Category: Scholarships

In 2015, the WordPress Foundation established an annual memorial scholarship to honor the memory of Kim Parsell, a beloved and influential contributor to the WordPress community. Kim’s legacy continues to inspire connection, mentorship, and inclusivity across WordPress.

In 2024, the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship was expanded to include WordCamp Asia and WordCamp Europe, reflecting Kim’s dedication to inclusivity and empowering more contributors to engage in global collaboration.

This year, the scholarship for WordCamp Asia was awarded to Zeel Thakkar and Pooja Derashri. Two recipients were selected this year because Pooja could not attend WordCamp US in the year she was selected for the scholarship.

Remembering Zeel Thakkar

Zeel Thakkar (@zeelthakkar) of Ahmedabad, India, brought energy, leadership, and kindness to everything she did. A talented freelance WordPress developer at Jpadweb, Zeel’s journey began with a simple internship that evolved into a lifelong passion for development and community building.

Within the WordPress Ahmedabad community, Zeel was a tireless organiser, helping lead events including WordCamp Ahmedabad 2023 and Do_Action 2024. Her work united contributors, fostered collaboration through regular meetups, and upheld her belief in empowering women in technology.

Zeel’s technical contributions were equally significant. She played a key role on the WordPress 6.7 Testing Team, helping ensure the platform’s ongoing stability, and contributed to the Training Team to create educational resources for learners across the world. Her dedication to professional growth and commitment to inclusivity continue to inspire those who had the honor of working alongside her. Zeel’s passing is a tremendous loss, and she will be remembered with deep respect and gratitude.

Celebrating Pooja Derashri

Pooja Derashri (@webtechpooja), from Ajmer, India, first started using WordPress in 2013 and went on to co-found WPVibes, a WordPress plugin development agency, with her husband Anand. While she began her career as a developer, she has since expanded her expertise into SEO and Content Marketing, helping shape WordPress projects holistically.

Pooja’s contribution journey began in 2017 with the WPTV and Polyglots teams, where she helped localize content and make WordPress more accessible to Hindi speakers. Since 2021, she has served as a Global Translation Editor for Hindi, and in 2019 joined the WordPress Training Team. As a Co-Team Rep, Pooja now helps lead efforts behind LearnWP, creating educational materials that support trainers and learners worldwide.

Both Zeel and Pooja embody the spirit of dedication, generosity, and empowerment that the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship was created to celebrate. Their contributions continue to enrich the WordPress community and inspire others to share knowledge and support one another.

We’re thrilled to announce the Open Horizons Scholarship, a new initiative to help contributors from underrepresented regions attend flagship WordCamp events, made possible through a generous $46,000 donation from Automattic to the WordPress Foundation.

Thank you, Automattic, for funding this important work. Your support expands opportunities for contributors around the world to participate in person, starting with WordCamp US 2025.

The scholarship will be managed by the WordPress Foundation, which will oversee the application and selection process and ensure that funds are distributed equitably. This new program joins the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship and the Diversity Scholarship by WordPress Community Support, reinforcing a shared commitment to a more inclusive and globally representative WordPress community.

If your company believes in a more diverse, open, and accessible web, we invite you to join us. Support a scholarship. Sponsor a contributor. Help build the future of WordPress, together

Interested in applying?
Apply for the Open Horizons Scholarship and take your next step toward joining the flagship WordCamp experience. To learn more, you can read Automattic’s full announcement about the program.

In 2015, the WordPress Foundation established an annual memorial scholarship to honor the memory of Kim Parsell, a beloved and influential contributor to the WordPress community. This scholarship ensures that Kim’s core values continue to inspire and enrich the WordPress community.

Until 2024, this scholarship was awarded each year to a female WordPress contributor who has never attended WordCamp US and would require financial assistance to do so. More information on the scholarship, including past recipients, is available here.

Following the latest WordPress Foundation Board meeting, the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship has been extended to WordCamp Asia and WordCamp Europe, in addition to WordCamp US. This expansion honors Kim’s legacy and her dedication to inclusivity and diversity within the WordPress community, making it possible for more community members to attend these inspiring events.

We’re happy to announce that this year’s scholarship recipient for WCEU is Eleni Stergatou! Lena’s dedication to WordPress translations, core, plugins, and more truly embodies the values that Kim held dear.

Meet Lena Stergatou: Advocate for Accessible and Inclusive WordPress Development

I’m Lena Stergatou, known in the WordPress community as lenasterg, and I’ve always enjoyed working with WordPress and BuddyPress. I discovered WordPress back in 2008 while searching for a platform that could support multiple sites within a single installation. That’s when I came across WordPress MU (now known as WordPress Multisite). I immediately loved how flexible and easy it was to extend and customize WordPress to meet specific needs, especially for Multisite environments.

I enjoy contributing to the WordPress community by developing new plugins, reviving broken ones, and submitting bug fixes. As a General Translation Editor for the Greek WordPress team, I help make WordPress and its plugins accessible to Greek-speaking users. I believe it’s incredibly important for WordPress, its plugins, and themes to be translated into multiple languages. Translations improve accessibility and foster inclusion by helping more people use the platform comfortably. This realization came from my own experience with my children when they were young, and with my parents, who don’t speak English. Simple prompts like “next” or “read more” were confusing for them, making it clear how crucial it is to provide tools in people’s native languages. This is why I dedicate time to translating — to ensure that everyone, regardless of their language skills, can fully enjoy and benefit from WordPress.

I try to live by Ralph Waldo Emerson’s principle: “To leave the world a bit better, whether by a healthy child, a garden patch, or a redeemed social condition; to know that even one life has breathed easier because you have lived — that is to have succeeded.” So whenever I detect a bug in open-source code, I do my best to fix it, add new features, and share my work with the community.

I live in Patras, Greece, with my husband, my teenage daughter, and my teenage son. Professionally, I hold a Master’s in Electrical and Computer Engineering and have worked as an ICT trainer and author. With over 20 years of experience as a web developer, I am currently working with the Computer Technology Institute (CTI Diophantus), where I develop web services for the Greek educational community.

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Get in touch with Lena on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/lenasterg/ 

We are thrilled to announce that following the latest WordPress Foundation Board meeting, the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship will now be available for WordCamp Asia and WordCamp Europe, in addition to WordCamp US. This expansion honors Kim’s legacy and her dedication to inclusivity and diversity within the WordPress community, making it possible for more community members to attend these inspiring events.

The scholarship is designed to support those who are passionate about contributing to WordPress, especially individuals who might otherwise face financial barriers to attending. By extending the scholarship to WordCamp Asia and WordCamp Europe, we aim to further empower community members around the globe to engage with and grow the WordPress community.

Scholarship Requirements and Application

The requirements for applying and the application forms for WordCamp Asia and WordCamp Europe are available below.

Eligibility Information

There is one scholarship position available to each flagship event (WordCamp Asia, Europe and WordCamp US). To be considered, applicants must meet the following criteria: 

• Is a woman
• Is an active contributor to the WordPress project
• Has never attended WordCamp Asia/Europe before
• Requires financial assistance to attend WordCamp Asia/Europe 2025

If you meet the above requirements and would like to be considered, please apply as soon as possible. Applications will be accepted until the closing date of 30 November 2024 for both WordCamp Asia and WordCamp Europe. 

All applicants will receive notification by December 21, 2024.

For more information, please visit the WordPress Foundation’s page about the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship.

Stay tuned, as applications for the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship for WordCamp US will open in the coming months!

We look forward to welcoming more of you to these incredible WordPress events and celebrating Kim’s legacy together.

In 2015, the WordPress Foundation established an annual memorial scholarship to honor the memory of Kim Parsell, a beloved and influential contributor to the WordPress community. This scholarship ensures that Kim’s core values continue to inspire and enrich the WordPress community.

This scholarship is awarded each year to a female WordPress contributor who has never attended WordCamp US and would require financial assistance to do so. More information on the scholarship, including past recipients, is available here.

We’re happy to announce that this year’s scholarship recipient is Cynthia Norman! Cynthia’s commitment to WordPress training and education embodies the values that Kim cherished.

Cynthia joined the WordPress Contributor Mentorship Program in its inaugural year as a mentee, and she credits that program with giving her the boost she needed to dig into WordPress and grow professionally. Cynthia began contributing to the WordPress Training team shortly after and hasn’t let up since!

When asked about her proudest contribution to WordPress, Cynthia points to a Learning Pathway course she developed for Learn WordPress:

I am an avid content creator with the Training Team and, so far, my proudest contribution to the WordPress open source project has been creating my first lesson for the Learning Pathway: Beginner Developer
course. Working collaboratively with WordPress educators has been so rewarding, and exactly what I needed to complement my freelance work as a WordPress developer.

If Cynthia’s name sounds familiar to you, it might be because she was recently featured in a WordPress Contributor Spotlight.

It’s also possible you’ve crossed paths with her in a WordPress Training team meeting.

You may have even stumbled across her YouTube channel full of WordPress tutorials!

To say that Cynthia keeps busy is an understatement.

When she’s not contributing to WordPress or playing with her six grandchildren, Cynthia enjoys spending her time outdoors in beautiful Ontario, Canada where she lives with her husband and her dog, Mya.

The WordPress Foundation is proud to announce the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship for 2024. Kim was a valued contributor to the WordPress open source project, and this scholarship honors her legacy. The Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship will be awarded to one WordPress contributor who is a woman, has not previously attended WordCamp US, and requires financial assistance to attend WordCamp US 2024.

The scholarship provides travel assistance for the recipient to attend WordCamp US, including travel from the recipient’s home city, hotel stay for the duration of the event, and a ticket to WordCamp US.

WordCamp US is an unparalleled opportunity to connect with web professionals, build your skills in the WordPress ecosystem, and meet WordPress contributors from around the world. This scholarship offers the chance to be part of a vibrant community and make lasting connections.

Eligibility Criteria

There will be one scholarship recipient in 2024. To be considered for the scholarship, applicants must meet the following criteria:

• An active contributor to the WordPress project
• A woman
• Not previously attended WordCamp US
• Requires financial assistance to attend WordCamp US 2024

How to Apply

If you meet the above criteria, we warmly invite you to apply for the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship. The application is open through May 30, 2024. All applicants will receive notification by June 21, 2024.

For more information, please visit the WordPress Foundation’s page About the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship.

This year’s Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship recipient is Yumi Nishioka (mimi). mimi is a passionate WordPress contributor who embodies the values that Kim would have appreciated.

mimi is a Web/UI Designer and Developer based in Tokyo, and has been a WordPress contributor since 2018. She was lead organizer of WordCamp Tokyo 2019. That year she also began hosting a personal study group on the Gutenberg Project, which meets twice a month. Then in 2021, she started co-organizing monthly small study sessions about Design and WordPress.

While there have been numerous contributions I’m proud of, one that stands out is my commitment to the core code. Although it was a small code change, the experience of being actively involved in the open-source software that I use daily was incredibly rewarding.

– mimi

The WordPress Foundation created this memorial scholarship in 2015, to honor the memory of longtime WordPress contributor Kim Parsell and ensure that Kim’s values would continue to be infused into the WordPress community.

This scholarship provides travel to WordCamp US for a woman who contributes to the WordPress open source project, and who would not otherwise be able to attend WordCamp US. More information on the scholarship, including past recipients, is available here.

The WordPress Foundation will once again offer the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship for travel to WordCamp US 2023.

At each in-person WordCamp US, the WordPress Foundation honors Kim’s commitment and valuable contributions to the WordPress open source project. The Foundation’s goal is to further the efforts of contributors who demonstrate Kim’s spirit, by helping to ease the financial burden of travel to WordCamp US.

This scholarship is awarded to someone who:

• Identifies as a woman
• Is a WordPress contributor
• Has never attended WordCamp US before
• Requires financial assistance to attend

This scholarship provides financial assistance so that the recipient can attend WordCamp US, including travel from the recipient’s home city, hotel stay for the duration of the event, and a ticket to WordCamp US.

If you meet these requirements and would like to be considered, please apply no later than Monday, June 12, 2023 at 11:00 pm Eastern Time. All applicants will be notified by June 29, 2023.

For more details, please visit the WordPress Foundation’s About the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship page.

Apply for the scholarship today.

This year’s Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship recipients are Margherita Pelonara, Simona Simionato, and Pooja Derashri, enthusiastic WordPress developers, Meetup and WordCamp organizers, and contributors to the open source project and WordPress community. 

These contributors share the passion of empowering people with WordPress. Whether helping women freelancers succeed in business (Margherita), contributing to the Diversity Speaker Training project (Simona), or being the Team Rep for the Training Team (Pooja), these women succeed in their community goals, and it’s an honor to award the Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship to them.

The WordPress Foundation created this memorial scholarship in 2015, to honor the memory of longtime WordPress contributor Kim Parsell.

This scholarship provides financial support to a woman who contributes to the WordPress open source project, who would not otherwise be able to attend WordCamp US. More information on the scholarship, including past recipients, is available here. 

Thank you to WordCamp US organizer, Michelle Frechette, for this post.