Serving on any board can be quite rewarding and is often a thankless job that requires much time and probably never more so than in an all-volunteer organization like Joomla.
Those individuals that make the extra effort to take on such roles here at Joomla! serve on the Board of the OpenSource Matter, Inc.
One such person is Angie Radtke who became the Secretary of OSM, late last 2025.
Here are some questions that I was able to ask her as she is stepping out of her role and Bruce Scherzinger is stepping into his as a result of his successful election 🗳️ this March 2026.
Have you been using Joomla long?
You could say that ;) I have been using Joomla! before it was Joomla! itself back in Mambo days.
There are different people who volunteer in Joomla!, how would you describe your volunteering style?
I think I’m the kind of person who likes to tackle things and get them done without necessarily needing to be in the spotlight or spend too much time discussing them. I enjoy helping out wherever I’m needed. I usually work behind the scenes, which is sometimes seen as being a “good shadow”. Many people come to me to talk about their concerns or challenges, and I listen because I genuinely want to help. I know how important it can be to talk about things that weigh on you and keep you preoccupied.
How long have you been a Joomla! volunteer?
Oh my... It's been so many years I lost track of when I started honestly. ;)
Why did you step-up to help with the Secretary role?
For a couple of reasons, I had a couple of conversations with Sigrid, one of which was at JoomlaDay DACH in Germany as well as the fact that no one was stepping in.
Why did you initially set an end date to your term before stepping into the role?
Balance with as much love as I have for Joomla, I too have to balance work vs life vs earning money for my family.
What did you think the position would be like? and how is it the same and different than your initial thoughts?
I did not really know what to expect but nothing really surprised me to be honest… Initially, I had apprehension about the role or my participation as English is not my native language and I thought that could be a blocker but that wasn't the case. I learned a lot in 3+ months and since I stepped into an empty seat, I didn't get to have a traditional handover period which was a bit more difficult but I managed :) The biggest challenge was
getting access to everything and knowing what I needed access to.
What was the hardest and easiest aspect of about being a Board Member?
The most difficult part of being a Board Member for me was balancing my day-to-day work with my responsibilities to OSM. The easiest part of the role is meeting and working with such nice and passionate Board Members.
What makes the Secretary Position at OSM interesting?
While it is a position that favors being organized and detail oriented, it is also a cool/interesting position because you get an overview about everything that is going on, it is in integral part of the Board. You get to see
who is responsible for what and interact with everyone. It is the position that naturally through publishing minutes and communication creates transparency with the community.
If again in the future, you had time which other Board position would you be interested in stepping into?
If a magic wand could be waived and I didn't have to worry about paying bills you mean? then I guess being the President would be something I could possibly consider but at the moment, I'm out of fairy dust or functioning magic wands.
What recommendations would you have for future candidates?
Don’t be afraid, all of the other board members are eager to help. I would say that it is very important that you are involved in the community before applying to have a board role as you will be dealing with community members most of the time and it helps tremendously knowing the community that you will be working for. It helps if you are organized and open minded to other’s ideas and always remember that you are a representative of the community so hearing and listening to its members is important.
What will you take with you from having been on the Board of a 20+ year FOSS project?
An organization like Joomla could not work without its Board and that the Board Members are doing great work! Someone has to gather funding, care about how Joomla is represented in the world, be the face of Joomla! at International events, make sure we meet our legal and financial obligations etc.
Any last thoughts?
Coding is one thing, Testing PRs is another, making sure releases happen and are of the highest quality is yet another… all of those aspects grouped together makes Joomla! happen every day (and we are so grateful to those people that make that happen 💕) -- participating at the Organizational level is another - you don’t have to be a coder, a tester or a technical person, but your impact is no less significant. So, I look forward to seeing you apply to be a Board Member soon!