From Juvenile Prison to Open‑Source Contributor: One Engineer’s Path Back to Tech

By Gavin Ray
Twitter: @GavinRayDev

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The Early Years – A Cycle of Anger, Drugs, and Incarceration

At fourteen Gavin was a top student, but bullying and teenage hormones turned him into a rebellious teenager. A single dose of Adderall sparked a powerful feeling of confidence that quickly led to a small‑scale drug‑dealing operation to fund the habit. By the end of the year he faced 17 counts of possession with intent to distribute and spent two years in a maximum‑security juvenile facility in Colorado.

While incarcerated he earned a GED and, after release, briefly attended community college while working as a landscaper for $8 an hour. The pull of the drug market proved too strong; a mis‑delivered research‑chemical package to his parents’ house triggered a confrontation with his father and a sudden, unsanctioned emancipation. He left home with a laptop, cash and a suitcase, living on a floor of a trailer and taking odd jobs while continuing to sell drugs.

A second arrest landed him in county jail at eighteen, where he received his first felony conviction.

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A Newspaper Article Becomes a Lifeline

During his time in jail a local newspaper ran a short piece about a tech company that offered internships to at‑risk youth. The article was the only thing Gavin could hold onto. When he entered the work‑release program, he walked into the company’s office, explained his situation and asked for a chance.

The company—Techtonic—hired him as a full‑stack intern despite his lack of web‑development experience. The role was a crash‑course in front‑end, back‑end and dev‑ops, built around Ruby on Rails, MongoDB and the emerging React library. The environment was unforgiving: no formal mentorship, only a “figure it out or leave” mentality. Still, the exposure to real SaaS MVP development gave Gavin a foothold in the industry.

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Relapse, Loss, and the Bottom‑Out Moment

Old habits resurfaced. A manager falsely accused Gavin of chronic lateness, leading to his dismissal. Without income, he and his wife fell back into a chaotic living situation with his father, who also struggled with addiction. After a brief stay with a friend, they were left with a single laptop, a few dollars and a determination to change.

Gavin took a dish‑washing job; his wife delivered appliances, biking long distances in extreme weather. She eventually quit her job so Gavin could focus full‑time on job hunting. He applied to hundreds of positions, reached final rounds at eight companies, and saw each offer rescinded because of a “no felons” policy.

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The Miami Startup and the Discovery of Hasura

A tiny Miami startup finally extended an offer: $50 k salary, relocation assistance and an Airbnb stay. The role involved modernising an aging Rails codebase riddled with technical debt. While evaluating options for a V2 rewrite, Gavin discovered Hasura GraphQL Engine, a tool that auto‑generates CRUD APIs for Postgres databases while leaving authentication and custom business logic in the developer’s hands.

The moment he connected a local Postgres instance and saw a fully functional CRUD API appear, he realized Hasura solved a problem he faced daily. He began answering questions in the Hasura Discord, submitting pull requests, and becoming an active community member.

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From Intern to Full‑Time Engineer at Hasura (now PromptQL)

When Hasura’s founders learned about Gavin’s work, they invited him to interview. The process was largely a formality; the company was small enough that no background check was required. He received an offer that more than doubled his previous salary.

After a month of transition, Gavin disclosed his felony to the new employer. The founders were receptive, allowing him to continue contributing to a product he loved. Since 2020 he has been a core engineer on the platform, shaping a developer‑facing tool that sits at the heart of many Postgres‑based applications.

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Lessons for the Tech Community

Gavin’s story is not a blueprint for success; it is a reminder that talent can emerge from the most unlikely places. Several factors were crucial:

1. Access points – a newspaper article and a work‑release program created the first bridge back into tech.
2. Open‑source ecosystems – participation in Hasura’s Discord and contributions to the codebase gave him visibility that a résumé could not.
3. People willing to look beyond a background check – the founders at both Techtonic and Hasura judged him on his output, not his past.
4. Personal accountability – sobriety and a willingness to rebuild day after day were essential to sustain any professional progress.

For hiring managers and mentors, the takeaway is simple: when a candidate’s résumé is flagged, look at their recent code, their community involvement, and the references they can provide. A single chance can change a life, and the tech ecosystem benefits from the diverse perspectives those chances bring.

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Closing Thoughts

Gavin is sober, married, and still building software he cares about. He credits a handful of people who took a risk on him, and he hopes to pay that forward by mentoring, reviewing pull requests and hiring with an eye toward potential rather than paperwork.

If you are reading this from a place of addiction, poverty or a criminal record, know that the path is steep, the doors are often closed, and the setbacks are real. Yet, with perseverance, community support and a bit of luck, a future in tech is possible.

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AI Use Disclaimer: Claude code was used to generate the OpenGraph SVG image. No part of the prose was machine‑generated. The author considers machine‑written prose on this blog disrespectful.