Following in the footsteps of Crystal Dionysopoulos, Maria Skampoura was elected as President of Joomla last February. Her first term started on March 24. Let’s find out more about her, and about the plans she has for helping to shape the future of Joomla!

Congratulations on being elected as President of Open Source Matters Maria! 

Thank you very much. It is such a great honour to have been elected as President of Open Source Matters. I am super excited about the unique opportunity to serve our organisation and the community, and I also look forward to working together with all our valued contributors and stakeholders to strengthen our open source community, with transparency, collaboration, and a focus on our common mission.

For those who don't know you yet: could you tell us a little bit about yourself? 

My name is Maria Skampoura, and I am Greek. I live in the UK. I am the Founder and CEO of a startup called Developable in London, where I help business owners create Joomla websites without coding knowledge and assist companies in becoming SaaS providers. I am passionate about entrepreneurship, mentoring students and graduates at leading UK Universities like Arden and City University of London.

Everything started with a Computer Science degree, developing custom websites before CMSs existed. Discovering Joomla was transformative - I was captivated by both the platform and its vibrant community which was creating extensions, plugins, and templates. Web development guided me to explore other business aspects like branding and digital marketing. Discovering there is a gap in organizational management, I pursued an MBA in Finance from the University of Leicester. This education helped me realise that successful organizations require trained leadership with vision - not just technical expertise (coding). I also came across the term "Accidental Managers": loyal employees promoted to leadership without proper training, who often unintentionally hinder organizational success.

Outside of work, I try to take advantage of the UK’s occasional nice weather by walking in the city or in nature. I also like cinema, always looking forward to watching the latest films.

It is exciting to bring my experience and business acumen to Open Source Matters and work together to strengthen our community towards our shared mission.

Why did you decide to run for president?

It never crossed my mind to run for President. I was the Joomla Advisory Board Chair, and my role was helping the organisation from a different standpoint. However, an Amazing Joomla Woman, who I (and the entire Joomla community) respect and admire, suggested it. Her trust and confidence in my skills and experience motivated me. After attending a Joomla members meeting and listening to the Board asking members to apply for the vacant President’s position, I thought maybe I could help. This is how it all happened. 

You have been on Joomla's Advisory Board, what have you learned about Joomla during that time?

The first thing I learned is that there is a huge community which loves Joomla and wants Joomla to succeed and make a difference. There are Joomla supporters all over the world. Skilful people who have been showing - and still continue to do so - their dedication to the Joomla project. They are happy with Joomla’s success.

I also learned the importance of collaboration in not-for-profit organisations. How nice it is to have people around you who help in the pursuit of a cause, a team. I met wonderful people, I am grateful for this.

What do you consider the best things about Joomla and its community?

One of the best traits of the Joomla community is how united it is. Members stick together due to their love for the Joomla project. Regardless of disagreements on particular subjects, the members remain loyal to the CMS and the project. This unites everyone. 

I was also touched by the warm embrace of the Joomla community in countries far from Europe and the UK, such as the USA, Canada, Brazil, India, Africa, Australia, and others. People I never met before sent me warm, positive messages. I appreciate their messages, I am grateful, and I thank them all very much.

Almost 38% of the voters voted against you. Does that bother you? 

I feel grateful for the members who trusted me, and I respect those who preferred a different direction.

We are an open source community, and part of what makes us strong is the diversity in opinions. Of course, 49% of the vote is an honour but I also recognize that means some people need to see more from me before they feel fully confident in my leadership. I consider this a motivation to engage more actively, listen more closely, and ensure our decision-making process is transparent and inclusive. I am committed to collaborating with everyone-regardless of their choice to vote for me or not-and help our organisation to thrive.

In your presidential statement, you say you want to “transform Joomla into a dynamic, forward-thinking open-source project that reclaims its position as a leading content management system through strategic modernization, clear organizational structure, and enhanced community engagement.” What does this mean for us Joomlers?

I believe we can reclaim our position through:

Strategic modernisation

In the era of rapid changes in the global context, AI is growing by the day with Large Language Models (LLMs) present in every aspect of our daily life. We need to take this into consideration, the world moves in this direction, and the sooner we adapt the better it would be for the project. We have a team with the best programmers in the world at Joomla who are capable of building anything. If there is anyone that can achieve great things this is them.

Joomla is a fascinating product, it is strong, reliable, secure and it has been tested in any possible way during all of those years. 

Clear Organisational Structure

To achieve the above we need to organise everything in a way to work as efficiently as possible. We are lucky to have a department that works perfectly: the Production department. I think there is a lot to learn from this department and apply this knowledge to other departments and organise them in a similar manner. In this way we can ensure we work efficiently.

Enhanced Community Engagement

Our community members are our most valued partners. They are the ones that are using Joomla, have built businesses around Joomla, and provide their products based on Joomla. For these reasons they want Joomla to succeed and thrive. These people are spreading the word in all corners of the world, they keep the fire burning. Recognising what they do and expressing our gratitude is key to our success because there is and always will be a connection between us.

Joomla is a global tool, it cannot be limited to only one country or only one continent. It was created with unity in mind - let’s not forget that the word Joomla means all together. 

Therefore, our community is Joomla, we should always keep this in mind and THANK ALL OUR VALUED MEMBERS for their loyalty and devotion all of these years.

If you had to pick three words to describe Joomla now, what would those words be and why?

There are many more words I would like to use.

Strong - because with Joomla you can build anything.

Stable - because it is a mature product which has been tested for twenty years now.

Reliable - the proof is that even today there are websites using old versions of Joomla and they are fully 100% functional! And also, because the CMS is secure so this is part of its reliability.

Your presidential statement is really ambitious. Where will you start?

I already started! My first step was getting to know the other Board members. I knew everyone, but collaborating with them on a day-to-day basis is different. There were vacant positions on the board that needed to be covered, people were bearing an extra workload trying to cover two or three different roles. The Board is complete now and I can say that I am impressed by the Board members’ motivation, work ethic, and rigor. Everyone is trying their best to help Joomla move forward. All Board members are working tirelessly to resolve and help our common efforts to make everything transparent, and move things forward.

I am committed to communicating with everyone within the organisation, listening to their expectations, their plans and their views, and thanking them for the wonderful job they have been doing during all these years. For this reason we are arranging our meetings with all teams and team leaders, to listen to everyone and express our gratitude and appreciation.

With the upcoming 20th anniversary of Joomla we are also getting in contact with our sponsors, the people that have been supporting Joomla all of those years who we appreciate, and the broader community, the members that have proven their loyalty and have always been there supporting the Joomla project. 

Finally, we are focussing our efforts on communicating the Joomla message at international events and conferences. Sharing our knowledge, and making an impact on the broader Open Source Community and the world. As an example, we can (and should) participate in shaping the AI definition alongside other organisations, and continue our efforts alongside other Open Source Software stakeholders to work constructively with the EU to shape the CRA.

What role do you see for yourself when it comes to growing Joomla?

There are so many roles I am interested in fulfilling. The first thing I want to do is fix anything internal that needs fixing. Such as for example the departments that need volunteers and cannot operate fully. 

Secondly, I am very interested in reviving the Capital team. I would like to become a member of this team and help it grow, find new opportunities for Joomla to expand and grow. And also, to collaborate with amazing people who have proven their value, recruit them again, and give them the initiative and the tools to thrive.

I am also interested in helping our Outreach department. This department communicates our brand, how it is projected to the world. Therefore, it is important to help, empower, and strengthen it. I am also interested in communicating with our audience, beyond our valued members. Our followers on social media, the people who are supporting Joomla all over the world. I would like to tell them how much we appreciate them and their efforts all of these years. 

Finally and most importantly, I believe we need to reach out to the people who don’t know Joomla, communicating with them to spread the word. The Joomla message needs to reach the younger generation, the people who need strong tools to build the web applications of the AI era.

In your opinion, what would the ideal Board for OSM look like? 

There is no other Ideal OSM Board, we are the Ideal OSM Board! 

The Board of OSM needs people who love Joomla and are happy to use their skills and time to help. People who are collaborative and interested in results. Therefore, I believe our Board is exactly as it should be, and I am happy with everyone’s zeal and enthusiasm. I appreciate everyone’s efforts to help in any possible way. Whatever the matter may be, everyone is trying their best to help and assist. For these reasons I believe this is the ideal Board for Joomla.

Of course, there is always room for improvement, and for this reason we are constantly seeking resources for training and upskilling. Because no matter how educated and trained one may be there are always resources to help improve and make better.

Where would you say Joomla stands at the moment?

Joomla is popular, with millions of websites worldwide using the CMS. But we need to spread the word further. We need to help the new generation to get to know Joomla, because it is one of the best products on the market. How can they use it if they don’t know it? I am sure they will love it as much as we do.

A nice example of this is the lovely Ane Miren Alvarez, an amazing young Joomla Woman, programmer, who came across Joomla during her studies. After understanding its functionalities, Ane created a make.com automation using the JoomlaAPI. What a great way to make an addition!

Another example is the cohort of students who participate in the Joomla Academy project and Google Summer of Code. Thanks to Phillip Walton (our former Vice President and now Secretary) and Shivam Rajput and the Joomla GSoC team, these initiatives are up and running, welcoming many students to the Joomla project. I am looking forward to seeing all the wonderful tools and applications the younger generation of programmers will build for Joomla.

What is our biggest challenge?

I believe Joomla's biggest challenge is preserving our governance model which is community-first, while adapting to the rapid changes in web technologies resulting in increased user expectations.

We need to keep in mind that competitors from the commercial space invest in developer experience, headless architectures, and AI integrations, while Joomla undergoes a democratic decision-making process. This process ensures stability but it can slow innovation. I think it is good to keep in mind that in order to remain relevant we need decisive technical evolution.

Another challenge is volunteer sustainability. This is because the open source landscape is increasingly commercialized. These corporate-backed projects can dedicate full-time resources to development and marketing. On the other hand, Joomla's volunteer leadership model needs to seek alternative ways to attract and retain contributors. There are numerous other platforms available and competing for volunteer’s time and expertise.

And what would be the quick wins - if any?

Good question. Even though our main goals are long-term, like strategic modernisation, we can target some quick-wins. One of the most important ones is enhancing communication by ensuring a consistent flow of updates from the Board to the community to improve transparency. Moreover, we should emphasise volunteer support by simplifying the process for volunteers to join and contribute to at least one team. Furthermore, we could show recognition to our community by showcasing recent, impressive Joomla websites or extensions on our official platforms. These solutions do not resolve our biggest challenges, but are small steps to build trust, improve engagement, and show positive movement immediately.

What would you like to see happen for Joomla in the coming years?

I would like to see Joomla reclaim its position as a leading content management system, by evolving to a future proof platform without losing its commitment to its open source core values and strengths.

Maybe we could benefit from a simpler user interface to minimise the learning time for newcomers, to attract the new generation of users. Also, offering tools that provide mobile-first development, or headless CMS implementations which are important for content delivery, can also expand our reach to new audiences.

Moreover, one of our pillars is our community. We could extend our efforts to provide new documentation and learning resources, and also increase our outreach efforts to attract new developers and other team members. In this way we can ensure Joomla will continue to stay vibrant and innovative for the years to come.

Finally, I would like to see Joomla strengthen its position through strategic partnerships with commercial organisations and educational institutions, and cultivate a sustainable ecosystem which will ensure Joomla's longevity and relevance in this increasingly competitive landscape.

How can we all help to make that happen?

Our members are the ones who can ensure Joomla’s future success because they are the ones who can participate in Joomla’s governance actively, vote in elections, join working groups and teams, run for leadership positions, help create new teams or help revive existing ones such as for example the Capital Team, or the Outreach department which needs new volunteers, help with Joomla’s funding and sponsoring opportunities, or mentor newcomers.

Another way to contribute is development. Besides coding, you can test new releases, report bugs with detailed documentation, and participate in the Pizza Bugs and Fun events. You can also help with documentation. Update the official documentation, create tutorials in multiple languages, help with translation to expand our global reach. 

A similar way is to build local communities. You can organise or speak at Joomla User Groups (JUGs) and Joomla Days in your region. These events are vital for growing the community and sharing knowledge. A nice example of this is the JoomlaDayUSA2025 organised by the Amazing Joomla Woman Laura Gordon.

If you are a developer, you can maintain or update existing extensions to work with the latest Joomla versions. A great example of this is the tool J2Commerce developed by Adam Melcher with the help of Olivier Buisard and other Joomlers, which was an earlier eShop extension, the J2Store (currently archived.) What a great way to keep something alive and serve the whole community!

Finally, you can help Joomla by promoting and advocating. Everyone can use their social media to share Joomla success stories or write case studies, and advocate for Joomla on any occasion. The strength of our community lies in our collaborative nature. Every contribution builds upon others to create something greater than any of us could accomplish on our own. 

Thank you very much everyone again for your faith in me, I am looking forward to our great achievements. To our members and audience anywhere in the world, we are always looking forward to connecting with you, and we are here anytime to celebrate Joomla together.