Piera Damonte
My career started with fighting diseases at the laboratory bench, which led to empowering those living with disease on rivers and mountains, and finally to building online tools that help thousands of scientists fight diseases. In my last position as Operations Director, I borrowed from the analytical and scientific methods I learned as a research scientist and blended them with leadership skills from expeditions to create essential resources for users and drive digital product ROI for customers.
Before science and the outdoors, my very first love was computers. At age 10, I started working odd jobs in order to save up for an Apple computer. To fast forward, I recently completed Hackbright Academy's Full Stack Software Engineering Fellowship. In this next career chapter, I want to utilize these skills, and seek opportunities to work with customers and lead teams once again.
The common threads of all of my pursuits include tenacity, compassion, curiosity, and the ever useful sense of humor. I bring to my work a passion for quality, efficiency, and process. Literally translated, my name means "rock of the mountain". While I endeavor to be as solid as my namesake implies, you won't catch me taking myself too seriously.
Resume
Skills:
Languages: Python, JavaScript, HTML, CSS
Frameworks & Libraries: Flask, jQuery, Bootstrap
Databases & ORMs: SQL, SQLite, PostgreSQL, SQLAlchemy
Tools: Git, GitHub, CLI, Jira, Omniture, Heroku
Operations: Digital Operations, Customer Success, Team Leadership & Management
Technical Experience:
Software Engineering Fellow, Hackbright Academy | Sep. 2014 - Dec. 2014
Completed highly selective and intensive full-stack software engineering fellowship with curriculum based on Python and the Flask microframework. Curriculum highlights include: Python, Flask, SQL, SQLAlchemy, JavaScript, jQuery, HTML, CSS, Git, and GitHub.
Front End Web Development Course, Hackbright Academy | May - Jul 2014
Hackbright Academy's Front End Web Development course is a part-time course covering: CSS/HTML, JavaScript, jQuery, Bootstrap, and DOM traversal.
Professional Experience:
Operations Director, CompareNetworks | Apr. 2011 - Aug. 2014
CompareNetworks provides targeted online B2B marketplaces for scientists, doctors, dentists and the pharmaceutical industry. Platforms include web and mobile content management systems; channels include email, video and print publications. CompareNetworks has 8 vertical properties including Biocompare with over 1M pages.
- Collaborated cross-functionally to improve product comparison tools, SEO, performance, and traffic
- Directly managed and trained team of up to 20 employees for revenue recognition and product ROI
- Provided in-depth sales onboarding trainings and ongoing support for the sales team
- Owned customer success metrics for over 500 digital advertising accounts; acted as liaison between customers and engineering teams
Content Manager - Labcompare, CompareNetworks | Dec. 2009 - Mar. 2011
- Built highly detailed and optimized online B2B technical product directory for laboratory scientists
- Produced and analyzed media for partnering advertisers across online and push channels
- Created online content that generated in excess of 2,000 contact leads per month
Senior Editor - Medcompare & OphthalmologyWeb, CompareNetworks | Oct. 2005 - Nov. 2009
- Constructed exhaustive online B2B product directories for medical professionals
- Directed editorial and content strategies; recruited and managed contributing editors
- Conducted market research and collaborated with engineering teams to launch OphthalmologyWeb
Outdoor Leader and Educator, California and Utah | Mar. 1995 - Aug. 2014
- Call of the Wild, 2007 - 2014: Expedition length backpacking trips, Sierra Nevada mountains
- Outward Bound, 2004 - 2008: Expedition length white water rafting courses, Utah
- Various local outfitters and orgs, 1995 - 2006: Sea kayaking, rafting, and rock climbing, Bay Area
Program Director, Healing Waters Wilderness Adventures | Nov. 1999 - Mar. 2004
- Expanded outdoor adventure program from 21 to a high of 61 trips per year
- Coordinated a total of 165 trips in 14 program destinations
- Recruited, trained and coordinated up to 100 volunteers/year
Research Scientist, Cerus Corporation | July 1993 - Oct. 1999
- Conducted GLP validation of novel platelet ELISA, including GLP, SOP, and report documents
- Performed inactivation studies of bacteria, surrogate virus models, and human CMV in blood
- Evaluated platelets, plasma, and RBC for changes in antigenicity, clotting, and deformability
Education:
University of California, Davis
B.S., Genetics, 1993
Additional Information:
Olympic Torchbearer: 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics Torch Relay
Finisher: 2007 Marathon des Sables, 2008 Gobi March, and 2011 Iditarod Trail Invitational 350 ultramarathons
Completed: TransAmerica Cycling Route 1996, Great Divide Mountain Bike Route 2005
Projects
Solo Projects
SnowBase | December 2014
SnowBase connects winter backcountry enthusiasts to up-to-date snow pack conditions with one click. For those who are eagerly awaiting new snow, easy-to-use text alerts are available for over 860 SNOTEL mountain stations.
Technologies: SQLite, PostgreSQL, Python, Flask, SQLAlchemy, JavaScript, jQuery, d3, Bootstrap, and HTML/CSS
APIs: Powederlin.es SNOTEL API, Google Maps API, and Twilio API
GitHub: Github.com/Piera/SnowBase
SF Movie Sets | January 2015
Quickly discover the locations where films were made in San Francisco with the SF Movie Sets web application. Utilize the API to find movies by year, to look up movie locations, or for a list of all movies made in San Francisco.
Technologies: Python, Flask, Bootstrap, jQuery, JavaScript
APIs: Google Maps API. Data provided by Socrata / DataSF
GitHub: Github.com/Piera/SFMovieSets
Hackathon Projects
27Percent | February 2015
27% of California's kids live in poverty. 27Percent provides a channel for helping a child who is living in poverty to thrive through child-directed donations. This web application was prototyped with a small team and presented for the 2015 LWT Summit Hackathon.
Contribution: Built front end from mock-ups, and app routes for registering a child in the system.
Technologies: Ruby on Rails, Bootstrap, HTML, and CSS
