Hi, I’m April Leonard (she/her) based in Portland, OR.

By day

Mom of two kiddos and a puppy with velcro tendencies.

A Staff Engineering Manager at GitHub working on bringing Codespaces, your instant dev environment, to developers everywhere.

By copious spare time

Leader of the Humanizing Tech podcast, surfacing real lived experiences of people in the tech industry and actions you can take to get involved and help make tech a more equitable place for everyone.

Backstory

I grew up an athlete of the ballet variety, and once I figured out the toll it would take on my body long-term I opted to become a singer instead. I went to University as a vocal performance major expecting to be a choral conductor and took a slight jog towards math before graduating with a degree in Computer Science. My career started with manual testing to Java engineering and then leading and managing teams. At the end of the day, I love people and puzzles.

Most recently

My job is to create an environment where it’s safe for team members to speak up, give and receive feedback, and make bold calculated bets. We can do so much more together with a clear vision and shared goals. I employ a leader-leader philosophy, ensuring those closest to the work drive solutions and incorporating my expertise and input on the broader context. I’m an activator, individualizer, and relationship builder who is always learning.