KBKristie Bowles

Forward Deployed Engineer · Public policy · Jersey City, NJ

I bring modern technology solutions to public service.

Public policy graduate and forward deployed engineer. I partner with teams to understand how their day-to-day work really runs, find where it breaks down, and build software that fixes it — from a volunteer bird-monitoring app to a local farm-box business.

See my work Get in touch

Selected work

The problem, what I built, and how it works.

Application & data systems developer · 2026

Jersey City Birds Field Monitor

A field tool for volunteers and coordinators who monitor bird–building collisions. Monitors follow an official route, check off each building, identify common species from a curated visual guide, and log an observation for each bird — with GPS location and photo uploads.

Problem
Reports were spread across Google Forms, spreadsheets, and maps. Gaps in collection made the season's data hard to trust.
Built
Official routes with building checklists and daily progress, an observation form that keeps the program's outcome categories, and "no findings" walk records so empty days count too.
How it works
Started as a Google Forms and Sheets workflow with interactive maps, then rebuilt as a web app: records in a Cloudflare D1 database, photos in R2 storage, and each report synced to the program's Google Sheet with Apps Script. Tested before every release.
  • React 19
  • TypeScript
  • Vinext (Next.js on Vite)
  • Cloudflare D1
  • Cloudflare R2
  • Drizzle ORM
  • Tailwind CSS
  • shadcn/ui
  • Google Apps Script
  • Google Sheets
  • Google My Maps
  • Vitest

Founder & full-stack developer · 2026–present

Common Table

A woman-owned local farm-box business delivering produce, eggs, bread, and pantry staples from regional farms to doorsteps across Hudson County. I run the business and built its website from the ground up.

Problem
A small delivery business has to coordinate customer choices, orders, sourcing, and delivery messages on a repeating cycle — without a team.
Built
The full site: structure, design, ordering by a weekly Thursday cutoff, delivery-area info, and local partner pages for farms and producers.
How it works
Custom frontend and backend with its own data storage, developed iteratively with ChatGPT to turn business needs into working features.
  • Full-stack web
  • UI/UX
  • Data storage
  • Operations
Visit joincommontable.com →

Policy & research

Turning research into plans that can be funded and carried out.

Writing · Independent study · 2026

America's Founding to Now: Gendered Republicanism

Traces how "Republican Motherhood" gave women civic duties without political rights — from John Adams and Benjamin Rush, through Elizabeth Cady Stanton, to today's debates over women's suffrage.

  • Political theory
  • Historical research
Read the paper (PDF) →

Organizing · 2026–present

Hudson County Wildlife Rehabilitation Initiative

Researched regulations, partners, and service gaps to shape a community resource proposal, and organized a petition with 290+ signatures.

  • Regulatory research
  • Advocacy
View the petition on Change.org →

Public health · 2025

Macomb County Park Proposal

A three-phase plan to control mosquitoes in a Macomb County park without harming its wetlands: targeted larvicide treatments, a volunteer garden club, and community cleanups, with a timeline and a $6,000–$12,400 first-year budget.

  • Cost estimates
  • Alternatives analysis
  • Timeline
Read the proposal (PDF) →

Community health · 2025

Macomb County Affordable Housing Plan

Applied the six-phase MAPP framework to a county where 48.2% of renters are cost-burdened: a cross-sector coalition, a data-driven assessment, strategies, a 12-month action plan, and an evaluation framework.

  • MAPP
  • Coalition design
  • Evaluation
Read the action plan (PDF) →

Human services · 2025

Head Start Childcare Staffing Plan

A staffing plan for a nonprofit childcare center serving 51 children: roles, qualifications, salaries, and training mapped to federal Head Start standards, with class-size checks and an org chart.

  • Staffing
  • Budgeting
  • Federal standards
Read the plan (PDF) →

Health policy · 2025

Medicare for All Analysis

Weighs Medicare for All against Kissick's cost–access–quality triangle: national spending, payroll-tax tradeoffs for different households, and effects on patients, providers, and employers.

  • Health policy
  • Cost analysis
Read the analysis (PDF) →

Skills & tools

Web & systems

Full-stack development, frontend UI/UX, backend and data storage, information architecture, workflow design

Data & reporting

Power BI, CRM systems, Excel, Google Sheets

AI & productivity

Claude and ChatGPT for development, troubleshooting, research, and drafting; Asana; Microsoft Office

Policy & planning

MAPP, logic models, SMART objectives, cost estimates, stakeholder and feasibility analysis

Experience

Operations, communications, and community work — in Jersey City, Michigan, and Okinawa, Japan.

  1. 2026–present

    Digital Communications & Media · WomenRising

    Event photography, video, and social content that tells the story of the nonprofit's programs and fundraising.

  2. 2023–2024

    Assistant Property Manager · Windsor Property Management

    Analyzed resident, leasing, and financial data in CRM systems and Power BI; explained Fair Housing and tenant-rights rules to residents; kept a 25% leasing close rate.

  3. 2022–2024

    Board Member · The Willett Foundation

    Supported planning on housing stability and homelessness.

  4. 2019–2022

    Marketing Assistant · American Red Cross, Okinawa

    Coordinated outreach and events for up to 100 people with international and military-connected partners; produced accessible newsletters and digital materials.

Education

  • B.S., Public Policy (Honors) · SUNY Empire State University · 2026
    4.0 GPA · Alpha Sigma Lambda Honor Society
  • A.A., Business Administration · Macomb Community College · 2020

Let's work together

Open to forward deployed engineering roles, especially in public-sector and civic tech.

kristiejane7@gmail.com Common Table