Derek Brooks

Derek Brooks has a diverse work experience spanning several companies and roles. Derek started their career at Red 5 Interactive, Inc. as an Application Engineer, where they developed web and mobile applications and contributed to the creation of a Rails-based Content Management System and a flash-based shopping mall map software. In 2010, they co-founded Absolocal and worked as an Engineer, building apps that support the local community and developing a custom PHP MVC framework.

From 2010 to 2012, Derek worked at Dipity as a Senior Application Engineer, where they built interactive timeline software and rewrote JavaScript-based widgets. Derek also designed and implemented a JavaScript API to allow developers to customize the timeline widgets. At Obama for America, Derek served as the Lead Engineer of Voter Contact and Protection, contributing from 2011 to 2012.

In 2013, Derek became the Founding Engineer at Modest, Inc., where they led the development of client-side contextual commerce applications. Derek helped grow the team from 4 to over 20 employees before the company was acquired by PayPal in 2015. Derek then joined PayPal as a Senior Staff Software Engineer and continued in that role when PayPal acquired Braintree, where they also worked as a Senior Staff Software Engineer. During their time at PayPal and Braintree, Derek contributed to various projects and held roles such as API developer, web developer, mentor, technical lead engineer, and architect.

In 2018, Derek joined Venmo as a Senior Staff Software Engineer and worked on multiple commerce initiatives, including the Venmo Debit Card, Pay with Venmo, Payouts, Credit Card, Crypto Rewards, and Gift Wrapped Payments. Their contributions helped Venmo become profitable. Currently, Derek is working as a Software Engineer at Panther, starting in 2022. Derek specializes in web and API development and provides consulting services through their organization, Broox Productions, which they have been running since 2001.

Derek Brooks obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Computer Science from Cornell College. Derek attended the college from 1999 to 2003.