About Tony
Professional Web and Software Applications Developer
As a technologist and application development enthusiast, my work is guided by end user research and data
I have a knack for detecting patterns, framing problems, applying systems thinking, and making sense of data sets to help inform product visions, decisions, and strategies.
The value add to your organization is speed of development and time to market.
Visual Design
UI/UX
70%
Architecture
Strategic Thinking
88%
Communication
Executing
82%
Managing Projects
Strategic Thinking
83%
Data and Analysis
Influencing
78%
Tony's top strengths
Influencing and executing is where I excel according to CliftonStrength themes. I have an ability to quickly absorb and analyze information which enables me to make decisions
and move projects forward effectively.
Recommendations written by former colleagues.
“Tony and I were in the same group for a couple years and he taught me some SharePoint admin things since I was supposed to be a backup for the team. He was very knowledgeable and showed me patience when I didn’t understand something. He was a great teammate and teacher!”
Lisa F.
Former ServiceNow Platform Engineer
“I highly recommend Tony Graves as he is one of the best managers I have worked with. He did an exceptional job leading, organizing, and managing out Content Migration project. He is very precise, proactive and forward thinking professional with great interpersonal skills. It’s an authentic pleasure working with him as he is a highly motivated team player, as well as a great mentor although he was my supervisor during the summer. He was able to be a great example of a project manager as he led our weekly meetings to assure that we stayed on task, which was very motivating. He was very hard-working, and handled a large amount of tasks and met many deadlines with great poise and quality. Tony possesses very valuable skills that could lead any motivated and hard-working team to exceed expectations and deliver a phenomenal final project.”
Stephanie H.
Program Manager at Google
Industries Served
I’ve gained experience and knowledge from exposure to different industries, services, and products throughout my career.
- Small Business - [https://www.ezeauthenticfoods.com/]
- Publishing - [https://randalmauricejelks.com/]
- Hospitality - [https://purplemoonguesthouse.azurewebsites.net/]
- ERP Software
This is my Story
“Commit yourself to lifelong learning. The most valuable asset you’ll ever have is your mind and what you put into it.” – Brian Tracy
I was born in Ghana and moved to the US to attend Calvin University on a scholarship where I double majored in Computer Science and Business Administration.
I started my career as a Web Programmer for WoodTV8 in Grand Rapids, Michigan where I was responsible for reproducing our news stories and programs on our station’s website. Some of the memorable programs that come to mind are Larry Figurski’s One Tank Trip, Susan Shaw’s Health News Report segment, Chicken Soup for the Soul and other community related special programming segments.
I moved to Chicago on a special contract assignment.
The project was located at the Donald Cook Energy Center where I learned a lot about the special facility that supplies electric energy from nuclear sources to the Midwest.
Other career highlights are:
- Kraft Heinz Foods where I designed and run Business Objects reports;
- University of Chicago, I-house where I assisted the student hostel with its Technology Assessment and future renovation project.
- Purdue University, Sponsored Programs Services where I assisted and helped generate over 900 billion dollars in research grants during the great recession of 2009 – 2011.
- HNTB, Lead Application Developer specializing in SharePoint development, migration and replatforming of Enterprise applications in C# and ASP.net core, Blazor and other computer languages.
- Mesirow Financial, Assistant Vice President of Application Development, a conglomerate that specializes in wealth and asset management.
Outside of work, I enjoy coaching youth soccer and hope to get my soccer coaching license soon.
I also have an interest in volunteering in various causes such as environmentalism and assisting in building up youth through Junior Achievement, Big Brother, Big Sister of West Michigan and Future City, Inc.
I enjoy learning new things in Technology specifically in web development and cloud computing and artificial intelligence.
I have a Master’s degree in Instructional Technology from Purdue University in addition to several technical certificate programs on the Microsoft Development Stack from DePaul University. In addition, I have a Diploma in Business Analytics, Artificial Intelligence and Cloud Computing from the University of Texas at Austin, McCombs School of Business.
Soccer player and Coach
I am a passionate soccer enthusiast. Playing soccer in school taught me perseverance and endurance. As I teach these young minds about soccer, I hope to instill the same discipline, teamwork and life long friendship I found in the game.
I have coached youth soccer in the HF Park District since 2015.
