Why I'm running

I've been fortunate enough to have success in this industry since starting my career. I've reached the stage where my main focus is to help others achieve their own success. That focus helps further the mission of the .NET Foundation by creating an environment where more people can achieve success in the .NET ecosystem. My day job is to create learning content for .NET developers of all experience levels. That works enables new developers to use the platform for their first apps, developers on other platforms compare their current environment to .NET, and experienced .NET developers learn the platform more deeply.

As a community, we have a few areas to improve. First, .NET is most approachable to those that are well versed in its history. The current work for .NET 5 creates an environment where we can present .NET to new developers as a single ecosystem, relying less on detailed knowledge of its past to be successful.

Next, we have ample opportunity to improve the foundation's relationship with open source project leaders and maintainers. We're doing better, but we still stumble more often than we should. We must work with the leaders of our member projects to better advocate for the .NET Open Source ecosystem.

Third, we can do more to support in-person and virtual meetups worldwide. These groups are where beginners meet mentors, where experienced developers improve their speaking and organizational skills, and where developers become more involved in their communities. I've founded or led two different .NET groups in the past, and know first-hand how important they can be in the community.

Finally, and most importantly, we must actively work to be a more inclusive community. Inclusiveness is more than the lack of exclusionary practices. Inclusiveness means we must actively reach out to individuals and groups that aren't part of our community. We must welcome new faces, and we must embrace new people and communities. More diversity is the result of actions taken to create a more welcoming community.

To make those improvements, we need to make it easier to learn .NET, both online and in person. We need to make it easier to participate in the .NET Foundation and the broader .NET community. Finally, we need to nurture and protect inclusive community standards where all members are welcome and treated with respect and kindness.

Experience with the foundation

I've been on the .NET Foundation advisory council for several years. In that role, I've helped numerous projects join the .NET Foundation. In my day job, I work on .NET docs, focusing on C# and .NET Core. Over the past several years, I've written books on C#, spoken at conferences and user groups about the platform and the ecosystem, and done what I can to help others learn about and be successful with .NET.