Queer Tech NYC w/ Rapi Castillo, Executive Director, Progressive Coders Network

We're hosting Queer Tech NYC. You're invited to hear from the extraordinary Rapi Castillo, Executive Director of Progressive Coders Network, about his journey from political newbie to activist superhero!

After working with Coders for Bernie, he transitioned his energy to create the Progressive Coders Network.

He will speak about what drives him forward, why contributing to open source is essential and how we, as queer techies, can power the change we want to see.

About Rapi Castillo Ralph “Rapi” Castillo is the founder and executive director of the Progressive Coders Network, a network of application leaders and creators building tools to empower the grassroots and remove the influence of big money in politics through open source and low cost tools.

Through his leadership, Progressive Coders Network (ProgCode) was able to provide technological support for the Hack the Ban, Women’s March, Indivisible Group, and the ACLU. Right now, there are 20 applications being supported by ProgCode. An immigrant from the Philippines, he studied Computer Science with a focus on Machine Learning and Social Network Analysis at the University of the Philippines.

He has worked on various humanitarian digital campaigns with the United Nations (most notably World Humanitarian Day 2016), and has coordinated with various country offices on different crises situations around the world on their digital platforms. He lives in Forest Hills, Queens, with his husband.