From Curiosity to Community Leadership
Savitha Raghunathan’s journey into open source began in 2018 when her role as a platform engineer required her to deploy Kubernetes in a lab environment. With little institutional knowledge available, she turned to the Kubernetes community—and never looked back.
What started as a search for help quickly turned into a passion. Encouraged by her first experience at KubeCon Seattle and a pivotal interaction during a SIG ContribEx session, Savitha dove into the community head-first. She began contributing by fixing a simple 404 error in documentation, and eventually grew into a leadership role, even leading the Kubernetes 1.22 release during the height of the pandemic.
Building More Than Just Software
Over the years, Savitha wore many hats: contributor, mentor, release team lead, and now, maintainer of CNCF’s Konveyor project. Her contributions have extended beyond code—leading security documentation, helping new contributors, and advocating for mental wellness within the open source space.
A standout moment for her was co-presenting a talk on maintainer burnout at KubeCon Valencia, a topic deeply personal to her after taking on too much. Despite stepping back from active contributions at times, she always felt welcomed and supported by the community. “It’s a safe space,” she says. “They encourage people to be vocal about their limits. That’s rare.”
Growing as a Technologist—and as a Human
Through open source, Savitha discovered more than just technical skills. “The Kubernetes community made me a better human first,” she reflects. From improving her public speaking to becoming more empathetic and supportive in team dynamics, she credits the community with helping her grow both professionally and personally.
She now runs Konveyor community meetings, volunteers with various OSS communities, and continues to mentor others. Her approach to contributions has evolved, focusing on balance, communication, and fostering inclusive spaces for newcomers.
Advice to Newcomers
Savitha encourages anyone interested in open source to start with documentation or join a meeting. “There are always ways to help,” she notes, highlighting that contributions aren’t limited to code—program management, mentoring, marketing, and more are essential. Her golden rule? “Show up, ask how to help, and follow through.”
Final Reflection
Open source isn’t just a career catalyst for Savitha—it’s a life-changing community. “It takes a village to release something in Kubernetes,” she says. “And that village helped me grow.” Whether contributing, mentoring, or just listening, she remains deeply committed to giving back to the space that shaped her.