Who are you?
A co-founder of FreelyGive Ltd. We are a company that has specialised in Native Drupal CRM but I've become obsessed with AI for the last few years. I've been heavily involved in spearheading the AI module and then the AI Initiative. We've built a team of people committed to radically pushing forwards both AI and Opensource AI. We believe strongly that Drupal is the best CMS for your agents to use and that a healthy truly opensource community around your AI applications is essential for freedom and sovereignty. I've been working outside the DA to do what I can to explore ways of the DA finding alternative and sustainable funding as I think it is essential to the long term success of Drupal not being owned by a single company like many open source software. Outside of Drupal I'm a somewhat recent father and avid video gamer.
What does building community mean to you?
Building community is about creating consensus amongst many different stakeholders so that everyone involves can feel that we are in win win win situations where our interests are aligned. I have spent a lot of time at events but also speaking to people and agencies on an individual basis to get to know the people, what they are passionate about and how they struggle in the Drupal community.
FreelyGive is in a unique situation given its size that we don't need to expand forever and grow wide. We want to grow tall and focus on the important issues we are best to solve and so we have found ourselves able to support, not compete with the Drupal ecosystem.
As a result building community and helping where we can is very ideologically important to us but also important for the bottom line.
We think building community means providing places for as many people as possible to achieve some kind of self actualisation, it needs to be fun to work together, rewarding but also financially sustainable.
I take this approach by creating maps of everyone, their goals and figuring out paths where working together is beneficial for everyone.
What does advocating for Drupal mean to you?
I've been involved in the Drupal community since 2011 and became radicalised around online communities and Opensource since a teenager.
I've loved the architecture of Drupal both the concept of the site builder (I'm not a programmer) but the unique truly opensource community of modules that you almost never see. Truly open, and interoperable with some level of security and maintenance guarantees compared to just throwing things on GitHub.
I love it! From the beginning with AI, we knew we could try and make FreelyGive single AI agency but felt that for Drupal to survive everyone will need to become an AI expert and every agency will need to have the expertise. So we set about focusing on leveling up all of Drupal.
I now spend as much time as possible getting out of the Drupal community and advocating for it. I've seen a real shift in the energy for Drupal and a renewed excitement across the community. I want to take that further!
Why are you running for a board seat at the Drupal Association?
I have been advocating for Drupal and specifically the Drupal Association for a while now. I've worked on creating a few new potential business models and helped with any lobbying and infrastructure or proof of concepts where I can. I have also been working on finding partners who can directly fund Drupal and the Drupal Association and some of those might be coming to fruition with real ongoing revenue for the DA. I think it is essential the DA is able to bring in funds sustainably to maintain what makes Drupal unique otherwise it may fall into the sea of projects across github. The Drupal AI Initiatives organisation has to some degree been a place to explore potential ideas that could scale into the Drupal Association.
I have been doing this already and whether or not I am on the board I can continue this mission with existing board members, staff in the DA and stakeholders across the community.
However I believe I may be able to help further by being part of the board itself.
AI isn't just about AI features itself. The world is fundamentally changing in many ways even if not directly touched by a specific LLM model. I want to help Drupal and the DA survive, reform where needed and thrive in this new world. I'll be here to help Drupal and the DA regardless and it's up to the community and board for whether or not people feel like I can help further by being directly part of it!
Why should members vote for you?
I bring a fresh perspective to the board as someone who is relatively new to the internal workings of Drupal and the Drupal association whilst still bringing a deep understanding of Drupal and it's community as I started my business half way through university spending a good 3 hours a day reading every critical issue for Drupal 7 and every new comment!
I run and own an agency and so have a good deal of autonomy and personal understanding for the issues many agencies will face whilst also having the autonomy to help where I need to without needing to answer to anyone specifically apart from my co-owners who are all very committed to Drupal.
I have spoken about Drupal and AI a great deal and I'm continuing to work on thought leadership, podcasts , hackathons etc.
I'm also out there in the community getting to know many of you!
I have a good deal of recent board experience via the AI Initiative but to some degree I am a rookie compared to others on the board and so I may be able to offer a fresh perspective and learn.
So why should members vote for me? Well I hope many members who have interacted with me in the community can answer that question and see how much I have been trying to help people where they are at and how much passion I have for this community to survive.
What is your favorite Drupal moment or memory?
To some degree... Discovering Views! It changed everything! (and then more recently meeting earl miles! So many people in this community are heroes of mine from when I started as a teenager) Seeing the reaction at Drupalcon Barcelona to our Drupal CMS AI agents was pretty amazing too!
