Mother of WordPress - Kim Parsell

A middle aged woman- known as #wpmom was an active and well-loved mother of the WordPress community. Kim Parsell has left behind a legacy of service and passed away in 2015.

A memorial scholarship was established in her name after the untimely death that shows her influence on the WordPress community. This act has inspired many women working in the WordPress community. 

Being an essential member of the WordPress documentation team, Kim has contributed to five progressive WordPress releases. She was especially proud to have been recognized in Matt Mullenweg’s State of the Word address in 2014.

Here's a video of Kim delivering a speech at Wordcamp San Francisco 2014. Here, you can understand the complexity and breadth of her active contributions to the platform.

How She Became #wpmom

Before knowing how she came out as the mother of the WordPress community, it would be better if we will understand her background. 

She has lived on the top of the hill, lived off a dirt road in rural Southern Ohio. She was oftentimes looking after her property with several neighbors up and down the road. She got Internet access from the tower that transmits wireless signals, comparable to a cell phone, although at a moderate speed.

The greatest thing about Kim is that whether you’re standing at the back of the line or the front she would have walked her way down that line to let everyone know they were equally as important and that the only reason there’s a line is because everyone can’t be in the same place at once" - Amanda

She brought people together and had the salty, country-gal personality who would not put up with your bull crap and yet would never break one rule of etiquette in the process of letting you know- Jayvie Canono 

How She Came in Contact with WordPress Community

Kim came in contact with the WordPress community members by monitoring to the regular podcast of WordPress weekly. She interacted with them on a weekly basis. 

She got the chance to meet them on the shows and after the hour's sessions. That helps in establishing long-lasting relationships and has opened future opportunities for her. 

As she lived in the location where no one was aware of WordPress, so, we can say that joining the community was the fabulous opportunity she has grasped to be with like-minded people. 

She has grasped the opportunity with open arms and has interacted with the community on WordPress events and also online.  

As per the statements of other community members - many members of the WordPress community become her second family, and she took her responsibility very seriously.

First Women of the WordPress Community

Known as the first woman of the WordPress community who has invested her time in executing the valuable work. She was enthusiastic about breaking into technology.    

She worked hard to build a secure environment experiencing herself. Her keen knowledge has made her "#wpmom". Kim was determined on the documentation team and has contributed incalculable hours of volunteer time and also has received five main releases of WordPress.

The Keen Photographer

She was an enthusiastic photographer before getting engaged in WordPress. All of her photos are taken from her property in Southern Ohio. The photographic skills she owned has shown the beautification of Ohio to the world. 

Kim Parsell Memorial Scholarship

The memorial scholarship offers to fund those women who commit to WordPress for attending WordCamp US. It is the flagship event for the WordPress community. 

Details of Kim Parsell scholarship are defined below:

• It is for the woman-identifying contributor that necessitates financial help and has never attended WordCamp US before.
• WordPress foundation funds it.
• It is meant only for the WordCamp US than any other WordCamp.
• The receipts of scholarship are announced annually. The condition may vary when the community chooses someone. 
• The community awards one scholarship per year.
• The global community team awards it to the receipt three months prior to the event.
• This scholarship integrates the cost of the round trip flight, event trick, and lodging throughout the event.

Past Awardees

* Anyssa Ferreira

The 2015 recipient - Anyssa Ferreira; a Brazilian designer, feminist & WordPress community activist.

* Elizabeth Shilling

The 2016 recipient - Elizabeth Shilling; a former biology teacher who is an aspiring business owner, plugin developer, and feminist leader.

* Bianca Welds

This 2017 recipient - Bianca Welds; she now works in more general and project management areas, while freelancing through her WordPress consultancy. She was an early adopter of WordPress, creating her first WordPress site in 2005.

* Nidhi Jain

This 2018 recipient is Nidhi Jain; she works full time as a WordPress developer, building custom themes and client sites.

* Carol Gann

This 2019 recipient is Carol Gann; a Meetup coordinator from the WordPress Orlando Community, is a woman who is doing just that.

A Great Contributor

She has worked on enhancing the documentation in the WordPress community being a member of the docs team. Kim has contributed substantially to the work of integrating inline documentation to each hook in WordPress.

Her regular contributions were noticed and was mentioned by Matt Mullenweg in the state of the World presentation, WordCamp San Francisco in 2014. She has also contributed to all releases of WordPress from 3.7 to 4.1. 

Thank You #wp mom

A contributor, a supporter, a mentor, best teammate, highly confident- words will be less to describe the personality Kim Parsell was. She was the champion of the WordPress community. She will always be emblazoned in our minds. 

The memorial scholarship is here to serve and encourage those who are following her footsteps.  

Carrie Dils has described Kim's personality with Scripture's definition of love as:

• Love never gives up.
• Love cares more for others than for self.
• Love doesn’t want what it doesn’t have.
• Love doesn’t strut,
• Doesn’t have a swelled head,
• Doesn’t force itself on others,
• Isn’t always “me first,”
• Doesn’t fly off the handle,
• Doesn’t keep score of the sins of others,
• Doesn’t revel when others grovel,
• Takes pleasure in the flowering of truth,
• Puts up with anything,
• Trusts God always,
• Always looks for the best,
• Never looks back,
• But keeps going to the end.

We hope you liked this article.

If you have any lasting memory of legendary Kim Parsell, then do share with us in the comment section below. Thanks for sparing your precious time for reading!!