Meet J Matthew Saunders — Candidate for the 2025 Drupal Association Board Election

TDT[1]: You're deeply involved in data‑sovereign, enterprise-grade AI for Drupal, and you’ve already led AI hackathons and demos. If elected, what would be the first concrete policy initiative or strategic framework you'd propose to the board to govern responsible AI use in Drupal, and how do you plan to gain alignment from both technical and non-technical board members?

Matthew Saunders: I’ve been talking and writing about the ethics of AI for some time now. Earlier in the year, I wrote an article on the ethical design of AI tools and the three tenets that should govern them. It explores transparency, privacy, and fairness. Take a peek. 

More recently, I reflected on the broader ethical and environmental implications of AI. Putting my thoughts into writing has sharpened my perspective on what responsible AI leadership needs to look like in open source.

I would propose the creation of an AI Ethics and Implementation Framework tailored for open source communities. It would have three pillars: transparency, autonomy, and sustainability.

• Transparency: 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.
• Autonomy: Contributors must have the ability to opt in or out of AI augmentation, whether that’s in search, content recommendations, or contribution analysis.
• Sustainability: Solutions must be energy-conscious and designed to align with open, privacy-respecting hosting platforms.

To bring alignment, I would create board briefings that include plain-language walkthroughs of what AI is and is not, case studies from within our own ecosystem (e.g. the Drupal AI demos I’ve helped develop), and interviews with contributors impacted by these tools. My approach would not be "wow with tech" but rather "build alignment around values."

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.

TDT[2]: In your LinkedIn article “My Vision for Drupal: Open, Innovative, and Radically Inclusive,” you define radical inclusion as more than representation—it’s structural. Can you share a specific example of how you'd transform board processes or Drupal Association programs to embody neuro‑inclusive decision-making, beyond awareness efforts?

Matthew Saunders: Absolutely. First, I would propose the adoption of Inclusive Meeting Protocols across all external DA programs and board activities.

This could include:

• Agendas and materials were distributed 72 hours in advance
• Optional asynchronous participation (recorded video/audio summaries with key questions)
• A clear protocol for visual vs verbal processing (e.g., not relying on fast verbal consensus)
• Accessibility in timing and time zones
• An anonymous option to add items or provide feedback before meetings

I’d also like to pilot a contributor-stipend program specifically designed to support neurodivergent community members who often do the emotional and systems work of inclusion with little recognition. Within open source, and Drupal especially, much of the invisible labor — like community care, mentoring, accessibility auditing, onboarding, conflict de-escalation, and emotional labor — is often performed by neurodivergent contributors, many of whom are unacknowledged and unsupported.

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These folks may not be patching code every week, but they’re doing critical systems-level work:

• Managing issue queues with an easier way of flagging opportunities for credit.
• Designing safer processes.
• Spotting edge-case barriers others miss.
• Translating between communication styles.
• Helping teams function better by bridging neurocognitive gaps

Yet this type of labor often doesn’t get “issue credit” and can burn people out, especially those with lived experience who do it, because they know how much it’s needed.

A pilot contributor stipend program could:

• Fund part-time participation of neurodivergent contributors doing inclusion, governance, accessibility, or process work.
• Recognise invisible work as a legitimate contribution.
• Give contributors permission to prioritise Drupal, rather than squeeze it between jobs or burnout.
• Model values-led compensation that aligns with our community ethos of equity and sustainability.

This could be:

• A limited-time fellowship or honorarium-based system, modeled after Mozilla, Open Collective, or Outreachy.
• Backed by a mix of DA budget, community fundraising, or even targeted partner sponsorships (e.g., companies that benefit from more inclusive community outcomes).

This is a chance for the DA to lead by example. Not just in what gets built, but in how and who gets supported while building it.

These aren’t just nice-to-haves. They fundamentally change who can participate, and how.

TDT[3]: As a returning board member and former Chair of Drupal Colorado, you’ve straddled grassroots organising and high-level governance. What’s one hard lesson you learned from your 2013–2016 tenure that will shape your approach to strategic priorities like community retention, succession, or funding today, and how would you apply it differently in 2025?

Matthew Saunders: One hard lesson: transparency without context can cause confusion.

In my last board term, we introduced governance changes. We added another At Large Board seat. We extended board terms and staggered elections. We added term limits to appointed board members. We were transparent, but we didn’t always invest enough time in explaining why and what the benefit would be in plain language. I believe that created gaps in community trust.

In 2025, I’ll prioritise not just transparency, but what I call "community fluency." I want big decisions and strategic shifts to be shared through multi-format storytelling: video updates, diagrams, real examples, even informal Q&As.

Especially around fundraising or succession, trust is currency. We can’t afford to spend it casually.

TDT[4]: You’ve consistently positioned DrupalCamps as engines for community building. If given the board’s resources, how would you re-engineer the role of Camps and Cons to actively feed leadership pipelines, increase underrepresented voices, and fuel long-term community sustainability?

Matthew Saunders: This feeds directly into the conversations going on right now around an International Drupal Federation. Episode 507 https://talkingdrupal.com/507 (that dropped June 16th), delves deeply into what that might look like and is worth watching and then considering what I propose below.

Drupalcamp Colorado has woven into its DNA the concept of amplifying underrepresented voices in its programming. Doing this work for the last 18 years has informed my thinking around Camps, Meetups, and Cons as these engines.

If I had board resources available, I would launch a DA-supported "Community Builders Incubator" that connects Camps and Cons with:

• Matching funds for DEI speaker scholarships
• A shared library of accessible, plug-and-play resources (budget templates, contribution kits, inclusive facilitation guides)
• Mentorship pairings between past and future organisers
• An optional "first-time speaker" prep track run by experienced speakers across global communities

The goal wouldn’t be centralisation—it would be amplification of what Camps already do well. With the right scaffolding, Camps become not just event spaces, but community accelerators.

We could also pilot a "Camp-to-Core" pathway, where every camp is encouraged to submit a local contribution, outcome or innovation into a centralised knowledge share for the community at large. That creates visibility, connection, and broader impact. DrupalCamps are incubators of energy, experimentation, and local innovation. But too often:

• Great ideas stay siloed in the local context.
• Contributions (code, process, inclusion, outreach) aren’t documented or shared.
• There’s no formal mechanism to elevate Camp outcomes into broader visibility within the Drupal ecosystem.

We’ve tried to address some of these issues using the Events Organiser’s Working Group (which I helped found and lead for several years). We’ve had varying levels of success, ranging from creating recipes to start a camp on d.o. to sessions and BOFs and Camps and Cons to share what we’ve learned.

While this has been good, we can do better. We’ve still missed opportunities to:

• Celebrate and replicate success.
• Recognise local contributors.
• Drive sustainable innovation into Core, governance, or project-wide initiatives.

The idea is to create a lightweight, community-driven system where every DrupalCamp is encouraged (not required) to share at least one meaningful contribution or insight post-event into a centralised knowledge hub.

This could include:

• A clever module or patch born from a contribution sprint.
• A new inclusive practice (e.g., neurodivergent speaker onboarding).
• A novel community initiative (e.g., student engagement, DEI workshops).
• An AI use-case prototype from a local demo.
• Reflections on what didn’t work — which can be just as valuable.

So, how might this work?

• After each Camp, organisers are invited to submit a short “Camp-to-Core Impact Snapshot.”
• The Drupal Association maintains a Camp Knowledge Hub, curated quarterly.
• Outstanding innovations get signal-boosted:

       - In community newsletters
       - On Drupal.org
       - Through featured spotlights at DrupalCon or community calls

• Could be tied to a lightweight badge or recognition program for Camps that participate.

I think you can guess why this could be motivating and transforming (particularly for new and smaller events). This initiative:

• Connects the dots between Camps and the broader project.
• Helps local contributors feel seen and valued.
• Surf grassroots momentum into strategic insight for Core, governance, and DA staff.
• Builds the “Drupal Commons” — where knowledge is not only open, but shared across silos.

This would combine community nurturing with system design, and it’s inherently neuroinclusive: diverse thinkers, local leaders, and unsung contributors all get a louder voice.

Thanks again to The Drop Times for the opportunity to share more about where I stand and what I hope to bring to the Drupal Association Board. Whether you’ve been in this community for twenty years or two months, your voice matters. I’m grateful for every conversation, every contribution, and every chance we get to shape Drupal’s future together.

If my vision resonates with you, I’d be honoured to have your support.