Cailyn Hansen

be bold, take risks, make change
Updated: Feb. 11, 2026

Welcome! I'm Cailyn Hansen (she/they). I'm exploring how to build and realize the future I want for the world, over sharing about my life and hopes and dreams, trying to do cool things, and documenting along the way.

Learn more about me and what I'm working on below.

About

I'm a queer, genderfluid, trans woman who's based in NYC. I am focused on transformative justice, community building and mutual aid, and designing social infrastructure towards liberatory futures.

Recently, I left a career in software engineering where I was a senior engineering manager at Duolingo.

My hobbies include biking, watching birds, baking a lot of bread, and playing board games.

In terms of politics, I could perhaps be summarized as an abolitionist and communitarian anarchist.

Projects

Check out my various projects covering independent study, random adventures, technical experiments, and formal research.

Current highlights:

- Embracing the Occult
Independent study group that explores what is the occult and knowledge

- Riding MTA Start to Finish
Follow along my journey to ride every subway from start to finish

- Thavalon
Development of a web UI for an Avalon reskin

View all projects →

Writing

Various writings, from personal essays on gender and mental health to academic and political texts about how I see the world.

Select pieces:

- 90 Days Unemployed
My write up of what I was up to and learned in the first 90 days of being unemployed.

- breathe.
Personal essay on panic attacks

- Name Announcement
Personal essay announcing name change

Browse all writings →

Reading

Follow along with me on the texts that shape my thinking.

Recent Reads:

- The Impossible Community: Realizing Communatarian Anarchism
by John P. Clark
An exploration of communitarian anarchism and its practical applications.

- Babel, or the Necessity of Violence
by R. F. Kuang
Dark academia meets social justice praxis discussion, overall very good.

- Emergent Strategy
by Adrienne Marie Brown
The perfect companion to Parable of the Sower.

See full reading list →