Bill Laboon
Bill Laboon is Director of Education and Governance Initiatives at the Web3 Foundation, where he leads the organization's initiatives to educate and fund the next wave of blockchain innovation. An expert in decentralized and immersive systems, Laboon has a strong foundation in software quality assurance, blockchain technology, and cryptocurrency. His industry experience spans multiple roles, from software development to project management. Prior to the Web3 Foundation, he acquired a rich background in academia including teaching roles at the University of Pittsburgh. He is the author of two books: A Friendly Introduction to Software Testing, an undergraduate textbook; and Strength in Numbers, a near-future novel set in a world in which cryptocurrency has eliminated traditional money.
Bill Laboon Professional Experience / Academic History
Professional Experience
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Director of Education and Governance Initiatives
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Head of Education and Grants
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Lecturer
Academic History
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M.S.I.T., Software Design and Management
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B.S., Computer Science, Political Science, Mathematics
Laboon served as Web3 Foundation's Head of Education Grants, responsible for strategic direction and oversight of technical education, support, and grant teams.
He also served as the Foundation's Director of Education and Community, where he oversaw the day-to-day management of community teams.
He runs the popular daily newsletter Bill's Polkadot Digest to keep people up to date on what is happening with the Dotsama ecosystem and its governance.
EARLY CAREER
Laboon also brings a wealth of knowledge from his time as a lecturer and his contribution to analyzing cryptocurrency codebases.
He taught courses on software quality assurance, blockchain technology and cryptocurrency, computer science, and software engineering.
He was a Senior Software Developer at Think Through Learning Inc., where he wrote software to help children learn mathematics.
He was a Consultant for FP Complete, and a Technical Lead at UPMC Technology Development Center.
He also held senior roles at General Dynamics C4 Systems, leading several geographically distributed teams in integrating, testing and preparing for deployment a military command and control system.
MEDIA & APPEARANCES
He has appeared in various media outlets and spoken at numerous blockchain conferences.
He has been featured in GitHub, Cointelegraph, and Real Vision, among others.