Josepha Haden Chomphosy, the executive director of WordPress, announces her resignation, highlighting her experiences and hopes for the future.
After nine years, Josepha Haden Chomphosy, Executive Director of the WordPress Project, has announced her resignation. This occurs barely two weeks after Matt Mullenweg and Automattic became the targets of a federal lawsuit filed by the managed WordPress host in response to his contentious campaign.
She reaffirmed her trust in the open source community as a force for good in the economy and in the value of strongly held but loosely held beliefs in an optimistic article on her personal blog.
She penned:
“This week is my last week leading the WordPress project as Executive Director. I’ve changed over my time with WordPress—as a leader and an advocate. My faith in the international community of contributors to the open source project we all love is unwavering, but there is still more work to be done in our joint effort to ensure its sustainable future.
..I continue to think that the concept of open source has the power to inspire generations. I think a kindhearted group of people can make a big difference. I think it’s important to have strong, loosely held opinions. Furthermore, I think that the world will always require the more equal opportunities that well-maintained open source can offer: the ability for those who weren’t born into it to access knowledge and learning, easily join peer and business networks, have their voices heard, and be able to participate in the economy.
Unrest on WordPress
The resignation takes place against the backdrop of a dispute between managed WordPress web host WP Engine and co-founder of WordPress Matt Mullenweg. This dispute has caused unprecedented unrest within the WordPress community and has resulted in a federal lawsuit filed by WP Engine accusing Mullenweg of attempting extortion.
News of a Resignation Was Leaked
On October 2, the founder of the WordPress news website WP Tavern—which is currently owned by Matt Mullenweg—tweeted that he had spoken with Josepha that evening and that she had announced her departure. This was the first indication of the resignation.
He shared:
“Joseph spoke with me tonight.” She is no longer employed with Automattic, as I can attest.
She is composing a message for the neighborhood. Despite the chaos, she is cheerful.
