- Latest project note: Visual storytelling for GAR 2025
- Currently digesting: Too many think of AI as perfectly predictable code
Hello.
I am Ken Hawkins.
I transform digital platforms for global impact — bridging executive, technical, and content teams to solve complex challenges and deliver measurable results.
I have 2 decades of experience leading digital strategy for United Nations, international science, and media organizations. My journalism background provides deadline discipline and audience-first clarity that pure technologists often lack.
At UNDRR, I direct a multi-domain ecosystem serving millions with disaster risk intelligence.
Recent blogging
28 Oct 2025
Introducing a "Work" section
A home for evidence-led impact stories documenting measurable outcomes from my work on platforms, performance, and design systems.
23 Sep 2025
The power of the pause: How planning beats prompt tuning
Traditional project planning techniques helps ensure maximal benefits from AI tools.
19 Sep 2025
A stop-gap Drupal module to kill Word Junk in CKEditor 5
A tiny CKEditor 5 plugin for Drupal that strips inline Word-like junk in one click.
14 Sep 2025
Individualism is the flavor AI chatbots can't stomach
The AI experience has drained traffic from reference content, but leaves a path forward of human-centric experiences, interactivity, and better on-site value.
12 Sep 2025
Sacrificing knowledge in the name of data
The goal is not more data, but data to facilitate the story of what we're trying to achieve.
7 Sep 2025
Predictable, token-based filenames with Eleventy Image
How I swapped Eleventy Image’s hashed outputs for readable, stable names — and the trade‑offs.
6 Sep 2025
| Note post
Exposing HTML: The No-JS nudist CSS toggle
A tiny footer checkbox to turns your site styles off with no JavaScript required.
5 Sep 2025
| Note post
Go-go-go … I missed EmbedPDF
It seems a robust, embeddable PDF viewer for on‑page reading already exists.
4 Sep 2025
| Note post
Recursion: it’s fonts all the way down
I’ve moved from Now Alt to Recursive, an open‑source variable font that unifies UI text and code with one flexible file.
Read 45 more posts on the blog ↦
Say hello
Open to strategic opportunities — let’s connect.