Meet the Agustins: In It Together

has held multiple technology management positions at Moody’s Analytics where he currently leads the KYC Technology & Data Strategy Team. A software engineer staying at the same company for multiple decades is rare in the Bay Area, but he really enjoys the company and the domain.

Jimmy’s and Eleen’s lives were lived parallel to each other for many years before they intersected. Both students at UC Berkeley, they initially met in 1996. “It was the day after graduation and Jimmy showed up with a mutual friend of ours to help me move out of my apartment and ended up cracking my desk — what a first impression! It would take us another eight years before we started dating, but during that time we’d frequently run into each other at the many dotcom parties being thrown throughout the city,” says Eleen.

In 2004, Eleen took a big fall off her road bike while training in the Berkeley Hills. “I think the moment it struck me that Jimmy might actually be “the one” was when I called him to the rescue after my bike accident. He came to my rescue and treated me to a giant plate of pasta and a pitcher of beer, which was apparently the way to my heart (and also did wonders for my new road rash). He proposed on a beach in Jamaica in 2007, and we married at our alma mater the following year. We celebrated our crystal anniversary—15 years of marriage—on January 26th. We had reservations to celebrate at Esin Restaurant, but a sick kid and a tennis injury forced a change in plans. We treated ourselves to a lovely takeout dinner from Lakeside and couldn’t have been happier,” says Eleen.

Both raised in Southern California, Jimmy was born and raised in Cerritos and is proud to have attended Whitney High School. Eleen was born in Newfoundland, Canada where her dad got his Master’s Degree in Geology before moving to the San Fernando Valley. The couple both graduated from UC Berkeley and both landed jobs in San Francisco. They coincidentally ended up living in the same apartment complex in Emeryville. After marrying, they settled in Alameda. “We loved living by the water, but like a lot of other families, we got a bit antsy during the pandemic and eventually followed in the footsteps of one of our neighbors, who introduced us to Blackhawk. Once our heads started filling with the idea of the kids having more space to run around, not to mention the lure of a swimming pool (and weather that gets hot enough to want to use it), sprawling parks, and of course, good schools, we couldn’t stop thinking about it. We bought our dream home in April 2021, after a 10-month search. Even though it’s been almost two years, we often find ourselves staring out the windows marveling at the amazing sunsets, soaring hawks, and the occasional deer, owl, and other critter sightings,” says Eleen.

Jimmy received his undergraduate degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science. He worked as a software developer at multiple startups as well as larger enterprises like Siebel Systems and Oracle. For the last 21 years, he has built financial and regulatory software and

Eleen graduated from the business undergrad program at UC Berkeley and started her career at Ernst & Young as a financial auditor and IT security consultant, then jumped into the dotcom world where she managed project management teams and led web development/online marketing projects with clients like Screen Actors Guild, Häagen-Dazs, and Orbitz. She spent a couple of years at Wells Fargo as a project manager in their Internet Services Group before finally jumping ship from the corporate world and opening her own brick and mortar shop in Alameda that featured handmade goods by local artists. During that time, she was hired into one of her favorite jobs — working with some of her best friends to help the late Zappos CEO, Tony Hsieh, launch his best-selling book Delivering Happiness, then helping set up the consulting startup that evolved from the book. These days, Eleen feels fortunate to be able to stay at home with her two girls and enjoys volunteering her time at their school and Girl Scouts/Cub Scouts organizations.

The couple’s oldest daughter Zoe is 10 years old and in 4th grade at Tassajara Hills Elementary. Last year, she landed her first “job” as a Harmony Worker at school, where she helped with peer conflict resolution on the playground. This year, she made Student Leadership and got selected to be a Harmony Worker again. Zoe recently competed in the school’s first spelling bee and was thrilled to come home with 3rd place. Outside of school, Zoe is on the competition team at Black Tiger Taekwondo Studio and has earned two gold and one bronze tournament medals. She enjoys tennis lessons with friends at Blackhawk Country Club, playing board games, designing things in Canva and making friendship bracelets. Zoe hopes to be a 1st grade teacher when she grows up.

“Our youngest daughter, Maya, is 8 years old and is our dog-obsessed 2nd grader, teaching herself everything there is to know about dogs, thanks to the school and public libraries. She loves the Paws to Read program at the Danville branch and has signed up multiple times to read to therapy dogs. Maya also does competitive taekwondo and has a growing collection of gold and silver medals. This little girl can most often be found doing the running man or practicing her taekwondo moves and always has a joke for anyone who’ll listen. Maya would like to be a veterinarian when she grows up,” says Eleen.

Being active members of the community is of high importance for the family. Jimmy volunteers as an Assistant Cubmaster for Pack 1776, where he gets to relive his childhood experience as an Eagle Scout. He has also enjoyed being captain of the Blackhawk Country Club’s 3.0 Men’s Tennis Team. He is also serving his 7th year as the executive sponsor for Girls Who Code through Moody’s.

Eleen co-leads special events for Maya’s Girl Scout Brownies Troop and is on the planning committee for Zoe’s Cub Scouts Day Camp program. At the kids’ school, her favorite volunteer role is helping out in the kids’ classrooms and at the school library, but she also loves being part of the wonderful parent community that comprises the PTA. “As a family, we’re working on upping the frequency of our community service efforts, but we love the Family Food Sort program at the local Food Bank and at Kids Against Hunger, as well as the fact that both Girl Scouts and Cub Scouts provide volunteer opportunities for the kids to serve their community,” says Eleen.

The family says the kind neighbors and the beauty of the community made them fall in love with Blackhawk, “Our home sits atop a small hill at the end of a court. We love the views that this gives us, along with the privacy and quiet. When we first moved in, Zoe wrote a letter of greeting and introduction to each of our neighbors, and she and Maya dropped one into every mailbox on our street. We were a little unsure of what kind of response we would get, if any, but were pleasantly surprised when over the next few weeks, kind neighbors began ringing our doorbell to say hello, dropping cards in our mailbox, and even having us over for tea. We feel so blessed to have landed on this street amongst such friendly and welcoming folks.”

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