Hi, I'm Michael Crismali

Professional

I help teams ship quality features for the people who use their products — whether that's customers or the internal teams who depend on good tooling. I bring full-stack experience across JavaScript/TypeScript, Ruby on Rails, Elixir, React, and React Native, and I'm comfortable with infrastructure when the project calls for it. I care about writing code that's maintainable and well-tested. I currently work through Semicolon Design Group.

I also volunteer as a developer for the Chicago Tool Library — a fantastic community resource that lets Chicagoans borrow tools instead of buying them. It's a good reminder that the best software quietly gets out of the way. I've also spoken at RailsConf 2018 and contributed to open source projects like MagicLamp, FantaskSpec, and JsonbAccessor. You can check out more projects and contributions on GitHub.

Projects

Things I've made on my own time.

• Oh FEC

  Built and maintain

  A campaign finance explorer that caches and cross-links the public OpenFEC record — candidates, committees, filings, and the money that moves between them. You can search by name or FEC ID, browse races by office or location, follow a donor across committees, and see which vendors outside spending actually pays.

• Nonprofiteer

  Built and maintain

  IRS Form 990 filings, normalized and served as infrastructure: roughly two million organizations and ten million officers, directors, and key employees, available over a JSON:API with keyset pagination so you can keep a synchronized mirror. An affordable, open alternative to the existing nonprofit directories.

• Are They Gonna Kiss?

  Cowriter — The Second City

  A sketch revue I cowrote with seven other writers, running at Donny's Skybox in Chicago from August to September 2026.

Personal

When I'm not working I'm usually wandering or biking around Chicago, watching movies, going to concerts, or reading comic books. I make ice cream at home and I'm slowly learning Italian. In warmer months you'll find me in the yard with my wife, gardening and generally trying to keep things alive. I live with my wife and our 14-year-old dog, who has strong opinions about nap schedules.

Contact

Interested in working together? Feel free to reach out.

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