Speaker - Monica Ayhens-Madon

Monica is a community facilitator and nurturer who began her journey into open source software contributorhood in 2020 with documentation and website contributions to the Ubuntu MATE team and OpenMRS. In early 2021, she began working for Canonical on the Ubuntu Community Team, where she helped relaunch UbuntuOnAir, return Ubuntu (virtually!) to FOSDEM, and launch Canonical's inclusive language initiative. She left in August 2022. Since then, she has spoken as a panelist on burnout in the community profession at OSS Europe in Dublin, been elected to the Ubuntu Community Council for a two-year term, and helped organize things like a pre-SCALE JPL private tour and the FOSSY 'Community: Open Source in Service' track. Monica's background is in academia, with a B.A. in Ancient Greek and a M.A. in Maritime Studies. She loves travel, and the chance to meet new people all over the world - and bring tasty treats back home. She is also an occasional streamer on Twitch as 'communiteatime' where she can be found playing cozy games, painting, and sipping tea. She lives with her husband and fellow geek John in the Atlanta metro area.