Jurnell Cockhren is a DevOps practitioner, scientist, open-source contributor, and full-stack developer who enjoys developing products with clear pathways to making a positive social impact. In 2012, Jurnell founded the company that would eventually become Civic Hacker LLC. This technology company supports social movements and develops the theory and practice of Public Interest Technology. In addition to being an engineer, Jurnell volunteers with organizations that help vulnerable communities and serves as a lead researcher at the Black Tech Futures Research Institute.

Jurnell moved to Nashville after receiving a B.S. in mathematics and physics from the University of the South, also known as Sewanee. He combines his neuroscience, sociology, and astronomy research with a passion for contributing to emerging technologies and studying their impact on society and the Human brain, resulting in published articles in scientific journals such as "Attention, Perception, & Psychophysics" and "Child Psychology and Psychiatry." In 2018, one article received the Clifford T. Morgan Award for Best Article from the Psychonomic Society. His affiliations include The Black Codes, Python Software Foundation, and the NIST AI Safety Consortium.