Sam Saffron and Sarah Hawk named Discourse Co-CEOs

If I’ve learned anything about community in the last 10 years working at Discourse, it is that all lasting community comes from a place of shared leadership, not merely by the people at the top, but including everyone who regularly participates. Everyone deserves a voice, and to be heard.


This is a companion discussion topic for the original entry at https://blog.discourse.org/2023/01/sam-saffron-and-sarah-hawk-named-discourse-co-ceos/
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Congrats @sam and @HAWK :clap: :bowing_man:

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I want to take this opportunity to say a genuine thank you to @codinghorror. As he notes, Discourse is a team and community effort. Jeff has been a critical part of that team and community. It would not exist without him.

If Discourse had not existed, the last seven years of my life, and those I’ve worked with, would have been the worse for it. It has been the most important thing in my working life for that time. A source of learning, discussion, friendship, mentorship, income, and a new organization.

When you run a company you often think about the livelihoods you’re responsible for. Those thoughts can stir both pride and anxiety. Jeff, you should be proud of what you’ve done for the lives and livelihoods of many. I, as I’m sure are many others, am grateful.

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Congrats to @sam and @HAWK !

I don’t think Discourse could be transferred to more capable and trusted hands :slight_smile:
I’m tremendously grateful for the hard work of @codinghorror and the whole Discourse team :rocket:

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Congrats to @sam and @HAWK, Discourse remains in safe hands!

As for you, @codinghorror, would echo @angus and thank you for all the inspiration and support over the years.

Is anyone more than slightly curious what Jeff will do next with the additional time that may be freed up?!

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Congratulations! That’s a strong leadership team!

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How time flies. It feels like yesterday when Discourse was just starting out. And now even if one hasn’t been able to pay that much attention to the product over the years, one sees more and more forums using it in the wild, with so many awesome and thoughtful features that actually improve, well, discourse rather than serving someone’s shady ulterior motives, which is what the experience on the centralized social media platforms feels like these days.

I’m sure there is still a to-do list to fill another decade or two, but this already feels like yet another mission accomplished :muscle::muscle::muscle: Congratulations! :heart:

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Thanks for the kind words, everyone. They’re appreciated.

I particularly appreciate this sentiment, thanks @pekka

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Thank you all :hugs:

I really appreciate all the kind words and the vote of confidence

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:tada:
Congratulations @sam and @HAWK ! It’s good to know Discourse will continue to develop and grow into something bigger and better than first envisioned all those years ago. And also a big thank you to @codinghorror for sharing this dream from the very start.

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Congratulations to @HAWK and @sam - I look forward to seeing the next stage of Discourse’s growth :slight_smile:

Also, thanks to @codinghorror for getting Discourse started, and building the team that’s brought it to this point. It’s always been a product with a strong vision behind it, and a lasting impact on how many different communities interact. I appreciate all the work that’s gone into it so far.

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Living on the other side of the community world these days, I can safely say Discourse is one of the best all-around platforms out there.

@codinghorror thanks for investing many years into building this project. The community space is better off because of it by far. I wish you well in the next phase of your adventure!

@hawk @sam Discourse is in excellent hands under your leadership. Excited to see where you both lead things next.

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Thank you @angus @DiscourseMetrics @merefield @pekka @JimPas @BenLeong @justin – we’re here to build a great open source project that serves people, rather than trying to capture them and serve them up on a plate :wink:

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Lots of progress. Great news! It brought back a good lot of memory. Good time and bad time and time coding with the team. And it’s the first time I know HAWK’s name…

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Heh, I keep it on the down low. Back in the days when I was a baby software developer, the internet wasn’t always a safe place for young, female devs so I hid behind my surname for androgyny and it stuck.

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Congrats to @sam & @HAWK :clap: :clap: :clap:

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I feel you. The social construct doesn’t permeate the anonymous internet. For better or worse. It could be dangerous without making dialogues. Thanks to bringing up androgyny, there is no limit for men or women to be an individual. This is so interesting. I like that to happen more and more in various ways.
Congratulations again.

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I appreciate that. :heart:

For clarity, I don’t consider myself androgynous and don’t mean to belittle or confuse the concept, but it felt safer for people to assume that I was male at the time. I found that I got way less requests for photos. :wink:

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Congrats all around.

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I like that leadership model and democracy! I respect this setup with co-CEOs

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