About

Panoramic view of the Milky Way arching across the night sky with golden star clouds, pink and purple nebulae, and a faint green glow near the horizon. Image courtesy of the National Parks Conservation Association.

Hello!

I’m Daina. I believe that the people with the boldest ideas to solve the world’s biggest problems shouldn’t be held back by technical barriers. The same goes for creators, artists, and innovators who want to build something meaningful.

Technology should be an accelerator for human creativity and problem-solving, not a gatekeeping mechanism. I’m passionate about sustaining the open source communities and infrastructure that make this possible.

What I do

I spend my time writing code and supporting people who change the world. My background is interdisciplinary and ranges from facilitating computationally-intensive research at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics to building data platforms and ethical AI systems for government and nonprofits.

In October 2025 I’m starting a new position as Senior Developer Relations Engineer at Anaconda.

What I bring

What makes me excited about developer relations is the opportunity to combine technical depth with genuine empathy for the developer experience. My background gives me a unique lens on how people actually interact with complex tools in high-stakes environments.

From an information science perspective, I understand how people search for, evaluate, and adopt new technologies. I know the difference between documentation that looks comprehensive and documentation that actually helps someone solve their problem at 2 AM. My library background taught me that the best technical resource is worthless if people can’t find it or don’t feel confident using it.

On the technical side, I bring hands-on experience with the full data science stack that Anaconda supports. I’ve built production systems, debugged failing pipelines, and felt the frustration of dependency conflicts. I also understand the broader ecosystem challenges, having worked on projects like software citation standards that help developers get proper credit for their contributions.

But what I’m most passionate about bringing to DevRel is my approach to community building. I’ve learned that successful technical communities are built on trust, clear communication, and genuine belief in what people can accomplish when they have the right support.

Let’s Talk

If you’re building tools that help people solve important problems, or thinking about how to better support the open source communities we all depend on, let’s talk!

Find Me

Personal

Beyond my professional pursuits, I enjoy hand embroidery (goldwork in particular), open water swimming, and being outside. Originally from the Buffalo Southtowns, I now live in the Berkshires with my family, two blind cats, and some goldfish.