Our team has been delivering thoughtful design and engineering to happy clients for over fifteen years.

People

• Zach Davis

  CEO, Partner

  

  Zach Davis

  Zach Davis

  CEO, Partner

  Zach Davis leads the day-to-day operations of Cast Iron Coding and is responsible for hiring, business development, and strategy. Zach is an early adopter and is responsible for discovering and incorporating new FOSS platforms and languages into Cast Iron’s service offerings. He has twenty years of experience in web and software development and holds a Ph.D. in English literature. Zach’s interests include woodworking, cooking, early modern literature, digital humanities, and camping.

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• Lucas Thurston

  Backend Team Leader, Partner

  

  Lucas Thurston

  Lucas Thurston

  Backend Team Leader, Partner

  Lucas primarily works with content management system projects, builds internal tools, and assists with operations. Don't be surprised to find him doing backend development or troubleshooting legacy systems as well. He is humbled and grateful to be able to work with such a talented, sharp, and thoughtful team. When not working, Lucas cycles, plays the bass guitar, and procrastinates on home improvement tasks.

  

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• Dana Johnson

  Frontend Team Leader

  

  Dana Johnson

  Dana Johnson

  Frontend Team Leader

  Dana joined the Cast Iron team in 2018. He spends most of his time writing HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and is always striving to build a more resilient, accessible, open Web. A lover of languages generally, Dana did graduate study in Sanskrit, Pali, and Hindi before learning how to code. He also ran a small design studio and was an editor at an arts journal. He is a proud product of the humanities, and has a special interest in using web development to further humanities teaching and scholarship.

  

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• Cate Whitcomb

  Project & Operations Manager

  

  Cate Whitcomb

  Cate Whitcomb

  Project & Operations Manager

  Cate came to CIC in 2019 after working in higher education for over a decade. She loves working with small teams of smart people. Her background in design and marketing help her keep the big picture in mind while creating order and process in the everyday workings of a small agency. When she’s not helping things run smoothly, she enjoys cooking, making clothes, trying to write creatively, and going on camping trips with her family and friends.

  

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• Lael Tyler

  Creative Director

  

  Lael Tyler

  Lael Tyler

  Creative Director

  Lael’s been creatively directing with Cast Iron since 2013. During the course of his 20 year career in design he’s had clients of every shape, size, and business model. He’s worked in-house at Nike, for several small (but mighty) creative agencies, and for his own damn self as an independent consultant. Along the way he’s earned a fistful of industry awards and accolades. He is a proponent of thoughtfulness, clarity, and humor. He is allergic to deception, drama, and self-satisfaction. He believes the best communications — no matter the medium — speak with an honest, human voice seeking to connect, inform, surprise, and delight.

  

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• Kyle Pratuch

  Associate Backend Developer

  

  Kyle Pratuch

  Kyle Pratuch

  Associate Backend Developer

  Kyle joined Cast Iron in 2016. His focus on backend development and maintaining CIC’s many CMS projects means he gets to spend a lot of quality time with PHP, MySQL, and HTML, but he also relishes any opportunity to dabble in something new. Before getting into web development, Kyle worked in Portland's nonprofit sector doing direct service work with kids, young adults, and their families. To unwind, he likes to ride his bicycles, work on his house, and spend time with his family and their occasionally well-behaved dog.

  

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• Alexa Grey

  Senior Backend Developer

  

  Alexa Grey

  Alexa Grey

  Senior Backend Developer

  Alexa Grey has worked intensively with Ruby since 2011 and probably knows a gem that solves any given problem. If not, she’ll make one. She is an avid fan of [Postgre]SQL, modern JavaScript, POSIX environments, functional programming, and writing READMEs. She is always eager to tackle unfamiliar languages and platforms (just don't ask her to use Java). Outside of technology, her interests include linguistics, film, cooking, and Oxford commas. Her favorite field of mathematics is combinatorics, because one can always count on it to be discrete.

  

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• Jen Wardwell

  Senior Frontend Developer

  

  Jen Wardwell

  Jen Wardwell

  Senior Frontend Developer

  Jen joined Cast Iron in the fall of 2019 with over a decade of experience in academic and corporate settings. With dual experience in coding and design, Jen works as both a UX designer and front-end specialist. She has a knack for bridging the skill sets of designers and developers. You can find her working on JavaScript, Sass, HTML5, and prototyping in Figma. Jen loves art, embroidery, camping, cycling, and tricky CSS problems.

  

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• Tim Frazee

  Senior Backend Developer

  

  Tim Frazee

  Tim Frazee

  Senior Backend Developer

  Tim joined Cast Iron in the summer of 2019. Coming from an academic research environment, he had focused his technological inclinations toward data capture and analysis. From there, he dove into the wonderful world of web development in order to share that data with collaborators all over the globe. Since then, he has delighted in building all sorts of web applications with the goal of sharing information and experiences far and wide. When away from a screen, Tim enjoys spending his time with his loving family and forever fixing all the things they break around the house.

  

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• Leonor Colbert

  Lead Client Success Developer

  

  Leonor Colbert

  Leonor Colbert

  Lead Client Success Developer

  Leonor joined Cast Iron in 2021 with a background in museums and nonprofits. Having worked as an education and interpretation specialist, Leonor brings strong communication skills and an eye for detail that complements her work as a developer. When she's not coding, Leonor enjoys a variety of crafts, reading, serenading her cat named Kitten with her mediocre ukulele skills, and trekking through the mountains of the PNW.

  

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• Lauren Davidson

  Senior Frontend Developer

  

  Lauren Davidson

  Lauren Davidson

  Senior Frontend Developer

  Lauren joined Cast Iron in 2021 after five years in an education innovation space, where she built the center’s capacity for web development, designing custom games and interfaces for courses in partnership with faculty clients. Lauren works primarily in JavaScript and React and enjoys the challenge of moving from a client’s vision to the logic of an application. She holds a PhD in philosophy, has developed tools for teaching critical thinking, and looking back, isn’t surprised that she fell for web development. Frontend blends logic and design in a particularly satisfying way. Away from the computer, you can often find Lauren upside down. She trains in a variety of circus disciplines including rope, sling, and handstands.

  

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• Ella Tanttu

  Associate Web Producer

  

  Ella Tanttu

  Ella Tanttu

  Associate Web Producer

  Ella came to Cast Iron Coding in 2022 with a background in web and print design. The pandemic created an opportunity for her to expand her expertise from design to front end development. Taking on this field is a never-ending learning experience for her and she is particularly passionate about creating a more inclusive web experience for everyone. When she’s not coding, you might find her whittling, hiking, or foraging for mushrooms.

  

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• Tim Standen

  Senior Backend Developer

  

  Tim Standen

  Tim Standen

  Senior Backend Developer

  Tim Standen joined Cast Iron Coding in 2024, after 5 years hacking away with a variety of web technologies. His interest in the web and its ability to connect people has led Tim to pursue modern web technologies and standards, and has made him an active contributor in several FOSS projects. Today, Tim works with Ruby, Rails, PostGRES, and any other fun tool that crosses his path. When he's not working, Tim enjoys camping, hiking, reading history tomes, and snowboarding.

  

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