About

I'm thrilled by puzzles. Not jigsaw puzzles - although, when one is before me, I get carried away - but, no, I'm talking about real life puzzles. I think that untangling string lights is a pretty good time. I also like solving more important puzzles.

My name is James Valeii. I write PHP, JavaScript, and MySQL.

For instance, by implementing easily modifiable jQuery in a WooCommerce installation, I was able to help local companies set up curbside pickup appointments during lockdown. When I found out that staff had to copy and paste values from one SaaS to another, I wrote software to link the services and automate document notifications.

My favorite projects yield software that automates data management, streamlines user interface, and renders data in unique ways.

I am always eager to organize around a puzzle and make solutions. Cooperation is a through line in my life.

I am one of the cofounders of Kalamazoo Collective Housing, Kalamazoo's first housing cooperative. I helped market, document policy and procedures, raise funds, served on boards, and also did quite a bit of property renovation. I contribute answers on StackOverflow when I can, and hope to get involved with collaborative open source projects in the future.

I earned a Bachelor of Science at WMU in Urban & Regional Planning and Rhetoric in Writing.

The bulwark of my professional experience is comprised of work at these companies: Boiling Pot Mediam, No Borders, Inc., LISC AmeriCorps, and the Vine Neighborhood Association. See my CV for more.

I've worked many roles in many industries: construction, landscaping, greenhouse, and farm laborer; nonprofit marketing, fund development, program director and community organizer; food service, from waitstaff to kitchen; Pacific Ocean salmon seiner deckhand and boat cook; security guard (at an art museum) and of course, software architecture .

The wide range of professional experiences I have help me understand problems and conditions a prospective software user may have, which gives me an edge in design systems that will make users life easier.

In 2021, I closed Boiling Pot Media because I wanted to focus my energy on being excellent at software engineering.

I have enjoyed my time developing with No Borders and am excited about the opportunities that the future may avail!