Your Vote, Their Vision: 2025 Drupal Board Election Candidates
When we vote for someone to represent us, it’s because we expect them to carry that responsibility with clarity, focus, and action. The same applies to the Drupal Association At-Large Board Elections, where one seat becomes vacant every year, allowing the community to decide who will help guide the project's future.
The At-Large Director is a community-elected role with a two-year term on the Drupal Association Board of Directors. Board members contribute to the strategic direction of the organisation, oversee budgets and governance, and participate in quarterly meetings and committee work. They don’t manage daily operations, but they do influence key decisions that affect the long-term health of Drupal. The position requires time, accountability, and an active commitment to community values. Financial support is available for individuals who require assistance with attending board activities.
The Drop Times spoke directly with each candidate to understand their priorities, vision for the Drupal Association, and how they plan to contribute if elected. We asked them four questions tailored to each candidate to bring out the unique proposition they could offer. Voting is now live, and active members of the Drupal Association can vote until July 11 at 23:59 UTC. Below, you'll find a summary of their answers along with links to our short interviews with Alexander Varwijk, Carlos Ospina, J Matthew Saunders, Matt Glaman, Maya Schaeffer, Vladimir Roudakov, and Will Huggins. The candidates are listed in alphabetical order and do not imply any preference for one candidate over another.
Alexander Varwijk — Technical Architect at Open Social
Alexander started with a Drupal site for a local sports club. Today, he’s building platforms for the UN and European Commission. In this election, he’s focused on closing the gap between experienced developers and those just starting out, with real, practical support.
“For a new developer, the bar for contribution is higher. Not only do they need to solve the issue. They must do it at the current quality standards and in a way that matches Drupal’s architecture, to ensure that the solution can be maintained and expanded upon in the future.”
“From my own journey, starting with that sports club site to now working on enterprise solutions, I've seen how each person's path is unique. That's why I believe we need multiple bridges.”
He also points out that the Drupal Association often stays in the background too long in a user’s journey. He wants to bring it forward, making its purpose clearer, broadening its support base, and helping developers advocate for Drupal outside the usual spaces.
Read Alexander’s full interview →
Carlos Ospina — CTO at Palcera
Carlos Ospina is focused on making Drupal more accessible in regions like Latin America, where economic conditions often block participation. He wants the Drupal Association to adapt its pricing and partnership models to reflect these realities.
“We need to connect with potential partners that work the local market, not just companies doing work for the same big markets from different locations. These companies have completely different perspectives because they live different economic realities.”
Carlos supports building more regional DrupalCons and growing programs like IXP to help train and employ local developers. He believes the community needs real feedback from underrepresented areas and models that support business development, not just community outreach.
“The integrity of Drupal's vision - building great software through inclusive community - is preserved when we create pathways for authentic regional participation. It's not about compromising standards; it's about recognizing that one-size-fits-all approaches often exclude the diversity that makes Drupal stronger.”
Read Carlos’s full interview →
J Matthew Saunders — AI Ambassador at amazee.io
Matthew Saunders is focused on building responsible, transparent, and community-aligned AI practices within Drupal. In the 2025 board election, he proposes a dedicated governance framework to ensure ethical integration of AI across the Drupal ecosystem.
“Any AI feature integrated into Drupal.org or DA programs must disclose what models are used, how decisions are made, and allow for community inspection.”
His proposed AI Ethics and Implementation Framework would center on three pillars—transparency, autonomy, and sustainability. Beyond AI, Matthew is advocating for structural inclusion through practical changes like Inclusive Meeting Protocols and a contributor stipend program that acknowledges invisible labor performed by neurodivergent and underrepresented community members.
From his experience in high-level governance and grassroots organizing, Matthew has learned the importance of not just transparency, but what he calls "community fluency." He believes that open-source leadership must be paired with clear, contextual communication to build long-term trust.
“This policy wouldn’t be about banning or embracing AI wholesale. It would be about setting expectations early, so the Drupal Association doesn’t fall into reactive governance later.”
He also envisions a Community Builders Incubator to amplify the role of local DrupalCamps and create pathways that connect regional innovation with global strategy. If elected, Matthew aims to bridge systems thinking with community care, ensuring Drupal’s future is both innovative and inclusive..
Read Matthew's full interview →
Matt Glaman — Principal Software Engineer at Acquia
Matt is advocating for a Drupal site template marketplace that supports individual contributors, not just large agencies. He’s pushing for open access—removing barriers like partner-only restrictions that could shut out solo developers and small shops.
“We can’t expect uptake in a platform that requires a $1,500 minimum investment before you see a return.”
He’s also open to exploring new funding models, including gated releases—controversial, but he sees it as a conversation worth having if done transparently and with input from the community.
“You are selling authenticity and support of the code artifact, not just its raw source.”
Matt’s experience spans SaaS, consulting, and core contribution. He believes the marketplace could help reduce burnout by creating real paths to recurring revenue. While he doesn’t expect everyone to build a career off open source, he sees the board’s role in opening up opportunities, especially for those doing the work that keeps Drupal moving forward.
Maya Schaeffer — Lead, Employee Experience & Community at Evolving Web
Maya Schaeffer is focused on expanding Drupal’s reach beyond developers—amplifying voices from design, marketing, UX, and content strategy. In the 2025 Drupal Association board election, she’s calling for programs and platforms that recognise non-code contributions and support new contributors long after an event ends.
“What we’ve seen at EvolveDrupal is that getting someone through the door is only step one. A good event might spark someone’s interest—but what they really need afterward are clear, approachable next steps.”
She proposes non-technical contributor guides, sector-focused case studies, and tools to help agencies support engagement beyond DrupalCon. Maya also wants to evolve the Promote Drupal initiative to speak to digital teams more broadly, without losing Drupal’s technical edge.
“At the end of the day, I don’t think widening the conversation weakens Drupal’s brand. If anything, it shows how versatile and future-proof it is. We just need to get better at telling that story to all the right people.”
Her experience organising EvolveDrupal and EvolveDigital events has shaped her approach: lighten the overhead, make it easier for people to show up, and keep the conversation open. If elected, she plans to bring that same energy and structure to the Drupal Association board.
Vladimir Roudakov — Solutions Architect at Tomato Elephant Studio
Vladimir Roudakov wants to make Drupal easier to teach, learn, and contribute to—especially for students and non-developers. Based on his work with universities, he believes that confusing, developer-heavy documentation is holding Drupal back in academic settings.
He supports creating clearer, versioned documentation, audience-specific guides, and simple overviews for decision-makers in education. He also wants to formalise documentation sprints and invest in better tools for contributors.
“We need to amplify the message that documentation is not an afterthought.”
His goal is to help students and new users find a path into the community and stay involved long term. He’s already creating materials that can be used in classrooms—and with a board seat, he’d bring those efforts to a wider platform.
“The plan for the next two years, whether I'm on the board or not, is to keep developing practical documentation that can be directly used in courses (both academic and private) of various lengths providing practical and useful references.”
Read Vladimir’s full interview →
Will Huggins — CEO at Zoocha
Will Huggins brings experience from both the agency and client sides of the Drupal ecosystem. Running in the 2025 Drupal Association board election, he’s focused on balancing commercial growth with community values, particularly in how the Drupal Certified Partner (DCP) program evolves.
“I believe there is an interdependent relationship between successful DCP’s and a healthy and engaged community.”
He proposes a shared commercial strategy shaped through open dialogue between the DA, DCPs, and contributors, alongside completion of long-delayed conflict of interest guidelines. Will also wants to improve collaboration between DA staff and volunteers by building shared ways of working and making structural changes more visible and inclusive.
“I aspire to give the wider community a voice in the mapping of this evolution, so that updated roles and responsibilities, ways of working and processes are transparent, collaborative and efficient.”
Internationally, Will is already active in communities across the UK, Spain, Brazil, and Burkina Faso. If elected, he plans to keep supporting regional growth by helping local contributors connect with DA resources and global visibility.
Kazima AbbasKazima Abbas is a sub-editor at The Drop Times
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