10up Sponsors Helen Hou-Sandi to Work Full-Time on WordPress Core

WordPress development company 10up announced today that it will be sponsoring a full-time contributor to the WordPress core. The company will be contributing the efforts of Helen Hou-Sandi, a 10up employee and guest committer to WordPress. Hou-Sandi is a leader in the community and has contributed heavily to the UI improvements in the past several versions of WordPress, as well as the upcoming 3.8 release.

Helen described how a conversation with 10up President Jake Goldman sparked the company’s move towards giving employees the opportunity to contribute to WordPress. Both attended WordCamp Philly 2011 where they discussed the idea over dinner. “We talked about our shared values in the community and the conversation led to an intriguing proposition: time each week to spend contributing to WordPress – a donation to the community by way of hours and effort. It began with 5 hours a week, and as 10up grew, it increased to become 8, then 15, then 20 hours each week.”

It’s rather unique for a commercial WordPress development company to be so fiercely passionate about giving back to the project. 10up’s surprising news should give you an indication of how important the WordPress platform is for companies that build enterprise-class web solutions for clients. Giving back is a value that 10up has adopted as part of the company’s culture, and the proof is in the pudding. 10up employees include two core committers to WordPress as well as another 20 credited core contributors.

The folks at 10up are in possession of some of the most talented WordPress engineers and designers on the planet. They’ve collected employees who are passionate about WordPress and have given them the freedom to spend time contributing back to the project. It’s a smart move. Sharing Helen Hou-Sandi’s time to work on WordPress core development is a huge gift and it demonstrates the company’s solid commitment to this open source platform. Will more companies follow in the future?