After reviewing hundreds of speaker applications, we’re thrilled to start introducing you to the 40+ fantastic speakers who will take the stage this year at WordCamp US!

Without further ado, let’s greet the first round of WCUS speakers:

Joost de Valk

Joost is the founder and CEO of Yoast, a geek by background having built his first website in 1994 at 12 years old, he became a marketeer by trade. At Yoast he combined the two, leading to the very successful Yoast SEO plugin which is now available on several platforms.

Tammie Lister

Tammie works at Automattic as a UX Designer within the theme team. She has a varied background including psychology, design, front end development and UX. She is a contributor to WordPress both for design and themes.

Cory Miller

Cory Miller is a former newspaper journalist turned full-time entrepreneur. In 2008, he started iThemes, which builds web design software and offers cutting-edge web design training for thousands of customers around the globe.

Josepha Haden

Josepha comes from a long line of writers and was raised to be a life-long learner. She has a passion for language and storycrafting, a skill she practices on starsandthemoon.com. Josepha has over a decade of experience using SEO, data analysis, and content marketing to bring success and visibility to clients all over the world.

Kelly Dwan

Kelly Dwan is a Cambridge-based Code Wrangler at Automattic. She has worked on everything from small business websites, to higher education, to enterprise and big media. In her spare time, Kelly develops WordPress themes and contributes to the WordPress community.

Mike Schroder

Mike Schroder, known as Shredder to many, is a cross-cultural kid, coffee-drinking sailor, and lover of Open Source. He’s a WordPress Core Committer, was Release Lead for WordPress 4.5, and works as WordPress Platform Lead at DreamHost. You can find him blogging on geeky things at getsource.net.

Courtney Wilburn

Courtney is a full-stack web developer with O3 World. A native of Memphis, TN, and graduate of Bryn Mawr College, she found her way to web development via an unusual path, and can probably say that she may be the only person who is both a certified phlebotomist and Aikido black belt attending the conference.

Topher DeRosia

Topher has been a web developer for over 20 years, working exclusively with WordPress since 2010. He is currently a full time WordPress developer for Modern Tribe and also curates HeroPress.com.

Lisa Yoder

Lisa Yoder is an independent front-end developer based in Lancaster, PA, though she still spends time in Philly. She has BA degrees in English and Spanish, and prior to joining the tech world, she worked as a teacher, proofreader, and an editor of a small town newspaper.

Élise Desaulniers

Élise rediscovered the pleasure of writing thanks to WordPress and has been blogging (in French!) for seven years. She is a founding partner at Desaulniers Simard, a boutique consulting firm based in Montréal, Québec, Canada, where she’s trained hundreds of people to use WordPress and developed dozens of sites.

Ryan Markel

Ryan engineers happiness for WordPress.com VIP from St. Louis. He’s been blogging in some form or another since the turn of the millennium, eventually learning and loving WordPress. He enjoys the study of games and helping his wife (try to) control his five children.

Tessa Needham Synnott

Tessa is a designer and teacher who empowers small business owners to take control of their WordPress websites at wpsupergeek.com. She also has a background in performance, video, design, photography and writing. She is Australian, but currently lives in the Bay Area, CA, with her husband, two sons, and cat.

Check back soon for the next round of speaker announcements! And if you haven’t yet, get a ticket to WordCamp US!