Tech Ladies Talk: Amanda Perino on Rethinking Presence

A Non-Linear Career Path

Amanda Perino’s career journey started at age 11, delivering newspapers through rain-soaked streets. 

“If there’s anything that’ll teach a child discipline, and how nice or how mean the world can be, I think it’s being a paper girl or a paper boy,” she recalls. That early experience taught grit, persistence, and confidence—lessons she still carries with her today.

Amanda studied marketing before social media existed and later ran event marketing for developer communities. She admits, “I always almost felt like a fraud by being tech adjacent, but not really having a history with tech. I didn’t study it, I didn’t work in tech, really. But I was next to tech.”

A coding bootcamp teaching Ruby on Rails deepened her understanding of the developer experience and prepared her to lead the Rails community. Today, she serves as Executive Director of the Rails Foundation, managing strategy, operations, and direct contributions to projects like documentation updates, podcasts, and educational content.

“A lot of it really is project management. We work with writers and developers who are creating these resources, designers creating assets, developers putting that online, and really just project managing it across the board so that these things can get shipped.”

Learning the Power of Presence

A pivotal moment in Amanda’s leadership came from unexpected feedback: “She seems like she lacks confidence.” Shocked at first—“Me? Are you kidding? I’m my biggest fan”—she realized that presence must be shaped deliberately, or it will be shaped for you. She adjusted how she showed up, aligning her communication and visibility with her strengths.

At ICON this October in NYC, Amanda will deliver Rethinking Your Presence in the Workplace, urging women to claim space and make their expertise impossible to ignore. “Men can’t give talks for us. We need to get up there ourselves,” she emphasizes.

Building Community and Supporting Others

Leadership for Amanda involves mentoring, community building, and advocating for visibility in tech. ICON offers a chance to connect with like-minded peers:
“I just want to chat with other women and see what they’re doing and hear other speakers. I’m excited about it.”

Her story is a reminder that persistence, intentionality, and visibility define professional growth. Amanda’s journey shows how winding paths build the skills, confidence, and insight necessary to step fully into leadership.

Watch the full conversation here to learn more about the Rails Foundation and Amanda’s vision for a more inclusive tech community.

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