Hi, I'm Justin. For over 20 years, I've been passionate about building the digital and social infrastructure that empowers open-source communities to connect, grow, and innovate. I'm a hands-on technical leader who excels at turning complex ideas into tangible, high-impact programs.
As the Vice-Chair for Open Neuromorphic, I help guide the strategic vision for a global community of over 2,500 members. My work is centered on creating an "enabling ecosystem"—building central hubs, fostering strategic partnerships, and architecting contributor funnels that empower people to collaborate and push the boundaries of technology together.
- Portfolio: visioninit.dev
- Let's Connect: LinkedIn
- My Code: GitHub
My work focuses on the intersection of technology, community, and strategy. Here are a few highlights:
I architected and led the complete revitalization of the community's central hub, redesigning open-neuromorphic.org with strategic "contributor funnels" to guide new users from discovery to active participation.
- ONM Mission Board: I conceived, built, and launched a platform that uses a GitHub Actions workflow to automatically scrape partner repositories for 'help wanted' issues, channeling community contributions to solve key ecosystem challenges.
- ONM Collaboration Network: I established a formal partnership program to unify foundational open-source tools and amplify their collective reach through reciprocal linking and promotion.
- Governance & Strategy: I co-developed the strategic vision, organizational charter, and governance for a global open-source foundation of over 2,500 members, helping to shape our mission and drive growth. I also authored the official Sponsorship Policy to ensure transparency and protect our community's editorial independence.
I led the web development for this project, collaborating with researchers from Google, MIT, and Hugging Face to transform a dense academic paper into an accessible, interactive open-source resource.
I founded, built, and successfully exited aimodels.org, a platform for discovering and collaborating on open-source AI models, demonstrating a full project lifecycle from concept to acquisition.
- Gained deep insight into the operations and strategy of a world-class academic institution by developing and maintaining its complex digital platforms.
- Partnered with the marketing department to align technical solutions with organizational storytelling, shaping my understanding of how to build and market a premier digital product for a global audience.
I build the strategy and the tools to back it up. I enjoy co-developing the vision and governance for an open-source community, but I don't stop there. I believe in building the platforms and automated workflows that bring that strategy to life and lower the barrier to entry for everyone.
I create value from the ground up. I have a knack for turning a concept into a tangible asset. I also find unconventional ways to mobilize resources, like earning ~$2,000 in bug bounties from Stanford and HackerOne by identifying and fixing critical security vulnerabilities.
I connect people and ideas. The best communities are built on shared understanding. I excel at translating deep technical concepts for diverse audiences and fostering a culture of collaboration. I believe in building the digital spaces where both experts and newcomers feel empowered to contribute.
- Leadership & Strategy: Community Growth Strategy, Strategic Planning, Governance & Policy, Open Source Advocacy, Contributor Onboarding & Engagement.
- Community & Content: Forum Management, Developer Relations (DevRel), Content Strategy, Technical & Non-Technical Communication, Event Management (Webcasts).
- Technical & DevOps: Full-Stack Web Development (Python, JS, Drupal), Cloud Infrastructure (GCP, AWS), GitHub Actions (CI/CD), Docker, Kubernetes, Linux System Administration.
- Security Mindset: Web Security & Ethical Hacking (Bug Bounty Hunting), Proactive Vulnerability Reporting, Secure Development Practices.
I'm always open to discussing new projects, open-source collaborations, or strategic technical challenges.
- Schedule a Chat: cal.com/visioninit/30min
- Connect on LinkedIn: /in/riddiough