About Me

Howdy! Welcome to my corner of the Universe. My name is Jay Jackson.

A bit about me: I'm Deaf and have been in the tech industry for over 20 years. I cut my teeth as a QA Engineer, spending over a decade breaking things in wonderfully odd ways. It was a fun journey, but as I dug deeper into the codebase, I started getting the itch to fix things instead of just break them. That led me to make the leap into software engineering — and I've never looked back.

I suppose it all really started when I was a kid, sitting at my desk pretending to type away on a computer. We couldn't afford one for many years after our beloved Commodore was stolen. So imagine my joy when we finally got a PC running GeoWorks, which was some kind of knock off Windows. I'd spend hours tweaking the autoexec.bat just to free up enough RAM to run Wolfenstein 3D. I was a naturally curious kid, always wondering how the world works — which eventually led me to earn a degree in Physics.

That curiosity hasn't gone away. These days, I tinker with all sorts of tech, dive into new frameworks just for fun, and try to keep learning wherever I can. Outside of code, I enjoy reading, writing, spending time with my family, and watching sports. I love to geek out with people on subjects they are passionate about, whether it is art, cars, plants, politics, etc. The world is an fascinating place and full of amazing people with wonderful stories to tell. I guess I've always aimed to be my own version of a Renaissance man.

I'm also passionate about ASL and Deaf culture. Being Deaf, I've experienced the challenges of accessibility firsthand — especially at conferences and in the workplace. That's why I got involved with the CNCF Deaf and Hard of Hearing Working Group. I want to help open doors for others and make sure our voices are heard in the spaces that matter.

If you ever see me around, don't be shy — feel free to say hello!