Kelly Mears is a software engineer with 14 years of experience building web platforms, UX, and strategy for nonprofits and mission-driven organizations. Based in Olympia, WA, she founded Tiny Pixel Collective and continues freelance work while engineering at Carrot and directing technology at The Other 98%, blending product-focused design with pragmatic full-stack development. A contributor to notable open-source WordPress tooling like Roots' Acorn and Sage, she specializes in integrating Laravel-style back-end patterns into WordPress and modernizing front-end build systems (Bud, Tailwind). Her background in ethnomusicology and percussion hints at a creative, systems-oriented approach to problem solving and team collaboration.
14 years of coding experience
9 years of employment as a software developer
Bachelor of Arts, Ethnomusicology, Bachelor of Arts, Ethnomusicology at Bard College
High School Diploma, Percussion Instruments, High School Diploma, Percussion Instruments at South Carolina Governor's School For The Arts and Humanities
Laravel components for WordPress plugins and themes
Role in this project:
Back-end Developer
Contributions:3 reviews, 6 commits, 7 PRs in 2 years 9 months
Contributions summary:Kelly primarily contributed to the backend functionality of the Acorn project, integrating Laravel features within a WordPress environment. Their work involved loading configurations, registering providers, and adding support for Illuminate components like caching. The user also made code improvements related to asset management, specifically enhancing compatibility with Bud and Mix build tools, including path normalization and middleware implementation.
WordPress starter theme with Laravel Blade components and templates, Tailwind CSS, and block editor support
Role in this project:
Front-end Developer
Contributions:17 reviews, 19 commits, 28 PRs in 1 year 11 months
Contributions summary:Kelly primarily focused on updating and maintaining the front-end build process and components for the WordPress theme. Their contributions included migrating from Laravel Mix to Bud for asset management, updating Tailwind configuration, and adjusting the build process to include necessary files. They also made adjustments to JavaScript files, ensuring proper module updates and integrating new JavaScript features.
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