Josepha Haden Chomphosy has stepped down from Automattic, where she served as the Executive Director of the WordPress project. She was also leading Automattic’s open-source division, championing the efforts of developers, designers, community builders, and WordPress advocates. She has now updated her title in the WordPress Slack to “Community Steward.”
Like Josepha, 159 employees left Automattic after accepting the Alignment Offer.
Rumors of her resignation first surfaced on X, to which she responded: “Ok, this is not how I expected that news to come to y’all. I apologize that this is the first many of you heard of it. Please don’t speculate about anything.”
In a farewell post titled Thank you, WordPress, she expressed continued optimism for the future of the open-source project: “There’s still more to do in our shared quest to secure a self-sustaining future of the open source project that we all love, and my belief in our global community of contributors remains unchanged. I have spent nine years working shoulder to shoulder with you, and I didn’t want to leave without saying goodbye.”
I still believe that open source is an idea that can transform generations. I believe in the power of a good-hearted group of people. I believe in the importance of strong opinions, loosely held. And I believe the world will always need the more equitable opportunities that well-maintained open source can provide: access to knowledge and learning, easy-to-join peer and business networks, the amplification of unheard voices, and a chance to tap into economic opportunity for those who weren’t born into it.
She continued: “While my next steps aren’t yet clear, I hope to never be too far from this community that taught me so much.”
Josepha has been uncharacteristically silent since the onset of the Automattic-WP Engine controversy aside from a brief comment on Slack. Since joining WordPress in 2019, she was always actively involved in community discussions or controversies.
Community Response
Josepha always had a special place in the community’s heart and it was reflected in the messages that poured in following her announcement.
Thank you, Josepha, for all you’ve done for WordPress. We wish you the best in your future endeavors!
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