Hi, I’m Jesse! I care a lot about empowering people with technology.
I’ve been doing full-stack web design and development for over 25 years. I specialize in user experience design, technical strategy, system architecture, software development, and improving accessibility at scale with design systems.
I’m currently the Director of Accessibility and Design Systems for New York State. I lead several teams dedicated to improving the resident experience and accessibility of the state’s digital applications at scale with user research, design systems, and responsible AI.
Our design system team recently launched v1.0 of the New York State Design System, and our accessibility team is currently helping engineers remediate the top public-facing workflows for NYS agencies ahead of the DOJ Title II accessibility deadline.
I’ve also been exploring the role of generative AI in civic tech, especially in the context of code generation. The Design System we created is a library of design components mapped to a library of accessible, tested code components, which gives AI the context it needs to produce predictable, consistent code. I presented a talk about our approach at FormFest 2025 or you watch a shorter version on LinkedIn. I’m also scheduled to present “Design systems as AI infrastructure” at Into Design Systems Conference 2026.
I’m always looking to connect the dots between design and engineering. I’ve written a lot about ways to bridge that gap over at Practical Design Systems.
Before NYS, I served as a VP of Technology at Fox, where I migrated several large media sites to a custom content platform, managed several client teams, and helped launch Fox Weather. Before that, I worked at Simply Recipes, designing and helping grow one of the world’s most trusted food blogs, and at AMC Networks, unifying multiple content platforms into a single content platform for all of the company’s business units. I’ve also helped clients like Asurion, Boeing, and Harvard with various design and development challenges.
Addendum: I currently live in Upstate NY with my wife and four kids. When I’m not solving problems, I tend to my hobby farm, makes candles with my wife, snap landscape photos, and promote empathy through storytelling. I also write (infrequently) about technology, politics, and the human condition over on my blog.