Francis has been building software for about twenty years. He designs products that make life easier for businesses — less paperwork, more action. On the other side of his life, he volunteers at Sentiers du Moulin.

The idea for Sentinel was born there, on the ground. Back then, nothing really existed to manage trail maintenance: teams juggled between Facebook groups, text messages and scraps of paper, and issues kept slipping through the cracks. The opportunity was obvious — save teams time, give real visibility into what's happening on the trails, and help networks finally get organized.

Sentinel is now in its fourth year. The first ones were spent exploring and validating that the idea actually held up: an app that works for real in the field, even without cellular coverage. After a lot of iterations, Sentinel was officially launched in year two. It has been evolving ever since, shaped by the people who use it every day.