People of WordPress: Angela Jin

by Vipe Team in WordPress Society; Published on 14.06.2022

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Welcome again to our “People of WordPress” series, dear WordPress enthusiasts.

These series are dedicated to the people who make the WordPress community so special and who constantly strive to contribute to it and its development.

Today, in “People of WordPress” we will meet you with a woman with a longstanding passion for building strong, inclusive communities, and whose job is dedicated to making the WordPress community all over the world greater.

Read Angela Jin‘s story below to learn what prompted her interest in working for the WordPress community, all the way to being an honored mentor at the world’s largest WordPress event.

Hello, Angela, tell us about yourself – where do we find you now personally and professionally?

I’m Head of Programs and Contributor Experience for Automattic’s Five for the Future division, so I’m sponsored to focus on the WordPress open source project full time. It’s a job I love because I’m passionate about WordPress and building amazing communities. And because Automattic is fully distributed, it’s a job that has allowed me to move from Seattle to Madrid. I love how much more sun I get here!

When did your journey with WordPress start?

I used to administer the Commercial Real Estate Certificate Program at the University of Washington, and was not a fan of the student-facing website they gave me to work with. At the time, the University of Washington was moving their platform to WordPress, and I was fortunate enough to know the person leading that work. He spun up a WordPress site for me, and I fell in love, both with WordPress, and with him – we eventually got married a few years later!

What sparked your interest in working for the WordPress Community?

I have had a longstanding passion for the power of community and creating a strong sense of belonging. The concept that people, brought together around shared interests and values, could shape the environment in which they live, play, and work is incredible! Since my early-teen years, I’ve been active in volunteer communities, hoping to bring about social, economic, environmental changes through my work alongside others. WordPress gave me the opportunity to do that professionally.

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When was the first time you went to a WordCamp, and what memories do you have of the event?

My first WordCamp was WordCamp New York City in 2018, and I absolutely loved it. Working in the Making WordPress Slack and chatting with contributors online, you get a strong sense of community. Seeing it in person is something special. It was so fulfilling to meet so many people face to face for the first time, and learn more about what brought them to WordCamp, how they use WordPress, and what they liked or didn’t like about WordPress. I was new to the community side of WordPress, and I loved that people freely shared their thoughts with me because they cared so much about what we were doing together.

I also recall that the organizers that year had put effort into having diverse representation at WordCamp NYC. This very much helped put me at ease, to see people who looked like me at a tech event. That goes a long way in cultivating the feeling that I belong here.

You’ve contributed to WordPress in a variety of ways. What is your favorite type of contribution?

Tough question, because I really enjoy contributing! I’ve organized and mentored meetups and WordCamps, trained deputies and mentors, contributed to past releases, and more. I think my favorite type of contribution is one that I would love to see recognized more: mentorship of others. I’m fortunate that my current role includes an increasing amount of mentorship and leadership development, which I absolutely love. It gives me so much joy to see people find their way, grow, and succeed in what they set out to do in our space. I feel empowered when I help others feel empowered.

As a Community Contributor, what are your responsibilities?

To get the Community Contributor badge, the expectation is that you’ve participated meaningfully on the Community team for a duration of time. This could mean that you’ve mentored a WordCamp or Meetup group, or that you’ve spent time supporting a working group, or that you’ve been active in Community team discussions. I’m proud to say that I’ve done all of that.

What impact did the switch from online to in-person events have on people, in your opinion?

It was a shift that none of us expected to have to take! For myself, the beginning of 2020 was certainly disappointing, not to mention a frightening time globally. For the WordPress community, we had enjoyed an incredible year of WordCamps in 2019 (we had over 140 WordCamps that year) and I was so excited about WordCamp Asia. It was hard, working with organizers to change all these amazing plans we had.

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What was inspirational was seeing WordPress community members come together to support each other while we were collectively isolated. We saw some really innovative events for a while, like WordCamp Spain’s Late Night Show, and WordCamp Austin’s musical community talent show. And as online events became more draining (because all our connections were online) people came together to explore other options, like education and training opportunities, which led to the creation of Learn WordPress.

The pandemic has been undeniably painful for the world, and the WordPress community felt that. At the same time, I’m reminded that strife and such major challenges also can lead to humans doing magnificent things for each other, and the creation of remarkable things. The global situation continues to be unpredictable, and I believe in the resiliency of the WordPress community.

What do you like most about the WordPress community, and what would you change if you had the opportunity?

What do I like most about our community? Easy: the people! I love our people. We’re a creative, intelligent, enthusiastic, curious, supportive, and quirky bunch.

I don’t think it will come as a surprise to anyone to say that I would love to see more events, both online and in-person. These events hold real importance in local communities, and are a wonderful way to connect with each other, especially with new WordPressers. I’d also like to better recognize contributions to the WordPress space. There’s some exciting work happening around that right now.

What advice would you give to folks trying to figure out their way around the community?

There is so much information out there, it’s understandable to be overwhelmed! Finding a buddy and asking questions is a great way to find your path forward in WordPress. If you visit the Community Team, you’ll find a helpful bunch of Community Deputies eager to point you in the right direction.

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What do you think the WordPress community’s future holds and is there a place for improvement?

We just had the largest Contributor Day at WordCamp Europe recently: over 800 people! I am very optimistic about the WordPress community’s future, and to see FSE become increasingly accessible and powerful. Multilingual and collaborative editing will further increase WordPress’ exponential potential. I’m not saying that it will be easy: building powerful open source software together, for anyone who wants a voice online, is an enormous endeavor! I wholeheartedly believe in the brilliance and resiliency of the people already involved, and the people who will become involved.

Where we need to improve is the diversity of our community. This has long been a focus for WordPress, and the pandemic created new barriers to participation. If we are building software for everyone, we should pause to consider who is not participating in this community, and why. That answer will be different around the world, from community to community, but the next step is the same: identifying how we can create comfortable, welcoming pathways for those people to our spaces. After all, if we are building software for everyone, we need everyone to be able to take part in building the software.

Building Empowered Communities With Passion

Our WordPress development agency is glad to have Angela Jin as our guest in the fourth chapter of our “People of WordPress”.

Angela believes in the power of resilient communities just like the WordPress community. She passionately serves WordPress teams all around the world as a mentor, lead, and member, making the community an even better environment for everyone that seeks to start his WordPress journey.

We can all agree that Angela’s WordPress story is truly inspirational. Know anyone else who has a thrilling story to tell? Let us know what you think in the comments area!

Until next time, WordPress enthusiasts!