Funding the Future: Community Collaboration and the Spirit of Open Source with Mila Zhou

Join host Yesenia as she sits down with Mila Zhou, Open Source Program Manager at AWS, to explore the fascinating intersection of finance, strategy, and security in the open source ecosystem. Mila shares her unique journey from forensic auditing to spearheading AWS funding initiatives, breaking down how strategic financial backing transforms vulnerable "long tail" projects and empowers dedicated security champions. Discover how full-time security engineers at foundations are securing critical repositories like PyPI, why community-driven forks like Valkey represent the true spirit of collaboration, and how the OpenSSF Ambassador Program is helping close the gap between developers and security experts. 

Chapters:

• 00:25 - Welcome & Introductions
• 01:03 - From Accounting to AWS OSPO
• 06:26 - A Day in the Life of an OSPO Program Manager
• 09:53 - Navigating Critical Funding & The Long Tail
• 13:25 - Valkey and Community-Driven Innovation
• 15:29 - The Invisible Power of Dedicated Security Engineers
• 28:46 - Marketing, Non-Code Contributions, and the Ambassador Program
• 36:25 - Rapid Fire Fun
• 37:05 - Final Thoughts & Closing

Episode links:

• Miaolai (Mila) Zhou’s LinkedIn page
• Alpha-Omega Website
• Alpha-Omega Public Repository
• Valkey
• Mike Fiedler’s LinkedIn
• Seth Larson’s LinkedIn
• Yesenia’s Blog on Building a Team of Open Source Security Engineers in Residence
• The Hidden Heroes: How Non-Code Contributors Find Their Place in Open Source Communities - Miaolai Zhou & Lahari Chowtoori, AWS
• OpenSSF Ambassador Program
• Get involved with the OpenSSF
• Subscribe to the OpenSSF Newsletter
• Follow the OpenSSF on LinkedIn