About

Hello world, I'm Ashley Kang! I use design, code, and research to explore questions about how to make the secure thing easier to do. Offline, I'm lounging with a physical book and an emotional support coffee, caring too much about non-comedogenic skincare and green couches, or dreaming of finding my own skate crew.

I have a MS in computer science and a BA in a self-designed liberal arts concentration in art, media studies, and computer science. I started my career with a creative digital agency and an award-winning education marketing team, then pivoted to cybersecurity thanks to a campus club of hackers (proud Offensive Security Society alum!) and a self-initiated rotation at cybersecurity-leading organizations. I bring a uniquely interdisciplinary portfolio of training and experience in:

• Technology consulting: Web development, UI/UX design, web accessibility
• Security engineering: Product security, platform security
• Security consulting: Application security, penetration testing
• Security research: Malware analysis, cyber threat intelligence

I'm open to learning about full-time opportunities in these areas that respect work-life boundaries and team culture of sponsorship and mentorship.

Elsewhere:

• LinkedIn
• Panel guest @ BU WiCS Fall 2025
• Panel guest @ Tufts Women in Tech Conference 2025

Credits: Designed and developed by yours truly (© 2025 Ashley Kang), layout help from SuperHi, typeset with Fugaz One and Work Sans from Google Fonts, compressed with Squoosh and Optimizilla

p5.js Showcase

Purpose: How might we showcase a project to increase access to the open source p5.js library and inspire others to contribute to Processing's creative coding community?

Solution: p5js.org/showcase — A Google Summer of Code 2019 project to create a new 6-part section on the p5.js documentation website that showcases creative and inclusive uses of p5.js and encourages project nominations; officially released in February 2020 with the first p5.js major release version and curated in 2020-2022 by student contributors Connie Liu, Katie Chan, and Annie Zheng

Contribution:

• Researched existing examples of community-based project showcases, organized research on how p5.js is used in the wild into categories of p5.js contributions, and established a straightforward form-based process for creators to nominate a project for the Showcase
• Designed wireframes, created a prototype, and implemented using HTML, CSS, and Node.js templating to support internationalization
• Curated 6 projects (out of 60+) and interviewed their creators (out of 5+ million users!) about their groundbreaking process of using p5.js to explore art and design concepts and mediums, p5.js libraries and other technologies, or ways of learning and teaching: Roni Cantor, Yona Ngo, Dae In Chung, Casey Conchinha + Louise Lessél, Moon Jang + Xin Xin's UGA students, Qianqian Ye
• Advocated for an accessibility review, leading to a site-wide audit enagagement with accessibility subject matter experts Sina Bahram and Claire Kearney-Volpe and a code refactor with mentor Kate Hollenbach and p5.js creator Lauren Lee McCarthy
• Featured in p5.js version 1.0, Processing's blog, Processing's open source software contributor documentation, p5.js 1.0 Contributors Zine, p5.js 1.0 Release Party 2020 @ USC, Processing Community Day 2021 @ Seoul, and 20th Anniversary Processing Community Catalog

Image: An early iteration of the p5.js Showcase homepage, featuring the headline "Showcase" and an introduction to the project

CLEAN Carwash LA

Purpose: How might we update the CLEAN Carwash LA website to better present who they are as an organization today and support their fundraising efforts?

Solution: cleancarwash.org — A complete website redesign for CLEAN Carwash LA (Color Coded’s first community partner) to strengthen reach to 20+ car washes across LA, 4 foundation grants (now 13!), and community donors

Contribution:

• Co-led with Color Coded's internal team a kick-off workshop to ideate the website redesign with CLEAN's staff and subsequent sessions to develop the website style guide, content strategy, and maintenance documentation
• Led the redesign of the 3-part About Us section and implemented using HTML, CSS, and Squarespace CMS
• Co-facilitated a website maintenance training to support CLEAN's strategy around their main fundraising event

Image: An early prototype of the new CLEAN Carwash website's "About" section using WordPress CMS, featuring a header image of CLEAN's community, their mission statement, and information about how to support their mission

Locales

Purpose: How might we connect conscious consumers in Los Angeles with small local businesses (like freelancers and co-ops) that don’t necessarily have an online presence?

Solution: locales.la — An online directory that highlights small businesses and encourages locals to recommend a business to be featured (Color Coded's first internal project); launched in November 2016

Contribution:

• Advocated for accessibility, internationalization, style guide, and intentional form design in the internal team's process
• Began implementing a bilingual (English/Spanish) "Recommend a Business" form in React

Image: Whiteboard wireframes of the form to "Recommend a Business" for Locales, featuring desktop and mobile views

Etc.

Currently:

• Listening to the With Love, Always podcast 🎙️