Yoast Care fund: An interview with Hauwa Abashiya

Recipient:
Hauwa Abashiya

Nominated by:
Courtney Robertson

Today we’re interviewing Hauwa Abashiya, who was nominated for the Yoast Care fund by Courtney Robertson. Because Hauwa does a lot for WordPress. Curious about what she does? We’ll let Courtney tell you more about that.

Nominator Courtney Robertson: Hauwa brings her talents as a certified project manager to the WordPress community. She is a co-rep for the training team wrangling the content on Learn.WordPress.org, contributes to the accessibility team, and has participated in Core releases. In addition to all these roles, she has been the sponsor wrangler for 2 WordFest events this year.”

Let’s get to know Hauwa Abashiya!

Thanks for that lovely introduction, Courtney. It gives us some insight into the different contributions that Hauwa brings to WordPress. But let’s get to know Hauwa a bit better by asking her some questions about her work and passion for WordPress:

Hi, Hauwa! Can you tell us more about what you do?

In my day job, I’m a freelance project manager working on projects that cover areas such as supply chain, purchasing/ecommerce, logistics, and procurement. You may not know that I hold a degree in Computing and Information Systems and a Masters in Object-Oriented Information Systems. Does anyone remember the acronyms WAP and WML? Now we have HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Since joining the WordPress community, I have taken on the challenge of being both a WordCamp London 2019 and a WordFest 2021 organizer. I am a WordPress.org Training Team Rep and I’m involved in the ongoing development of the Learn WordPress resource. Besides that, I was also on the cohort for the WordPress Release Squad for 5.6. I contribute to the Training, Marketing, and Accessibility Teams for WordPress.org.

Why did you start contributing?

I started contributing because I wanted to learn more about WordPress, and I liked the vibe of the community. A special thanks to Jenny Wong who introduced me to my local London Meetup.

Shortly after joining the London Meetup, the team mentioned they were looking for organizers for WordCamp London 2019. Guess who put their hand up? Me :-) My reasoning at the time was, hey, I’m used to working on big complex projects, so as long as it’s no worse than that, I’ll be fine. A big thanks to Dan Maby and Barbara Saul for taking a chance on a complete newbie :-) The majority of the team was fairly new but thank goodness Dan and Babara had the patience to answer our numerous questions.

I was managing sponsors, which I have to admit was very scary; you are the person in charge of securing sponsorships – what if you don’t get any?! Don’t panic! The beauty of the WordPress community is that help is always at hand. A lot goes into organizing an event: the time, resources, and lack of sleep, but the people you meet and the amazing friendships and connections you make, make it all worthwhile.

What moment are you most proud of?

Learn WordPress. Learn WordPress is a learning resource for anyone who wants to learn how to use, build, and contribute to WordPress. It is an open-source platform that offers a range of materials and opportunities for you to use at your own pace and at a time that works for you. It has been built for the community by the community and was officially launched in December 2020.

There are people who cannot afford an education or an online course, have a limited amount of time or lack the resources to deliver material in their classrooms or to their community. For me, Learn WordPress has the potential to be the answer for them. However, it needs input from companies and subject matter experts to space the direction and content. Otherwise, we end up with people lacking the skills needed to find work with a company or starting something on their own.

What would you love to do in the future?

There are so many things that I want to do. You will hear me say this a lot but if only I could clone myself, I’d rotate between (these are in no particular order) full-time work, LearnWP, supporting charities like Big Orange Heart, sewing, cooking, traveling, and supply chain/eCommerce projects that pique my interest. Of course, there will need to be some way to transfer all the knowledge and skills to each clone. Can you tell that I am also a fan of SCI-FI?

I would love to work on projects that challenge me and pique my interest. Many a time have I jumped on board a project because it was complex, something I didn’t know, I liked the idea (the 5.8 Release Squad) or it was in support of a cause. The beauty of project management is that once you know the basics, you can apply them to any industry. There is a learning curve when it comes to the specifics of the industry but this is all part and parcel of learning, for me at least.

Where may people find you?

You can reach out to me on Twitter, LinkedIn, my website, WordPress.org training, accessibility, and marketing Slack channels, WordPress London Meetup, WordCamp London, London WooCommerce Meetup, and BigOrangeHeart Slack.

Thank you for this interview, Hauwa. And for all of your contributions to the WordPress community! If you’re reading this and know someone like Hauwa who also deserves to be in the spotlight, go to our Yoast Care page and nominate them right away.