Who are you?
Hi, I'm Janna. I’m a software engineer based in Australia, and day-to-day I wear a lot of hats—from team lead and developer to accessibility tester on all kinds of projects. I care a lot about open source, which is why you’ll usually find me co-organising local WordPress meetups, running Drupal code sprints, or helping out with DrupalSouth. I'm also out there speaking at various tech events such as AI engineer and DDD conferences; a couple of my recent presentations were “Secure By Design” and “Engineering for the Agentic Web When 50% of Your Traffic is Robots.” I’m contributing to Drupal code, updating documentation, and working on community initiatives every single week. After running for the board back in 2024, I’m excited to step up again to support our global community.
What does building community mean to you?
Building community means putting down the microphone and actually doing the work to bring people together. With the disconnect we’re all feeling post-COVID and in the rush toward AI, I believe we desperately need the human factor back. For me, it’s about creating physical spaces where one human being sits down and listens to the concerns of another. Whether that's organising local meetups, running conferences, or setting up monthly sprints, I focus on the logistics that get people into the same room so anyone, regardless of their skill level, feels included, heard, and welcomed.
What does advocating for Drupal mean to you?
Advocating for Drupal means earning back popularity among newcomers (student, teachers) and rebuilding the credibility with technical users who have moved on to other systems. Drupal needs to be a practical, go-to tool for small site builders, independent businesses, and universities. Real advocacy also means protecting how Drupal is discovered. In a world driven by LLMs and AI search engines, we have to ensure our documentation is clean, versioned, and accurate so these tools index modern Drupal correctly, rather than providing not so relevant or confusing documentation or outdated examples.
Why are you running for a board seat at the Drupal Association?
I am running to help the Association to focus back to three critical areas that are vital for Drupal's long-term future:
- The Small Site Builder: Drupal has lost a lot of credibility and its audience among small site builders because of a heavy enterprise focus. While enterprise is important, a strong foundation will always require lowering the barrier to entry to bring both new and returning web builders back to the platform.
- Small Business Owners: The Association focuses heavily on the larger slice of the pie, often neglecting small businesses. Even my own organisation faced challenges while trying to contribute and help the Drupal Association. Let’s bring the focus back to small businesses and their needs!
- Documentation Foundations: All the fancy talk about AI might bring some quick attention to Drupal, but that will disappear just as fast if LLMs are being fed outdated, unversioned, and uncurated documentation. I want to focus on reintroducing a dedicated documentation team and structured effort to be relevant for the modern web.
Why should members vote for you?
You should vote for me if you feel that Drupal leadership is turning conservative. I'm hands-on and I don't live on the island. Every single week, I am on the ground contributing to Drupal code, running local meetups, and organising conferences like DrupalSouth. But I also step outside our bubble to actively promote Drupal at other major tech events. Vote for me if you want a progressive, non-conservative voice on the board - someone focused, competitive, and relevant to the wider dev community.
What is your favorite Drupal moment or memory?
Nothing beats the spark when people discover Drupal for the first time. Whether I’m working with clients, mentoring students, collaborating with fellow presenters, or bouncing ideas off colleagues, I love that exact moment when the lightbulb goes off. Seeing someone realise the sheer potential of what they can build with Drupal is incredibly rewarding, and it’s what keeps me energised to do this work.
