Amy Kamala’s path into technology didn’t start with a computer science degree. It began with an MFA from UCLA, video installations, sculpture and a long-standing love of making things. Even in art school she used computers — learning Photoshop, editing video, and building interactive pieces with PHP and HTML. That mix of creative practice and technical tooling eventually tipped in favor of tech, but the creative impulse never left her work.
Amy first entered the tech world through DreamHost in 2015, taking an entry-level social support role that expanded into technical support, live chat, and eventually forming a specialized WordPress support team. From there she moved through roles at a web agency, InMotion Hosting (where she managed multiple sites, servers and a DevOps pipeline), Pantheon, a year-long contract in local government, and into freelancing. Along the way she led teams of designers and developers, handled DevOps and deployment pipelines, and continued contributing to the WordPress open source project.
Contribution and community have been central to her story. Amy began contributing to WordPress in 2018 and joined the Hosting Team, which had grown out of efforts by hosts like DreamHost and wordpress.org to strengthen their relationship to WordPress. She found the hosting channel a gentle place to start: familiar faces, patient team reps, and low-pressure ways to help. That welcome made all the difference. She became a Hosting Team rep in 2019 and now serves as a Core team rep as well.
Her route into Core started through community connections. Being outgoing and unafraid to ask basic questions led to friendships with other contributors, invitations to join working groups and eventually participating in release squads. Amy emphasizes that you don’t need deep technical expertise to begin contributing. Simple tasks like taking meeting notes or updating documentation build relationships, familiarity, and confidence. Volunteering in these small ways often grows into more responsibility.
One recurring theme in Amy’s account is the overlap between art and technology. She explains that art is experiential — it’s about designing a relationship between a viewer and an object or moment — and that software, especially user interfaces, does the same. Design fundamentals like composition and color carry over directly into UI and UX work. In web development the divide between “designer” and “developer” is often porous: many front-end developers carry a history in visual design and excel at CSS and UX, while other engineers focus on back-end logic. Amy’s wide-ranging background has made her a valuable generalist: she can bridge design, accessibility, DevOps and product needs, even if she isn’t a narrow specialist in one specific language.
Another quality Amy highlights is the willingness to fail publicly. She admits to being comfortable asking what might seem like foolish questions and making mistakes in public channels. That vulnerability accelerates learning and builds trust. Her experience in community theater helped shape the mindset: audiences and teams are generally rooting for you, not waiting to shame you. This attitude has helped her both in meetings and when coordinating releases for WordPress.
Sponsorship and paid contribution are part of her story too. Early involvement was supported informally by employers like DreamHost and later by Canopy Studios and InMotion, which set aside paid hours for open source work. In 2023 a chance personal connection led to a formal sponsorship: a friendly introduction in Slack to an Elementor community manager turned into a paid commitment of ten hours a week. Even then, Amy often contributes far more than the sponsored time because the work feels meaningful and rewarding.
Why keep contributing beyond paid hours? For Amy it’s both personal and professional. Contributing creates friendships, builds skills, and connects her to work opportunities. It gives a sense of being part of something larger than herself and satisfies a human need for collaborative purpose. Professionally, leading teams and projects in an active open source community strengthens her resume and opens doors. She also believes companies should hire for potential and learnability, not just polished expertise, and that contributing publicly is one way to demonstrate that potential.
Her practical advice for new contributors is straightforward: be curious, be patient, and be warm to newcomers. Teams should invest energy in welcoming people, because onboarding pays dividends. For newcomers, start small — documentation, meeting notes, and simple bug fixes — and use those tasks to build trust and learn the project culture. Be willing to ask questions and make mistakes; the community tends to help and you’ll learn faster for it.
Amy’s story is a reminder that careers don’t need to be linear. Art and tech can feed each other. Community work can be both personally meaningful and professionally useful. For those curious about open source or WordPress contribution, her example shows how a friendly introduction, consistent curiosity, and a readiness to participate can lead to lasting impact. If you want to get involved, find a team that interests you, show up, and don’t be afraid to ask the simple questions — someone will welcome you and help you grow.
