About me

SHORT VERSION

I’m a Software Engineer by practice and an empathy and compassion evangelist by heart. My most notable work experience is serving as a CTO at Bloom, a Lead Software Engineer at Thinkific, and a Lead Trainer of Software Development at Re:Coded.

In the world of volunteering, I’ve been working with my brother, Murtadha, on projects such as 29 Day Challenge, Clean Iraq (سفراء النظافة), and Startup Weekend to name a few.

If you’d like to do stuff together, I’m always happy working with passionate and skilled people on projects relating to education, tech, community building, and event facilitation. Or you can join me in one of my active projects.

LONG-WINDED VERSION

Welcome!

My name is Mujtaba. People tell me that I am a weird person. I guess that’s what results from the amalgamation of the Iraqi, Turkish and North American cultures I’ve lived in, the crazy wars I’ve survived, the surreal people living inside me, the values and beliefs that uplift me, and the actions I take.

What Drives Me

Daniel Kahnemen, the psychologist and author of the infamous book “Thinking, Fast and Slow” said in a podcast:

I think that there is a task for society to reduce misery, not to increase happiness.

When you think of reducing misery, you would be led into very different policy directions. You would be led into mental health issues. You would be led into a lot of other problems. So reducing misery would be my focus.

As for me, my focus is on intentional living (living by our values) and meaningful relationships (empathy, compassion, trust, feeling heard, no judgment, etc.).

Projects I Contribute to

Some of the tangible examples of my attempts to do this include:

Lifelong Learner's Club

Hosting a community of learners.

Clean Iraq (سفراء النظافة)

Mobilizing citizens to clean up the river.

29 Day Challenge

1% better everyday for 29 days.

Fikra Space

The first Makerspace in Iraq.

Startup Weekend Baghdad

Planting initial seeds of entrepreneurship in Iraq.

Scholarships & Hosting

Bringing young Iraqis to live for 6-months with Mina (my wife) and I in Istanbul.

Work Experience as a Software Engineer

Bloom

CTO

We built a project management web app for training programs

Re:Coded

Lead Trainer

We taught web development bootcamps

Thinkific

Lead Software Engineer

We built one of the world’s leading learning management systems

Change Heroes

Intermediate Web Developer

We built a peer-to-peer fundraising platform

Vision AS

Web Developer

We built ERP solutions

Hivos

Junior Web Developer

I built landing pages for the NGO

I Feel Alive Doing …

In addition to the above, I’ve noticed that I’m usually most alive when I’m engrossed in activities that put me in a state of flow, such as:

1. Coding: I love hunkering down and writing scripts that solve specific problems for people (or just for me).
2. Writing: Most of my writings have been private, but recently I’ve started publishing online. Subscribe to my newsletter if you’d like to receive my publications.
3. Teaching:
   • Computer Science
   • Life skills: Such as Critical Thinking and Active Listening
4. Sports:
   • 🏊 Swimming: My claim to fame is swimming 2km (super amateur compared to beasts like Nyad).
   • 🚴 Bike riding: My favorite ride was with my brother Murtadha and our good friend Saif from Turkey to Baghdad.
   • 🧘 Yoga
   • 🏔️ Hiking
   • 🏕️ Camping
   • 🥏 Ultimate Frisbee
   • ⛹️ Basketball
   • 🏓 Ping Pong
   • 🏸 Badminton
   • ⚽️ Football
5. Reading: Check out my library on Goodreads.
6. Music: If I go for more than a few days without listening to music, I’d die (I exaggerate).
7. Hosting people: If you’re in Baghdad and we haven’t hosted you yet, text me!

I’ve talked too much. Thank you for making it this far. Now I’d like to know you. Join me through one of the active projects or text me.