About
Insatiably curious.
Tatiana Mac (they/she) is an independent Việt-American software engineer and open source maintainer and creator of Self-Defined. Tatiana writes, edits, and speaks on building for the web, design systems, and engineering culture.
People over profits ethos
As tech workers, Tatiana believes we have a responsibility to protect people over profits. The trifecta of accessibility, performance, and security can work symbiotically to improve our social landscape digitally and physically. When ethically-minded, Tatiana thinks technologists can dismantle exclusionary systems in favour of community-focused, inclusive ones.
Will speak for travel
An international keynote speaker and TEDx alumnus, Tatiana speaks on the intersection of technology and ethics, examining how our products both fit into and define our social and environmental settings. Tatiana has given over 30 talks in over a dozen countries across 5 continents. View a selected playlist of recorded talks on YouTube. Visit Tatiana's speaking page for a comprehensive list of past events, Tatiana's speaker rider, or to inquire about speaking.
Past careers: Editor; art, creative director
A once-aspiring foreign correspondent and trained journalist, Tatiana is a former editor at A List Apart, volunteered for the The Atlantic's Covid Tracking Project, and has edited numerous technical journals and books, most recently O'Reilly's Head First C#. Before engineering, Tatiana built an extensive career as an art and creative director for clients like Nike and Taco Bell.
Beyond drone life
A systems thinker, Tatiana's love extends beyond computer language to human languages. Specifically, Tatiana is fascinated by language structures and discovering unexpected patterns, like when seemingly disconnected languages share the same word because of antiquated trade routes. A full-stack linguist, Tatiana can say a few words in many languages, express much in far fewer, and otherwise is not embarassed to try. Tatiana would rather look like a fool if it means being in connection with someone.
With a (land) body-count of 36, Tatiana frequents National, Dulles, and Baltimore airports to return home to Washington, DC.