2013)

AghaDostain/cv