The WP Community Collective has appointed Jono Alderson and Chris Reynolds to its Board of Directors, marking the first expansion of the board since the organization was founded in 2022, with Reynolds also taking on the role of Interim President.
Meet the New Board Members
Jono Alderson is an award-winning SEO consultant and has been recognized multiple times at SEOktoberfest, earning the title of SEO World Champion in 2018 and 2023, and finishing as runner-up in 2017, 2022, and 2025. In 2024, he was honored as a Digital Superstar at the inOrbit Awards, and in 2018, he was named Best SEO Specialist by Serpstat. He is also co-founder and CTO of Days Of The Year, a contributor and multi-year chapter author of the Web Almanac, and also an active member of the WordPress community.
Speaking on his appointment to the WPCC board, Jono highlighted the difficulties many open source contributors face,” WordPress runs on contribution, but too often the people and organisations doing the work are expected to absorb the cost. The WPCC is creating real structure around sustainability, accountability, and contributor wellbeing. I’m proud to be joining the board and helping to push WordPress towards a healthier, more equitable future.”
Chris Reynolds is currently a Senior Developer Advocate at Pantheon. Originally a designer, he worked as a freelance developer building WordPress sites for a variety of clients before leading enterprise projects at WebDevStudios for organizations including Microsoft, Campbell’s, and the National Park Service. He later served as a Senior Engineer at Human Made, contributing to sites like USA Today Sports and Disney Parks. He has also made WordPress courses for Pluralsight and has been active in WordCamp Salt Lake City since 2011.
Chris Reynolds addressed the issues with contributor models in FOSS, “ Existing contributor models for Free Open Source Software have always been a problem. And this is not hypothetical. FOSS is being increasingly adopted by large companies that want to benefit from the tens of thousands of developers and users who work with it everyday. There isn’t a perfect solution, but I joined The WPCC to help shape a better future that honors the dedication and work of our contributors, no matter what form that contribution comes in.”
Welcoming the new board members, Sé Reed, emphasized the importance of supporting contributors and the structures, “ The autonomy that free and open source software provides is fundamental to an equitable tech future. If we want that future, we have to invest in the people who build and support FOSS…..Jono and Chris understand both the complexity and the courage this work requires, and I’m excited to work toward that future with them.”
Katie Adams Farrell Leaves President Role, Stays on as Treasurer
Katie Adams Farrell previously announced she would step down as President of the Board of Directors, while continuing to serve as Treasurer until the end of Q4 to complete financial reporting and tax filings.
Reflecting on her tenure as President, she said that the growing responsibilities of the role, combined with limited organizational support, repeatedly pushed her beyond her limits, “However during my tenure, the scope of responsibility and risk exposure expanded beyond what the role of President would generally require. Combined with unexpected logistical and emotional labor, an expectation of procedural neutrality, and the absence of commensurate organizational support, this required me to compromise my limits repeatedly. By continuing under these circumstances, I would be normalizing the very extractive dynamics the organization was created to resist.” she wrote.
Katie also emphasized that her resignation does not reflect disengagement from the organization or its mission, saying, “ Stepping away is not an act of disengagement or repudiation: I continue to believe in the mission of The WPCC and its visionary CEO, and I will remain an active member of the organization. With this resignation, I am acting in line with what I believe to be the fundamental values of the organization: valuing the human being behind the contribution.”
The five-member board now includes founding directors Sé Reed (CEO & Secretary), Courtney Robertson (Vice-President), and Katie Adams Farrell (Treasurer), along with Alderson and Reynolds, who were each appointed to three-year terms.
The organization says its next phase of work will include implementing new funding models, developing contributor health frameworks, and establishing transparency and accountability standards across the ecosystem.