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14 Leading React Native Experts

react native experts - 14 Leading React Native Experts

React Native has evolved into a powerful framework for building cross-platform mobile apps — and behind its success is a vibrant, global community of developers.

These experts include prolific open-source contributors, founders of developer tools like Expo and NativeBase, engineers at companies like Meta and Microsoft, and educators whose tutorials have helped millions get started. Whether they’re pushing performance boundaries, simplifying app deployment, or making animations smoother than ever, the individuals below are actively shaping the future of React Native in 2024–2025. Here’s a global list of 14 of the most impactful React Native developers today:

  1. Brent Vatne
  2. Krzysztof Magiera
  3. Evan Bacon
  4. Mike Grabowski
  5. Satyajit Sahoo (Satya)
  6. Lorenzo Sciandra
  7. Nicola Corti
  8. Janic Duplessis
  9. Marc Rousavy
  10. Riccardo Cipolleschi
  11. William Candillon
  12. Catalin Miron
  13. Gant Laborde
  14. Jamon Holmgren

Now, let’s delve deeper into their achievements and contributions:

Brent Vatne

YouTube Video

Nationality: Canadian

Brent Vatne is a Canadian developer who has been a driving force in the React Native community.

As a core team member of Expo, he has authored popular libraries like React Navigation and react-native-video and he frequently speaks at conferences and writes about React Native. Brent’s contributions to open source (Expo SDK and community libraries) and his role in curating the React Native Newsletter illustrate his deep impact. He’s regarded as “one of the most prominent people in the React Native community” for good reason – his code, talks, and mentorship have helped thousands of developers.

Krzysztof Magiera

Nationality: Polish

Krzysztof “Krzysztof” Magiera is a Polish software engineer and Director of Engineering at Software Mansion.

A former Facebook engineer on the React Native team, Krzysztof authored some of the most impactful libraries in the React Native ecosystem – including React Native Gesture Handler, Reanimated, and React Native Screens. These projects revolutionized animations and navigation in React Native, enabling buttery-smooth interactions off the JS thread. Magiera’s blend of academic rigor (he has a PhD) and practical coding makes him stand out. He’s now spearheading efforts to improve React Native’s developer experience (like a new RN IDE). His journey from core team member at Facebook to OSS maintainer and startup co-founder showcases equal strengths in open-source innovation and entrepreneurial leadership.

Evan Bacon

Evan Bacon - 14 Leading React Native Experts

Nationality: American

Evan Bacon is an American developer known for his creative and technical contributions to React Native through Expo.

Currently the Head of Developer Tools at Expo, Evan has been with the project since 2017 and leads the development of Expo Router, a file-based routing system that bridges web and native apps. He combines a background in design (even as an award-winning Lego artist) with coding expertise, which has helped Expo bring React Native to the web. Evan’s work on universal React frameworks and his engaging conference demos (e.g. React Unity and Expo features) have made him an influential figure in the React Native ecosystem.

Mike Grabowski

Nationality: Polish

Mike Grabowski is a Polish engineer and co-founder of Callstack, a React Native-focused consultancy.

As a longtime React Native core team member, Mike has been pivotal in projects like the React Native CLI and the “Lean Core” cleanup of the framework. He’s contributed to performance initiatives (e.g. optimizing bundlers) and often speaks about React Native’s internals. Mike’s dual role as a startup founder and active coder is evident: under his technical leadership, Callstack built popular OSS libraries and hosted events like React Native EU. Recognized as a top expert, he’s described as “Co-Founder at Callstack, React Native core team, passionate about cross-platform technologies”. When not open-sourcing, Mike mentors others and even indulges his hobby on the racetrack.

Satyajit Sahoo (Satya)

Navigation in mobile apps is deceptively complex. The goal is to make it feel seamless — even if it isn’t under the hood.

Nationality: Indian

Satyajit Sahoo, often known as Satya, is an India-born developer renowned for maintaining many cornerstone React Native libraries.

He created and leads React Navigation, the de facto routing solution for React Native apps, as well as React Native Paper (UI library) and tools like Bob (library scaffolding). Satya’s open-source contributions are extensive – he has “created and maintained many OSS libraries” in the React/React Native ecosystem. Formerly at Callstack and now working on Expo’s Snack editor, he bridges startup and big-company environments while actively coding. An international speaker and blogger, Satya shares deep insights on topics like navigation architecture and has helped countless developers via his tutorials. His passion for JavaScript/TypeScript and UX shines through in the elegant APIs he designs.

Lorenzo Sciandra

Lorenzo Sciandra - 14 Leading React Native Experts

Nationality: Italian

Lorenzo Sciandra is an Italian developer who served as a core maintainer of React Native for over six years.

Until 2024, he was a Senior Engineer at Microsoft, where he led React Native initiatives across Windows and other platforms. Lorenzo – known online as “Kelset” – managed the community release process (often the one announcing new RN versions) and bridged open-source contributions with large enterprise use cases. He’s spoken globally about the “work you DON’T see” behind React Native’s upkeep and tooling. A passionate advocate for mental health and open source, Lorenzo has now closed his React Native chapter, but his impact remains: he helped shape RN’s stability and was the glue between Meta’s core team and the broader community. His tenure exemplifies dedication to a major tech project and community leadership at a big company.

Nicola Corti

Nationality: Italian

Nicola Corti is an Italian software engineer on the React Native Core team at Meta. With a background as a Google Developer Expert in Kotlin, Nicola brings a unique perspective to React Native’s development.

Since joining Meta’s London office in 2022, he has worked on the core of React Native (including the new architecture and bridging with Android). Nicola is also an active open-source maintainer outside of work – he has led projects like Toolkit for Kotlin and community Android libraries. As a frequent speaker, he discusses cross-platform mobile dev and internals of RN (e.g. at React Europe and React Native EU conf). In 2024, he co-presented the “State of React Native” at React Conf, reflecting on the framework’s progress. Nicola’s blend of big-company influence and community engagement makes him one of the notable young leaders in the RN world.

Janic Duplessis

Nationality: Canadian

Janic Duplessis is a Canadian developer and longtime React Native contributor. He co-founded a Montreal-based mobile development agency (th3rdwave) early in his career, where he built apps with React Native.

Janic became known in the community for his deep knowledge of React Native’s internals – he has been a core contributor to React Native and was invited to the Facebook repository as a maintainer. Notably, he contributed to the initial React Native for Windows efforts and more recently to Shopify’s open-source (he’s been involved in the high-performance React Native Skia graphics library). Janic’s pragmatic engineering (for example, integrating iOS App Clips with RN) is paired with community work – he’s appeared on podcasts and answers questions on Reactiflux. Balancing agency leadership with hands-on coding, Janic demonstrates how to remain an active coder while running a startup, earning respect in both spheres.

Marc Rousavy

Marc Rousavy - 14 Leading React Native Experts

Nationality: Austrian

Marc Rousavy is an Austrian developer who has quickly risen to prominence through his high-performance React Native libraries.

He is the creator of React Native VisionCamera, a powerful camera/video library, and the maintainer of react-native-mmkv (ultra-fast storage), among other modules. Marc’s work focuses on pushing RN to its limits by integrating C++ and platform APIs – VisionCamera brought low-level camera access and even augmented reality support to RN. He’s also the co-founder and CEO of Margelo, a boutique dev shop known for building polished React Native apps. Marc’s energetic engagement with the community (live-streaming development, tweeting tips, and speaking on podcasts) has made him an influencer as well. Still in his early 20s, Marc exemplifies the new generation of React Native experts who blend open-source leadership with entrepreneurial spirit.

Riccardo Cipolleschi

Nationality: Italian

Riccardo Cipolleschi is an Italian iOS specialist turned React Native core contributor at Meta. With ~7 years of native iOS experience, he joined Meta’s React Native team in 2022 and has since focused on ensuring RN’s iOS implementation is top-notch.

Riccardo has been instrumental in rolling out the New Architecture (Fabric/TurboModules) for iOS, often sharing insights on codegen and bridging. He co-presented “What a year for React Native!” at React Universe 2024, highlighting advancements in the RN ecosystem. Known for his approachable explanations on Twitter and GitHub, Riccardo helps external developers contribute to core (his blog posts guide first-time contributors through setting up RN from source). By blending big-tech engineering rigor with community outreach, he exemplifies the modern open-source engineer at a large company.

William Candillon

William Candillon - 14 Leading React Native Experts

Nationality: French

William Candillon is a French developer (based in Switzerland) famous for his “Can it be done in React Native?” YouTube series.

Through dozens of videos to 100k+ subscribers, William tackles complex UI animations and recreates them with React Native Reanimated, inspiring developers worldwide. He didn’t stop at content creation: William co-authored React Native Skia, a high-performance 2D graphics engine for React Native. As a Principal Engineer at Shopify (and previously at SWMansion), he used his animation expertise to make Skia on RN a reality. With over a decade of experience, William has a unique profile – equal parts influencer, open-source contributor, and hands-on engineer. His conference talks on animations (e.g. at React Native EU) and his premium course platform for RN gestures further cement his impact. Few people have advanced RN’s animation capabilities and educated the community at the same time as much as William has.

Catalin Miron

Nationality: Romanian

Catalin Miron is a Romanian developer and one of the earliest adopters of React Native (he had access to the private beta in 2014).

With a background at Microsoft/Skype and Hootsuite, Catalin specialized in building complex animations and delightful user experiences in React Native. He founded AnimateReactNative.com, offering the world’s largest collection of React Native animations. Catalin is also a frequent speaker at conferences (React Native EU, React Europe) and runs a YouTube channel focusing on RN animations and tips. His open-source contributions include animation libraries and examples that have guided many developers. With 10+ years in software, he’s helped several startups as a consultant, sharing his expertise in crafting smooth cross-platform UI. Catalin’s passion for UI shines in every project, making him a go-to expert for React Native animations in 2024 and beyond.

Gant Laborde

Gant Laborde - 14 Leading React Native Experts

Nationality: American

Gant Laborde is an American developer known for his colorful personality and broad contributions to React Native.

As the Chief Innovation Officer at Infinite Red, Gant has led the creation of tools like Ignite CLI, one of the first React Native project starters, and Chain React conference’s organization. He’s a prolific speaker and author – co-hosting React Native Radio, writing the book Learning TensorFlow.js, and giving many talks that blend humor and insight (like riding a unicorn in his profile avatar!). Gant’s influence spans open source (he contributes to RN, maintains some community libraries) and community education. He has a knack for exploring cutting-edge topics – lately on-device machine learning in React Native. With two decades in software, Gant’s expertise and enthusiasm make him both a thought leader and an approachable mentor in the React Native world.

Jamon Holmgren

Nationality: American

Jamon Holmgren is an American developer who co-founded Infinite Red, a fully remote React Native consultancy. As CTO, Jamon leads a team of 20+ RN engineers, but he remains a coder and open-source contributor at heart.

He’s on the official React Native Community core team and helped maintain the React Native documentation. Jamon is perhaps best known as the host of React Native Radio, one of the longest-running RN podcasts, where he’s interviewed many core contributors. He also co-organizes the Chain React conference. His journey – from early RN adopter (circa 2015) to agency leader – showcases how to scale React Native in production while giving back to OSS. Jamon often writes about dev team practices and shares lessons from shipping RN apps for startups and Fortune 500s. His friendly, pragmatic advice has made him a trusted voice in the community.

Wrap Up

These legends represent exceptional talent, making them extremely challenging to headhunt. However, there are thousands of other highly skilled IT professionals available to hire with our help. Contact us, and we will be happy to discuss your hiring needs.

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