Tonya Sims

Voted into the Wisconsin Basketball Hall of Fame, former professional and collegiate basketball player turned Pythonista Tonya Sims is currently a Python Developer Advocate at Vonage.

She considers herself to be humble and down to earth as well as having a great deal of empathy. An eclectic background in business, pharmaceutical sales, and as a self-taught developer, has allowed her to see the world from many different perspectives.

Tonya started her technology career working as an executive assistant for a leading financial investments company in their IT department. She transitioned into a computer operator role and started learning how to code. Eventually, she worked her way up from an entry-level position to earn roles as a software engineer in test and software developer contracting with some of the top financial services companies in Chicago.

She is passionate about helping other budding engineers and loves to see people succeed. When she’s not working she enjoys playing the piano, watching documentaries, and listening to music.