San Francisco, CA Capital One

Christian Bellman

Software engineering manager. I lead an engineering team at Capital One, and I’m a board member at the SF LGBT Center.

I like learning something new every day, building things that are useful, and helping other people do the same.

How I got here

I grew up in a small suburb of Cincinnati, and I’ve been into technology for as long as I can remember. When I was 11, I started helping my mom, who was self-employed after IBM and trained people to use computers. I got good at troubleshooting, people started asking me for help directly, and by the end of high school I was the IT person for over 30 households, six small businesses, and a nonprofit. I even ran a little tech tips blog on the side.

I studied electrical and computer engineering at Ohio State. The Buckeye Leadership Fellows program there gave me a leadership foundation and an incredible network of people, plus a very impactful trip to India. After graduating I joined Capital One and moved to DC, and then I got to check off a lifelong goal and move to California.

What I try to live by

Three things I come back to.

Learning mindset

Technology changes fast, so I treat every day as a chance to learn something and get better as an engineer and a manager.

Authenticity

What you see is what you get. I try to be genuine and respectful, and to lead with that.

Purpose and direction

I know what drives me and the kind of impact I want to make.

Giving back

Building community is the part of my life I’m proudest of.

I serve on the board of the SF LGBT Center, where I chair Board Development. That means meeting and vetting prospective board members and helping the board stay strong.

My board work also touches fundraising, community outreach, and communications.

Visit sfcenter.org

Role: Board member, chair of Board Development
Work spans: FundraisingOutreachCommunications

Writing

A short update every quarter or so: what I’ve been working on, at work and on the side, plus whatever I’ve been thinking about.

2026-10-31

Rebuilding this site

Moving off an old WordPress setup, and what I plan to do here.

All writing