Excerpt Talks Episode #6 – WP Credits Panel Discussion

Lawrence Ladomery
So I’m here with our panel. We have Isotta and Matt from Automattic, and Raitis, Ivana, and myself from WPBakery. I’ll let each of you introduce yourselves rather than me doing it for you. Isotta, maybe you can start.

Isotta Peira
All right, thank you so much. First of all, Lawrence and WPBakery Studio, thank you for having us. I’m Isotta. I’ve been contributing to the WordPress community as a full-time sponsored contributor at Automattic since 2022. After my first years contributing through community support – WordCamps, meetups, and WordPress workshops worldwide—I shifted my focus to education.

I’m currently leading the WP Credits program, one of the education programs supported by the WordPress Foundation. The program aims to bring WordPress use and WordPress knowledge into schools and different levels of education. I also have the pleasure of being surrounded by people like Matt, Ivana, Raitis, and many others who are supporting these education efforts. Thanks again for having me.

Maciej Pilarski
Thanks for having me as well. My name is Maciej, but feel free to call me Matt – it’s much easier. I’ve been with Automattic for almost ten years now. I originally worked as a Happiness Engineer, and because my roots are deeply in the WordPress community, I’ve always stayed active locally by organizing events and supporting them.

I joined Isotta in the education initiatives around October last year. Since then, I’ve been an admin in the WP Credits program, helping support the initiative and bring new universities on board. I’m fully focused and sponsored by Automattic to work on and grow these education efforts. Thanks again for having me.

Lawrence Ladomery
Great. How about yourself?

Ivana Cirkovic
I’m Ivana. I work at WPBakery as a marketing specialist. I’m the first of what I hope will be many mentors from WPBakery supporting the WP Credits program and initiative.

I’ve been in the WordPress space for almost eleven years – as a contributor, volunteer, organizer of local WordCamps and WordCamp Europe, and as a speaker. Education is something I feel very strongly about, and this is a great way to give back even more. I’m fully supported and backed by my company in doing so.

Raitis Sevelis
Hey, my name is Raitis Ševelis. I’m Head of Product at WPBakery. I’ve been working in and around WordPress for about twelve years. In addition to my role at WPBakery, I’m also a lecturer at Riga Nordic University, which is part of the WP Credits program.

I did everything I could to help make that happen, and it’s amazing to see students already joining the program. When Matt approached me with the idea – yes, it was in Lithuania – he said, “Let’s do something about WP Credits.” I was very excited because I’m sitting on both the WordPress and higher-education sides at the same time.

I also love that I can call Maciej “Matt.” When Matt was in Riga, our CEO asked me what I was doing, and I said I was having dinner with Matt. He asked, “Which Matt?” I said, “Matt from Automattic,” and he just replied, “Who?”

Maciej Pilarski
That’s a nice trick you can always use.

Raitis Sevelis
Thank you for having me here.

Lawrence Ladomery
And I’m Lawrence Ladomery. I work with Ivana at WPBakery as a marketing specialist. I’ve been hosting these EXIP talks for about six months now. Together with Ivana and Raitis, I’ve been working on this program.

I haven’t joined as a mentor yet. I want to see how it goes with Ivana first, so she can learn the process and then tell me how to do it nicely and efficiently. I do look forward to participating.

With that said, let’s move on to the first segment of this panel discussion, which is about what the program actually is. Quoting the website, WP Credits is a contribution-based program supported by the WordPress Foundation that brings students into the heart of the WordPress open-source project. I’d like to invite either Isotta or Matt to explain more deeply what the program is, what it does, and what the benefits are.

Maciej Pilarski
Sure. The WP Credits program is part of a broader set of initiatives focused on bringing WordPress into education. There are three core elements: WordPress Campus Connect, WP Credits, and Student Clubs.

All of these initiatives are meant to help grow the next generation of WordPress users and contributors. Our community is aging, and we’re not getting younger. We can’t afford to lose connection with the younger generation. This approach is about connecting with them as early as possible and equipping them with tools, knowledge, and experiences they can use in their future careers.

The WP Credits program itself allows students to contribute to WordPress during the program, usually over the course of one semester. There’s a defined number of hours students are expected to dedicate. The first phase is onboarding, where we teach students not only about WordPress, but also about open source as a whole. We focus on open-source ethics and values, so it’s not only about WordPress – it’s about something much bigger.

After onboarding, students can choose an area of contribution. If you look at WordPress.org, all those contribution teams – core, translations, photos, and many others – are available to students. An important part of the program is that students are not left on their own. They are assigned mentors from the community. These mentors are vetted, experienced contributors who support students through weekly check-ins, answer questions, and guide them in their contribution areas.

At the end of the program, students receive an official certificate from the WordPress Foundation, signed by Matt. They also typically complete the internship component that many universities legally require as part of their curriculum.

Supporting initiatives include Campus Connect, which consists of on-campus events and workshops organized in collaboration with local communities, and Student Clubs, where students organize themselves to work on projects and grow WordPress activity at a grassroots level. Those are the key elements of the education initiatives.

Isotta Peira
You covered it very well. One thing I’d like to add is that all these programs were intentionally built to fill gaps that formal education currently has worldwide. We see this across different regions and countries. Each program addresses specific needs, and they are designed to work together.

There’s an entry point depending on the institution’s needs, and then a pathway that students can follow. Even though this already sounds like a lot, it’s really just the first step. We’re excited to keep improving how we support students, from early education all the way to when they enter the job market.

Lawrence Ladomery
Thank you, that was very clear. I’d like to ask Ivana and Raitis about the “why” from an ecosystem perspective. We often talk about changing demographics – or maybe the lack of change – and part of this program seems designed to bring younger people into the ecosystem and open source in general.

Raitis, why is that important for a product company like WPBakery?

Raitis Sevelis
That’s a very good question. The main issue is mindset. If you look at WordPress products and services, they all require some form of onboarding and education. Using WPBakery as an example, you need to teach users how to use the product and build pages. But those users also need foundational WordPress knowledge.

What I’ve seen is that many product teams assume people already understand WordPress, so they jump straight into explaining their product. That creates a gap. Users don’t always understand how WordPress works or how the ecosystem operates.

From the community perspective, many people don’t know how WordPress itself is structured – what WordPress.org is, what WordPress.com is, what the Foundation does, and who organizes WordCamps. I have a clear example: one of my students in the WP Credits program is writing a bachelor thesis about WordCamp Europe. I’m their supervisor because I know the ecosystem.

Even then, explaining to university administrators what the Foundation is, who organizes WordCamps, how finances work, and how companies like Automattic fit into the picture was a challenge. You need to explain all of this clearly and quickly, and that’s not easy. We often underestimate how complex it is from the outside.

Maciej Pilarski
I’d like to add something to that. When we talk to universities and institutions, they often ask, “How much do we have to pay you?” And we tell them, “Nothing.” Everything is done by the community. That’s often very surprising, because they expect a commercial model. This is one of the unique aspects of both the program and the WordPress community.

Lawrence Ladomery
Ivana, from your perspective – through social media, research, and competitor analysis – have you seen anything similar from proprietary platforms?

Ivana Cirkovic
WordPress is a very particular ecosystem. With nearly two decades of experience in marketing, I haven’t seen another ecosystem doing this at the same level and for such a long time.

I personally stumbled into WordPress almost by accident many years ago and loved it ever since. Even without a technical background, I learned how to use it quickly, and it went far beyond blogging. At the same time, people outside WordPress often don’t understand why so many of us volunteer and contribute.

At the heart of WordPress are people – the community. WordPress is only as strong as the people who build it, contribute to it, and volunteer their time and energy. For me, being part of this program through WPBakery is very personal. It adds to my sense of self-worth because I can transfer everything I’ve learned to students.

This goes beyond teaching WordPress. We’re teaching public speaking, remote work, collaboration, and modern work tools. We’re teaching people how to become better professionals and better humans. I genuinely haven’t seen another ecosystem do this the way WordPress does it.

Maciej Pilarski
And it works both ways. We’re also learning from students. The younger generation helps us stay current with changes in technology and the market, and that’s extremely valuable for the growth of WordPress.

Lawrence Ladomery
I’m curious how a proprietary CMS with endless resources would approach universities. It would probably be very transactional – freebies, sales pitches, and contracts. That’s very different from what we’re doing here, which is focused on teaching rather than selling.

Isotta or Matt, can you explain how Campus Connect, WP Credits, and Student Clubs come together as a package when approaching a university?

Isotta Peira
Sure. These initiatives originally emerged from different parts of the community. Campus Connect started as a workshop series tested a couple of years ago. After the pandemic, interest in traditional events shifted, so we needed new formats.

In 2024, we saw a Campus Connect event in India reach hundreds of students. That showed us the format could be replicated worldwide. From there, Campus Connect became an official initiative.

During these events, organizers identified the opportunity to create Student Clubs. In some countries, student clubs are common; in others, they’re not. The idea was to allow students to keep learning and connecting with each other after Campus Connect events. The community provides infrastructure like websites and event platforms so students can organize on their own terms.

WP Credits was built with contribution in mind. Contribution teaches technical and transferable skills that formal education often lacks. Students can choose what they want to work on, based on their studies, and see the real-world impact of their work in a nonprofit project.

Ideally, students are introduced to WordPress through Campus Connect, stay engaged through Student Clubs, and then join WP Credits when they’re ready for a more professional, contribution-focused experience. After that, they might join WordPress companies, continue contributing, or become mentors themselves.

Lawrence Ladomery
That’s great. On your website, several testimonials come from the University of Pisa. Was that one of the first WP Credits programs?

Isotta Peira
Yes, it was. The University of Pisa believed in the program when it was still just an idea. We started with pilot students in the summer, before we even had proper infrastructure or processes. Those students helped us build the first version of the platform.

Later, we onboarded more students from Pisa and from Fidelitas University in Costa Rica. We saw the first graduates at the end of the year, and many more are graduating now.

One surprising challenge we’ve seen across regions is remote communication. Many students struggle with responding to emails, Slack messages, and asynchronous communication. This has been a shared challenge globally and a valuable learning opportunity for us as well.

Ivana Cirkovic
That’s definitely the biggest challenge. Younger generations are used to instant communication through social media. Learning accountability in an open-source environment takes time. It’s informal education with a lot of freedom, which means responsibility falls on the individual. For now, patience is key.

Maciej Pilarski
The program is intentionally flexible, and mentor feedback is essential. It helps us improve and mature the program month by month.

Raitis Sevelis
It also goes beyond WordPress. Students learn soft skills—initiative, communication, and confidence. Mentors help them step out of their comfort zones and grow.

Lawrence Ladomery
To wrap up this part, can you share some numbers – how many universities, students, and goals for the future?

Isotta Peira
Currently, we have eight institutions partnering with the WordPress Foundation. Three have committed to making WP Credits a mandatory part of their curriculum starting in 2026. We have around 100 students enrolled, with several graduates already.

Our goal for 2026 is to partner with at least 22 institutions worldwide. We’re preparing to onboard hundreds of students per quarter, supported by around 50 to 60 mentors. Each student completes a minimum of 150 hours, which represents a significant contribution to the WordPress project.

Lawrence Ladomery
That’s impressive. It has the potential to scale far beyond WordCamps as a way to bring new people into WordPress.

Raitis Sevelis
And it also means companies like WPBakery need to scale support – more mentors, more involvement. More companies should think about how they can help support these initiatives.

Maciej Pilarski
And flexibility is key. Some institutions start with Campus Connect, others jump straight into WP Credits. Both approaches work.

Lawrence Ladomery
Before we close, let’s touch on AI. WordPress seems well positioned here, especially with an open-source approach. Any final thoughts?

Maciej Pilarski
We see AI as a tool, not a replacement. The community has taken a healthy, thoughtful approach, focusing on efficiency rather than hype.

Isotta Peira
I’d encourage everyone to look at the work of the WordPress AI team. AI literacy will play an important role in education, and WordPress is well positioned to integrate it meaningfully.

Ivana Cirkovic
AI literacy, digital literacy, and soft skills all come together here. These are lifelong skills that education and WordPress can support together.

Raitis Sevelis
I teach AI and digital literacy, and the key concept is always “human in the loop.” This is another area where WordPress and education align very naturally.

Lawrence Ladomery
Thank you all for your time. This was a great discussion. Hopefully we can repeat it in a year with student representatives and even more stories to share.

Isotta Peira
Thank you so much for having us and for supporting WordPress education. Absolutely—let’s continue this conversation in the future.

Raitis Sevelis
Next time, let’s bring a student as well and complete the full cycle.

Maciej Pilarski
That’s a great idea.

Ivana Cirkovic
Less of us and more of them.

Lawrence Ladomery
Agreed. Thanks everyone.