Merlin Patterson (they / them) is an Engineer and Public Ally at Baltimore Corps. Currently, they are building a job application system and a resume generation tool that will help the organization scale their reach to talent within and outside of Baltimore City.

Merlin(R) meeting with their supervisor, Billy Daly discussing the systems they built for Baltimore Corps

Merlin, also does freelance work through their own development shop: Product Wizardry, where they have built vocabulary tools, created political websites, and architected restaurant ordering systems. In Merlin’s free time, they teach introductory and advanced coding classes at Betamore; a tech hub in Federal Hill. We caught up with Merlin on a typical day in their apprenticeship at Baltimore Corps.

Why did you choose to become a Public Ally?
Prior to Allyship, I worked in the for-profit social impact sector and gleaned valuable information on how to run a business meant for impact. But I experienced only one part of the equation. My desire to learn about how social good can be improved from the non-profit sector led me to become an Ally. Through Public Allies, I hope to positively affect both Baltimore and the world.

Merlin Patterson ( they / them) at TouchPoint Baltimore Baltimore Corps headquarters working on the job application system

Why does Baltimore need Public Allies?
Baltimore has people who are focused on community driven improvement and impact; I find that Baltimore benefits from the work when there are people who care about community involvement and input. Public Allies programming teaches exactly those things, so Allies can help add even more charm to Charm City.

Merlin(R) meeting with Baltimore Corps Fellow Yael Ben - Chaim to try an app that Merlin have created for fellows.

To learn more about becoming a Public Ally Click Here.
To learn more about Baltimore Corps Click Here.