James Blair

James is a Staff Solutions Engineer on the Safety Net team. Prior to joining Code for America, James worked for over a decade as a software engineer at feature[23] (https://www.feature23.com/) where he led a team delivering a variety of custom software solutions, and more recently as Principal Engineer where he worked with multiple engineering teams, guiding engineering practices across a variety of digital products. When he led an effort to modernize and improve a municipal tax e-file system, James saw the positive impact of civic technology and was moved by the dedication of the civil servants he collaborated with. Then when he read Recoding America, he was inspired to apply his passion for technology full-time to the mission of helping government work better everyone. After growing up in Jacksonville, Florida, James earned a B.S. in Chemistry at Wake Forest University, an M.S. in Chemistry at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, and an M.S. in Software Engineering at the University of North Florida. He now resides in Denver, Colorado with his wife, Jessica, and their two sons. Beyond his professional interests, James enjoys spending time with his family and friends, West Coast Swing dancing, hiking in the mountains, gardening, cooking, and reading science fiction.