About

Benji Lightstone is an Intermediate Developer and Acting Team Lead at Rakuten. With a background in corporate sales, Benji took the leap into software development after traveling and discovering his passion for building software. He is now a full-stack developer with expertise in React, React Native, Node.js, MongoDB, Redux, and Firebase. At Kobo, Benji leads a team of React Native developers and excels at creating complex packages, advanced unit and integration testing, project management, and facilitating Scrum to improve velocity. He has also made several improvements to increase efficiency and ensure that his team meets 100% of release commitments. Benji's journey in software development began four years ago when he developed a mobile app for Fortnite players called "Where We Droppin Boys?!" which has over 115,000 downloads. He taught himself software development online with guidance from several mentors and focused on learning JavaScript, React Native, and Firebase. In addition to his work, Benji enjoys flying, rock climbing, wakeboarding, and spending time with friends on a patio. He is always open to connecting with new people and discussing specific topics related to software development. Benji's past experience includes working as a Junior Mobile App Developer at Rakuten, where he quickly excelled and took on additional responsibilities. He implemented a UX Design handoff process to solve a gap between UX Designers and Developers and took on the role of Project Manager for their first React Native release, which was released on time. He also founded Where We Droppin Group, where he served as an Architect and Sole Developer, launching mobile apps for gamers and quickly gaining over 230,000 downloads in over 120 countries on Android and iOS. Benji holds a degree from The University of Western Ontario and has 12.28 years of relevant experience in software development, mobile, Redux, JavaScript, software engineering, testing, TypeScript, MongoDB, DevOps, Azure, integration, and design.