IXP Program, How we delivered 1500 credits in year one

Session Category Community Room 182 Audience All Attendees Time Slot Sat 3:00pm to 3:45pm (2/21/26)

Almost a year ago, we launched the IXP Program to solve a challenge every Drupal community member knows: talented newcomers can't get hired without experience, but can't gain experience without someone taking a chance on them. This program embodies Drupal's values of "Better together" and "Prioritize impact."

This session shares real outcomes from putting community values into action: 5 new developers connected with 3 companies, delivering over 1500 contribution credits. IXP participants mastered content management, created custom modules, implemented DevOps practices, and contributed meaningfully to Drupal.org modules.

Rather than theoretical frameworks, you'll learn from both our victories and challenges—the practical reality of building sustainable talent development that works for newcomers, organizations, and the entire Drupal ecosystem.

About the Speakers

Carlos Ospina

CTO at Palcera

Houston, TX

Carlos is a computer engineer with over 25 years of experience. Working in the Drupal community for the past 13 years and with open source since 1996. Currently working as CTO of Palcera LLC and as a fractional TAM/Drupal and DevOps Architect.

Carlos has joined efforts with the Drupal community to help organize events, speak in different Drupal camps in both the English and Spanish communities in the US and Latin America.

D.O: https://www.drupal.org/u/camoa
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/camoa/

Ana Laura Coto

Drupal Sr Developer at Realistic Computing

Houston, TX

From Digital Product Designer to Full Stack Drupal developer who bridges technologies to people, contributing to the web development community through active involvement and knowledge sharing. I break complex designs into reusable components, foster conversations between developers and stakeholders, and always keep security, performance, and maintainability at the forefront.

Crossing the path from Designer to Developer I found that the tools and skills that I cultivated are a key for the successfulness of our projects. Beyond coding, Teamwork, communication, analysis, and problem solving marc the difference for victory. The technology we use to get there may change but human skilss defined how I manage my team to make the best of it and help us thrive on creative solutions that don't compromise usability or content structure.

Let's connect!