Who is Discourse? | Discourse - Civilized Discussion

We aim to make the internet a better place for discussion
We build a community platform for civilized discussion on the web — we feel so strongly about it that we even named our company Civilized Discourse Construction Kit, Inc. We started in 2013 with 3 co-founders unusually passionate about online discussion.
As a hosting company, the product that we host and develop, Discourse, is of course 100% open-source software.
Yup, it's Discourse itself! With its strength in distributed teamwork, we can keep interruptions like messages, calls, and meetings to a minimum.
A recovering corporate minion with a background in the telecommunications and technology sectors, Glenn now applies himself toward tackling all of Discourse’s thorniest business challenges. He enjoys working with others on complex problems, and loves that he can do so while wearing his PJs these days even though he has a wardrobe full of dress shirts that will never again feel the chill of an office air-conditioning system.
Outside of work, Glenn enjoys playing video games, watching comedies, and spending time with his family, friends, and newly adopted dog.
When Sam is not having pun at work, he is busy making Discourse run faster, better and stronger. He was given his first ZX Spectrum computer when he was 7 and has not relinquished the helm on the keyboard since. When he is not hanging out on the Discourse Meta forum, Sam is busy rock-climbing, running or being a dad and delivering some of the best dad jokes out there.
Before joining the Discourse team, Hawk was an online community consultant who worked with organisations to implement world-class platform solutions. When it became apparent that all of those solutions were Discourse based, she jumped ship to infiltrate this mission. She brings a unique combination of UX and community wrangling skills to the team.
While Discourse is her greatest love, Hawk is also pretty partial to wine, the gym, and her twins.
Amanda is a former biologist who loves science, nature, people, and everything mentally stimulating. Working as a remote software engineer for the past 8 years, she has already faced many challenges, all of which were solved with lots of patience and effort. As a big fan of deep discussions and people connections, she fell in love with Discourse from the beginning.
Arpit is a geek who loves computers religiously. Ever since he learned about Discourse he wanted to be a part of the mission, so much so that he spent a year working as an intern. Other than computers, he likes reading books and watching movies.
Bannon is a self-starter driven by curiosity and a lifelong love of learning. Along his journey, he discovered a deep passion for community management and open-source software. He’s less concerned with which technologies he uses than with continuing to explore, build, and collaborate with others through computers — something he hopes to do for the rest of his life.
Chris is a hacking enthusiast who gets excited about learning and taking things apart. Aside from working on making the internet a better place for people here at Discourse, he spends most of his time creating music and tinkering with synthesizers. Otherwise you might find him playing with cats, riding his single speed bike around town, or visiting the cinema.
David has a love for travel, food, building things online, and creating content for the internet. As a seasoned competitor in online strategy games and live poker tournaments, David enjoys the thrill of friendly competition to keep him on his toes.
In his free time, he is often behind the camera producing videos for YouTube or binge-watching a new tv show with a glass of wine. He is also a proud parent to a quirky and feline companion.
David created his first Discourse plugin in 2016, and hasn’t looked back since! Google Summer of Code with Discourse convinced him that a career in open source was the way forward. Having now graduated from university with a physics degree, he works to make civilized discourse transcend space and time.
When he’s not programming, David can be found behind the scenes at the nearest theatre, playing the oboe, or walking the dogs in the English countryside.
Gabriel got into programming in high school, in a microcontrollers class, but since then, he has become interested in web technologies and has been in love with them ever since. He loves building products and solving people’s problems.
When Gabriel is not at work, he can be found playing with his dog, watching movies, or getting a new tattoo.
Gerhard is passionate about software development and online communities. So, when he first discovered Discourse, he knew he wanted to be part of it. Making everyone’s life a little bit easier by writing code sounds like fun to him – writing about himself, not so much.
Alan had his first encounter with online forums when he was 12 while searching for guides on how to breed black dragon betta fish. These days he spend his time working on Discourse, running a YouTube channel with his wife, and learning to be a father.
Born in Canada but now a citizen of a small town in Kansas alongside his wife and son, Isaac can be found working out of a converted garden shed in his backyard. If he is not sweating from the lack of air conditioning, he is sweating trying to find the most efficient and sustainable solution to his problem.
In all things, Isaac strives to be kind and leave people feeling heard and cared for.
Jamie has spent over 25 years working for companies that have largely been about bringing people together. That includes online communities for social activists, sports fans and retirees, and dating sites for lonely singles in your area.
When not in front of a computer, he enjoys watching bad TV and making obscure references to things that everyone else has long forgotten about. He has lived in four countries. His cat has lived in three.
First, Jarek got into discussion forums in mid-2000s, then shortly after he got hooked on making we