News — 01 March, 2022

New Year, New hot_tech members

Well, what a start to the year it’s been! Like mentioned previously, new directions, new collaborations and, I’m excited to announce, new team members! While you can read the official bios for each new member linked by their name, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce them unofficially to everyone. Please see their unofficial bios and a quick insight into why I’m really glad to have them joining our team.

Well, what a start to the year it’s been! Like mentioned previously, new directions, new collaborations and, I’m excited to announce, new team members!

While you can read the official bios for each new member linked by their name, I would like to take this opportunity to introduce them unofficially to everyone. Please see their unofficial bios and a quick insight into why I’m really glad to have them joining our team.

Leen D’hondt - Senior Product Development Manager

Leen’s unofficial intro Leen is passionate about maps and how maps are used to create a ‘better’ world. She will co-drive the product strategy of the HOT Tech products so as to build tech products for the use cases our stakeholders care about most.

Leen is not only passionate about mapping and usage of maps. One of the things she loves is to spend time outdoors, especially in the mountains or at the beach. As a mother of two boys, she probably needs to start playing football ;-).

Bo’s intro Leen is a perfect combination of strategy and action. On her first day, she was immediately asking the big questions of why are we doing this and then jumping straight into what we are doing and how. Pretty much the best first impression a PDM can make.

I am excited to have Leen on board, as she is an open minded active listener, which makes her perfect for this role. Not only does Leen have a wealth of experience in the OSM world (joining us from TomTom), but her commitment to understanding what is best for the team, while at the same time understanding how to get the best out of everyone is something we will all benefit from personally and professionally.

Petya Kangalova - tech_collective facilitator

Petya’s unofficial intro

“I joined the HOT tech team in February 2022 as Tech Collective Facilitator, currently based in Bristol, UK. I am really passionate about the impact of open mapping and using technology as the enabler for people in supporting their communities.

In this role, I am excited to build a dynamic collective of open tech contributors! I am a team player and thrive by collaborating with people- I believe we can learn something from every single person we meet! Besides being an open data and tech geek, I have a true passion for dance and have been performing since I was 6 years old, ranging from Latin and Ballroom to various African and Afro-Caribbean styles. If you get to know me, you will also learn that I laugh a lot, love coffee, sunshine, traveling and everything in the colour yellow (yellow heart emoji would go here)

Bo’s intro Petya was involved in setting the standard for openness and transparency in international development and humanitarian resources (she joins us from IATI. While this alone is invaluable to our work, it was Petya’s commitment to engaging people in the process and connecting their work to impact that really spoke directly to us. Petya is the personification of HOT’s core ‘Openness and Transparency’ value and in her role as tech_collective facilitator we know she will work closely with our project communities to ensure everyone can engage and contribute in an open, just and accessible way.

Kristen Tonga - Android Engineer

Kristen’s Unofficial Intro
Software Engineer Kristen Tonga has a proven track record of successfully architecting solutions with limited resources and strict requirements.

Before becoming an engineer, Kristen spent four years traveling the world as a commercial fisherwoman and a traveling portraitist. She spends her free time crafting, planting backyard gardens and volunteering at conferences as a stage manager, sound tech, and MC. Kristen graduated Vassar College three semesters early with a Bachelor of Arts in Political Science.

Bo’s intro Kristen may not be a new face to many in HOT. She has already worked alongside some of our team and team members while living in East Africa. One thing that I noticed immediately when chatting with Kristen was her human first mindset to tech. Despite probably holding the solution in her head, her commitment to understanding the problem and people first really spoke to our HOT’s people first value.

Kristen’s consideration and intention into how she approaches her work aligns strongly to what we are working toward at hot_tech. Intentional technology that isn’t the typical ‘go fast and break things’ approach. Our mobile tech and our users will benefit greatly from her approach and skills.
\