With over 20 years experience as both a UX/UI designer and project manager, Chris brings a unique perspective to every project she leads. She has the unique ability to quickly see both the big picture and the details. She believes that relationships are the key to effective project management, and that the most successful projects are built with clients, not for them. By prioritizing clear, kind, cross-team communication she strives to create positive and supportive working relationships.
Get to Know Chris Better
Chris is a San Diego native and graduate of San Diego City College’s graphic design program. She started her career designing t-shirts and product catalogs for a skateboarding company and has worked on projects for clients in the publishing, hospitality, technology and higher education verticals. After a 20 year career as both a print and web designer she transitioned to managing enterprise WordPress projects.
Having worked in so many different roles over the course of her career she brings a deep understanding of what’s required to design, build and deploy successful WordPress websites. She’s worked with enterprise clients in the entertainment, technology and publishing sectors deploying high-visibility, high impact projects on time and on budget.
She’s been deeply involved in the WordPress community since 2016, speaking at over 20 WordCamps on topics ranging from UX design to project management. She was also an organizer for WordCamp San Diego 2018.
Chris is a technical project manager working with the design, support and engineering teams. When she isn’t making sure projects run smoothly she’s researching new tools and discovering how to integrate them into Asana. She likes to say that her job is to make everyone else’s job easier.
Chris is happiest when she’s automating boring tasks. She loves to increase productivity, improve communication, test out the next big tool to stay ahead of the curve. She is such a huge process nerd that she once spent her winter holiday break earning an Asana Workflow Specialist certification.
Favorite Coworker
Name: Milagro (aka Millie)
Job Title: Project Management Supervisor
While she was initially hired as Principal Couch Potato she soon impressed us with her Australian Cattle Dog/Border Collie energy (SO! MUCH! ENERGY!) that se was promoted to Director of Herding All the Things. She enjoys making sure meetings don’t run over time, enforcing regular Frisbee and snack breaks, and alerting the team to any immediate dangers, including Amazon deliveries, other dogs walking past her home office, and the occasional leaf blowing by. She is smarter than her direct report, and doesn’t let her forget it.
Favorite Remote Work Spot
Location: San Diego, CA
“I’ve been a remote freelance and agency person for most of my career so I’ve curated an amazing home office/craft room. I’ve surrounded myself with some of my favorite things: a John Waters Funko Pop, pins and stickers from all of the WordCamps I’ve been to, books about typography and crafts, tattoo and music-related art, my guitars, and lots and lots of plants.”
Five Questions with Chris Ford.
Curious, compassionate and crafty (as in making stuff, not like a fox)
I’m a dedicated member of the Cult of Pilates, designated pair of thumbs for my very high energy dog, and designer of t-shirts, stickers, and collage art.
I am especially talented at buying craft supplies and not using them.
Alaska (at least in the summer) is amazing. I got to see a moose enjoying a natural hot spring, went white water rafting, and watched a pod of humpback whales bubble net hunting.
I’m also lucky enough to be a native San Diegan where I’ve hung out on the beach with sea lions, surfed with dolphins, and watched both the Green Flash and Sea World fireworks from my front porch.
At my first WordCamp San Francisco I tried to sneak out of a session early, fell, and rolled down the aisle all the way from the back row to the stage.