Drupal Starshot Introduces New Leadership Team

The Drupal Starshot project has announced its new leadership team, following its initial update in the first Starshot virtual meeting last month. The project, spearheaded by Dries Buytaert, aims to drive significant advancements in the Drupal platform, focusing on product vision, technical excellence, and user experience. The first Drupal Starshot session gathered more than 200 attendees and discussed participation, funding, governance, and community engagement to advance the new initiative.

The Leadership Team

Product Lead: Dries Buytaert

Dries Buytaert, the founder of Drupal, will continue to lead the Drupal Starshot project, focusing on defining the product vision and strategy while building the leadership team. He has cleared other responsibilities to dedicate substantial time to both Drupal Starshot and Drupal Core.

Technical Lead: Tim Plunkett

Tim Plunkett, of Acquia with seven years of engineering leadership experience, will oversee technical decisions and facilitate contributions from the community. His responsibilities include coordinating with Drupal Core Committers and ensuring that Drupal Starshot remains stable, secure, and easy to upgrade. Acquia is providing Tim the opportunity to work full-time on the project.

User Experience Lead: Cristina Chumillas

Cristina Chumillas from Lullabot will define the design and user experience vision for Drupal Starshot. She will engage with contributors to initiate research activities and share the latest UI/UX best practices. Cristina has been leading UX-related Drupal Core initiatives for over seven years, and Lullabot has generously offered her the opportunity to work on Drupal Starshot full-time.

Product Owner: Pamela Barone 

Pamela Barone of Technocrat will ensure alignment and progress among contributors, defining and prioritizing work. With over 12 years of experience leading Drupal projects, she brings strong communication and organizational skills to the team.

Contribution Coordinator: Gábor Hojtsy 

Gábor Hojtsy will focus on facilitating contributions to Drupal Starshot, leveraging his extensive experience in Open Source contribution and community engagement. Acquia is supporting Gábor's full-time involvement in the project.

Starshot Council 

The Starshot Council, an advisory board, is being established to support the leadership team. The council will include three end-users (site builders), three Certified Drupal Partners, two Drupal Core Committers (one framework manager and one release manager), and three Drupal Association board members from the Innovation, Marketing, and Fundraising Board Working Groups, along with two staff members from the Drupal Association. The council will meet monthly to ensure alignment with the broader community and strategic goals. The Drupal Association is leading the effort to gather candidates, and the council members will be announced in the coming weeks.

More Opportunities to Get Involved

There are numerous opportunities for community members to contribute as committers, designers, developers, and content creators. Specific tasks include completing Project Browser, Recipes, and Automatic Updates. Interactive Zoom calls have been set up to provide updates and practical advice on how to get involved. 

The next steps involve further defining the product and identifying additional tasks. With the leadership team now established, the focus will shift to product definition and clarifying the remaining details. Most importantly, Cristina Chumillas and Dries Buytaert will head the next Starshot session tomorrow, June 7, 2024. The session will brief the community on product definition.

"The Drupal Starshot project is off to an exciting start with this exceptional leadership team. I am grateful to these talented individuals for stepping up to drive this important project. Their combined expertise and dedication will drive excitement and improvements for the Drupal platform, ultimately benefiting our entire community."

— Dries Buytaert.