NumFOCUS is pleased to announce that Arliss Collins has been hired as our organization’s first Open Source Developer Advocate.

Founded in 2012, NumFOCUS has finally grown beyond just providing non-technical needs for our 40+ sponsored projects! As our first technical hire, Arliss will work to help understand our projects from a technical perspective and support them in their vision for success. Arliss will also be the project manager on the Contributor Diversification & Retention Research Project and will work closely with other staff members and stakeholders to ensure the grant’s success. 

Arliss has 10+ years of work experience with strategic, performance, and data driven strategies that drive organizational success. She brings with her a background in open source advocacy and several years as a data champion in the areas of advocacy, community engagement and fundraising.  

Arliss lives in Canada, making her the first international hire of NumFOCUS and she holds a B.S. in Engineering (Geophysics) from Queen’s University.