Ainslie Koopmans
Ainslie works for Automattic on the Trust and Safety team. She specializes in content moderation and Copyright/Trademark infringement and works daily with DMCA notices. Originally from Vancouver, Ainslie now lives in Kelowna with her family. When not sitting in front of the computer, you will find Ainslie at the gym, where she trains daily in preparation for bodybuilding competitions.
Carrie Forde
I am a business analyst turned front end software engineer who builds elegant, maintainable, and performant applications and websites on WordPress. I live in the San Francisco Bay Area with my husband and four cats.
Chloe Chamberland & Colette Chamberland
Chloe: My name is Chloe, and I currently work as a Security Analyst at Wordfence. With a few years of customer service and security under my belt, I love helping out the WordPress community and educating everyone on how to secure their WordPress environments to the most optimal degree they can. I am a holder of the Security+ certification along with the CySA+ certification and, SSCP certification. I am currently working towards my CEH and working towards a Psychology degree at the University of Florida. When I am not learning about security or helping teach individuals about security I enjoy finding new and unique coffee shops, exploring the globe, and hanging out with all of my furry friends (fun fact: I have 3 hedgehogs, 2 sugar gliders, a cat, and a dog).
Colette: Colette is the Director of Information Security for Defiant, Inc. She brings over 17 years of information technology and security experience to the Defiant team, having worked for organizations like NASA’s Langley Research Center. She has extensive experience in analyzing website intrusions, detecting malicious activity and in incident response.
Colette is well versed in a wide range of technologies, from Linux, MySQL and PHP, to .NET and Oracle. She brings a depth and breadth of experience and knowledge to the Wordfence & Defiant team that we rely on daily to guide our product and help our customers. Colette has the following certifications: CISSP, CEH and CHFI.
Christina Varro
For over 15 years, I have worked in web, digital media, and communications. I have also spent nearly a decade running my own business, managing projects for clients, giving creative direction, building websites and crafting digital media solutions using WordPress. I am passionate about sharing my experience and educating others with inspiring and practical advice, to build better websites and run their businesses more efficiently.
Dale McGladdery
Dale McGladdery has experience in the public, private, and educational sectors. He started in computer operations but the Internet and building websites was far more fun (except for the dot-bomb, he says that wasn’t fun). He mostly works in the Drupal and WordPress ecology, and sometimes with Python, Ember, and Composer/PHP.
Debra Williams
I have been teaching computing since 1998 – first at Vancouver Community College (1998-2000) then at BCIT. I was Program Head of High-Tech Professional programs at BCIT from 2000 until 2015, when I decided to retire from full-time work. Now I travel and twice a year I teach an introductory course in Web Design at BCIT which includes a section in WordPress. Recently, I’ve taken on a few web design contracts, using WordPress, and I coach users in WordPress.
Eoin O’Dwyer
I’m a front-end developer at Venture Media who has been building WordPress sites for over five years. See my website for more details: http://eoinodwyer.com/
Jamie Schmid
Jamie Schmid has a particular passion for creating excellent content experiences. Originally from Milwaukee, WI, she has been working as a WordPress freelancer and consultant since 2012, regularly taking sites from conception through a well-managed build process that encourages communication, planning, and smart use of content. She has a background in Information Architecture and Content Strategy and a big ol’ enthusiasm for all things WordPress. Now living in Portland, OR, Jamie is a Community Evangelist for SiteLock, traveling the country and helping build awareness of website security best practices and solutions.
Kirsten Starcher
Kirsten Starcher is an independent contractor at outside in the sun productions (http://www.outsideinthesun.com). She began her online career in New York during the dot-com boom, and since then has been involved in just about every aspect of web design, development, and content creation, plus a short diversion playing bass in a touring rock band. Over the past decade her appreciation for WordPress and its community has grown steadily, and she has surprised herself discovering how much she enjoys front-end web development.
Larry Swanson
Larry Swanson is a lifelong publisher and 20-year digital strategist. He hosts the Content Strategy Interviews podcast, gleaning insights from luminaries like Lynda.com instructor Morten Rand-Hendriksen, content -design inventor Sarah Richards, UX guru Jared Spool, “toxic tech” warrior Sara Wachter-Boettcher, and dozens of other content-strategy experts. He’s always looking out for the interests of small-business owners like WordPress agencies and independent professionals like freelance designers and coders, hence his development of the “DIY Content Strategy” concept. He contributes to WordPress as a community deputy and event organizer.
Matt Kopala
Matt is the founder of SiteDistrict, a powerful & flexible WordPress hosting platform. He has a degree in Computer Engineering, and started off his professional career as a member of the design team for AMD’s first 64-bit processor. Matt is passionate about understanding and helping people solve technical problems. He feels that WordPress hosts should do as much as possible to provide good performance, security, and automation, so that you can focus on your business while your host takes care of the rest. He enjoys travel and previously spent 3.5 years backpacking non-stop across South America, Oceania, and Asia.
Michael R. Hunter
Today, Michael is one of the foremost authorities when it comes to building a online business.
He got started learning HTML & CSS at 15 years old, and started a business out of his dorm room in college –creating WordPress websites for small businesses – nearly a decade ago.
For the past 5 years, he’s exclusively worked with thought-leaders, influencers, authors and speakers – and climbed to the pinnacle of that industry. He’s worked with some of the biggest personal brands in the world including Brendon Burchard, Larry King, and Jim Kwik to name a few.
Today, Michael is focused on building software and educational tools to help people make money online. Over the past 3 years, Michael and his business partner Jeremy have built a software company that has helped influencers, and small business owners collect over $200M in sales.
Michael is passionate about helping people share their knowledge with the world, and create a business around what they know. He is the founder of PersonalBrand.com, an education and marketing firm that helps people increase their income and impact by developing a business with a strong personal brand.
Mike Demo
Mike “Demo” Demopoulos is a lover of open source first, specific tools later. Because of this, he speaks at Ignite! Conferences, Meetups, WordCamps, Joomla! Events, and more. Mike volunteers with The Joomla! Project as the treasurer of Open Source Matters (the not for profit organization for Joomla!) as well as serving on the Joomla! World Conference and Capital teams. He also co-organizes JoomlaDay Minnesota.
Mike Demopoulos has spoken on various open source topics including WordPress and Joomla! in addition to marketing related talks which include A/B testing content.
Before coming to BoldGrid as a community evangelist, Mike spent years building a strong client base in the financial and insurance industries. He believes in sharing his business acumen and marketing insight as it fits within his main goal of building community.
When he’s not spending time with his wife Kayla, you may find Demo at a Disney Theme park, collecting artwork, or hanging out with his dog B’Elanna.
Be sure to say hi to Mike Demopoulos on Twitter at @MPMike.
Morten Rand-Hendriksen
Morten is a Senior Staff Instructor at LinkedIn Learning with 60+ courses published on WordPress, web standards, design, UX, and future technologies. He also teaches Interaction Design at Emily Carr University of Art and Design, and contributes to WordPress core and community projects. Morten enjoys playing with his son, reading philosophy and sci-fi, having conversations about the internet and how it shapes our society, and wearing out his shoes on the ballroom dance floor.
Rebeca Godin
Rebeca has been a WordPress developer for a little over 3 years. In that time, she realized that just creating websites for her clients was not good enough to help them with their business goals. She recently founded Geeky Chick Labs, which is a digital marketing agency that use WordPress websites as digital hubs. Then connecting social media and other digital marketing resources to create powerful online presences for her clients. The main goal of these hubs is to get business owners back too doing their thing- running their business.
When not helping clients grow their businesses, Rebeca loves to cook, read, play games- video and table top, hangout with her family and animals and most importantly cheering for her son and his hockey team.
Ryan Chmura
Originally from Alberta, I came to BC 3 years ago to pursue a Digital Design & Development diploma from BCIT. I graduated a year and a half ago and have been working for a nationwide specialty tool distributor as the Digital Marketing Specialist. I have been in charge of building an extensive 3000+ page website and doing online marketing and design for all locations across Canada.
Shannon Smith
Shannon Smith is a platform services specialist with WordPress.com VIP/Automattic. She delivers content solutions to some of the biggest names in media, marketing, and enterprise. Shannon has over 15 years experience in open source web development. She is a long-time supporter of diversity, accessibility and internationalization, and was a WordPress Montreal community organizer for seven years. Shannon is also a hiker, poet, and mum of four.
Sydney Hake
Born and raised in Vancouver, Sydney has always had a love for art and technology. Naturally the two interests matured into a Career as a front end web developer, after graduating from BCIT from the New Media Design and Web Development Program over 7 years ago. As the group director for the web development department at Major Tom she works with her team to create meaningful digital experiences for our clients and strives for a uniquely collaborative working environment.