Staff

Chris Sims is a Certified Scrum Trainer (CST), agile coach, and recovering C++ developer who helps software development teams improve their productivity and happiness.

Chris is the founder of Agile Learning Labs as well as the Bay Area Agile Managers Support Group. He is co-author of The Elements of Scrum and has published over 50 articles on agile topics at InfoQ. Even more of his writing can be found on the Agile Learning Labs blog.

Before starting Agile Learning Labs, Chris made a living in roles such as: ScrumMaster, Product Owner, Engineering Manager, Project Manager, Software Engineer, Musician, and Auto Mechanic.

Read Chris’ full bio

Steve Bockman is a certified ScrumMaster, agile coach and innovator who began his career as a software developer in 1977. Steve is the founder of North Bay Agile, and the creator of an intuitive estimation technique that many find easier and faster than planning poker.

Steve’s conference presentations include: Agile2007, Agile2008, as well as Agile Open California 2007, 2008 and 2009. He has presented for professional organizations including: North Bay Agile, BayXP – Silicon Valley Agile, Bay Area Agile Project Leadership Network, and the Bay Area Association of Database Developers.

Steve continually strives to communicate the essence of Agile development to novices and help advanced practitioners grow their skills.

Hillary Johnson is an author, editor and business journalist. She is the author of several books, including Physical Culture, Super Vixens’ Dymaxion Lounge, and a New York Times Bestseller, The Real Real World. As a freelance journalist, she has written for Inc., Worth, US Business Review, the Los Angeles Times, LA Weekly, Oprah, InStyle, RealSimple, and more. She was editor-in-chief of a newspaper, The Ventura County Reporter, founding editor of a lifestyle magazine, Arroyo Monthly, news editor for a blog network, Pajamas Media, and editor-in-chief of a social network, Building Green. She is also a web designer and intellectual property consultant, having drafted numerous technology patents. Her personal website, clips and design portfolio can be found at Xoxiety.com. She recently completed her ScrumMaster Certification.

Betty Gonzalez comes to Agile Learning Labs from a long history of herding cats, first as a district manager for Jean Nicole Petries in the fast-paced retail industry, and later in the construction business, where she helped build a 50-employee company from the ground up (we’re hoping she can do the same for us!).

Uniquely talented in many areas, including finance and logistics, Betty brings a consummate sincerity and joy to every part of her work. She also has a positive energy and lovely smile that you won’t soon forget.

David is an agile coach, trainer, and social entrepreneur who believes agile practices can help everyone create a more humane, creative, and satisfying work environment. He brings a wealth of experience from both business and non-profit environments, to the work he does with agile teams. David led a marketing and community relations team for McDonald’s Restaurants of Canada. He managed circulation for Corporate Knights, a Canadian magazine focused on corporate responsibility, and he helped launch the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World.

David cut his agile teeth working for Mishkin Berteig at Berteig Consulting in Toronto, and is a founder of OpenAgile, an open source agile method. He achieved Mastery in OpenAgile in 2010 and currently serves as Executive Director of the OpenAgile Institute.

He says his most interesting agile experience was helping Ashoka Canada use OpenAgile to manage a team of volunteers.

David blogs at A Change Maker in the Making.

It’s hard to describe Laura’s experience and expertise as anything other than exponential. She holds two degrees in mechanical engineering (“my dad thought software was questionable, so he insisted I get a ‘real’ engineering degree”), had a long career in engineering management at HP (both here and abroad), and later eBay. She became a real estate investor, which led in turn to a stint in real estate marketing. Which led to… a curiosity and interest in business development and marketing that only a dynamic and innovative company like Agile Learning Labs could sate. Or so we like to think!