My Travelers Journey – Chris Munoko
Taking care of our customers, our communities and each other is Chris Munoko’s middle name (literally). That name — Mobunda, in Chris’ native Kikongo— translates to “he who puts others’ needs in front of his.”
“I’m a caring person by nature, so The Travelers Promise encapsulates what I love most about this company,” says Chris.
Chris relocated from the Democratic Republic of Congo — where his parents and two of his six siblings still live — in 2016, when he became a student at the University of Wisconsin River Falls. Several of his computer science classmates had internships at Travelers, and Chris noticed how much they had grown and learned over the summer. So when a friend recommended Chris for a job at Travelers just after graduation, he jumped at the chance, and was hired into its Technology Foundational Development Program , which has been renamed the Engineer Development Program.
Now, as an Associate Software Engineer, Chris has helped the CAT Tech Team transform third-party and on-premise applications to internal apps hosted in the AWS Cloud, including the Catalyst Underwriter, which estimates losses from natural or man-made catastrophes. He gained experience with AWS Cloud on the job and went on to get AWS certified.
Day-to-day, Chris provides ongoing support for the workflow automation and catalyst underwriter apps after they launch. “Good is not good enough. I always try to find a way to use customers’ feedback to create features that make the user experience better.”
He also loves sharing knowledge with others; helping people get over hurdles to get into the cloud journey and achieve their goals.
Moving applications to production is a rewarding accomplishment: “It makes me stop and think, ‘Oh, wow, this thing we have been building for two years, it’s working and people are using it!’”
Outside of work, Chris loves spending time with his wife, Kaitlyn, who he met in college. He also enjoys watching and playing soccer, and he’s an anime afficionado, with a particular fondness for Naruto, Dragon Ball Z and Bleach — noting that these hobbies have taught him the importance of teamwork, the will to never give up, and the drive to strive for excellence.
With these values in mind, it’s no wonder that Chris also dedicates spare time to learning more about coding.
“I have always been fascinated by technology and how we can use it to impact today’s society. And, now as a Travelers employee, I get to see how we can use technology to push our business to new heights.”
