Owen Barton

Owen Barton's dedication to people and love of programming led him to CivicActions by way of a small web shop in Wales, and work with youth in Malawi and New Mexico. His philosophy is one of driving towards simplicity and elegance of design wherever possible, and a real partnership with the client throughout development in detailing requirements and engagement with the project process and results. As a partner and in his role as engineering team leader, also work to connect clients to individual skill sets, a juggling act between the module developers, themers, flash and javascript programmers who are eager to make a difference.

As a technologist, Owen captures the functional specifications of a project and translates them into what is achievable and within budget. Alongside the Institute of Noetic Sciences (IONS), he deployed a local-to-global solution for their “Shift in Action” web site that grew their membership exponentially. Considerable growth was also achieved for Just Cause Magazine, where Owen helped launch a social networking site that puts people at its center thanks to extensive user profile functionality. Where everyone's a scribe at Just Cause and member content drives the messaging, the Center for Reproductive Rights (CRR) is editorially-driven from the top. It was Owen's solution to multiple taxonomies that allowed CRR to present complex legal documents in a streamlined and accessible manner, leading to a fully-informed constituency.

Quick to give back, Owen is working with a California-based non-profit to build a network of global telescopes tasked with the continuous observation of space. More personal is the work he and his wife are doing to shed a national spotlight on the issue of VBAC (vaginal birth after Caesarean).