We are happy to welcome our new 2025 Open Mainframe Project ambassadors! These are a group of committed people who care deeply about sharing and growing the use of mainframe technology in many industries.
The main goal of the Ambassadors Program is to let more people know how they can join the community and help move Open Mainframe Project forward. The new ambassadors come from different parts of the world and work at companies and groups that use mainframe technology. They were chosen for their skills, leadership, and strong support for the Open Mainframe Project’s goals.
These ambassadors have offered to give talks, guide others, look over materials or slides, and write blogs or articles that highlight the Open Mainframe Foundation and its many projects.
We are excited to have this group of people with different skills, experiences, and technical knowledge help grow the Open Mainframe Project around the world.
Here, you will find each ambassador’s personal bio, three fun facts they have shared, and their reason for wanting to be part of the ambassador program.
To see last year’s group, check out the 2024 Open Mainframe Project Ambassadors blog.
Let’s learn more about them:
Aazam Ajmal Thakur, Student
Aazam Thakur is a senior year engineering student majoring in Artificial Intelligence and Data Science. He was a Summer 2024 mentee at the Open Mainframe Project for Feilong as part of LFX ’24. He is a frequent contributor to open source projects and has been contributing to the Airbyte project for over two years. Aazam has won several hackathons and enjoys building projects and writing blogs in his spare time.
3 Fun Facts:
- I am addicted to solving puzzles, it’s simply too much fun.
- Occasionally I dive deep into researching historical events.
- My best trip was when I went to Umrah. It was simply mesmerising.
Why he wanted to be an ambassador:
Working for the Feilong project had been a blast, I want to get the project more popular and have gain lots more users and contributors.
Aditi Rai, Student
Aditi Rai is a dedicated cybersecurity enthusiast and B.Tech Computer Science student at VIT. She is the founder of CyberTeam, where she has mentored over 20 students and led workshops impacting more than 4,000 participants. As an LFX’24 Mentee at the Open Mainframe Project under the Linux Foundation, she contributed to modernizing mainframe programming strategies and co-authored a whitepaper shaping enterprise strategies.
Aditi has achieved top placements in global hackathons and CTFs, and has delivered seminars to thousands at OWASP and Null Community. Her projects include dark web crawlers, SIEM tools, and security-focused applications for law enforcement. Her expertise includes penetration testing, ethical hacking, threat modeling, cloud security, network and web security, cryptography, and application security. Aditi is committed to advancing cybersecurity awareness and innovation.
3 Fun Facts:
- Loves traveling – finds inspiration in exploring new places and cultures.
- Badminton enthusiast – enjoys both competition and teamwork on the court.
- Poet & storyteller – expresses emotions through love stories and poetry.
Why she wanted to be an ambassador:
I am deeply passionate about fostering collaboration and innovation within the open-source and mainframe communities. My experience as an LFX’24 mentee at the Open Mainframe Project equipped me with a profound understanding of mainframe modernization and the transformative potential of open source in enterprise environments. Becoming an ambassador aligns with my vision to educate, inspire, and engage professionals and students globally. Through this program, I aim to leverage my technical expertise, mentorship skills, and public speaking experience to advocate for open source practices, drive community engagement, and contribute meaningfully to the Open Mainframe Project’s mission.
Andrej Chmelo, Software Engineer, Broadcom
Andrej is a software engineer at Broadcom with a strong focus on Java development. Passionate about software architecture and mainframe modernization, Andrej is dedicated to bridging the gap between legacy systems and modern technologies. He is an advocate for open source adoption in enterprise environments and strive to drive innovation in the mainframe ecosystem.
3 Fun Facts:
- I enjoy just about every activity in the mountains
- I spent years avoiding martial arts—only to fall in love with them as an adult.
- I love the German language, but I’ll probably never master it.
Why he wanted to be an ambassador:
As long time Zowe community member I would like to continue sharing the knowledge with others and help users to accelarete adoption of the open source technology on mainframe.
Billie Jean Simmons, Software Developer, IBM
Billie Jean Simmons is a software developer for IBM with 7 years of experience in zDevOps. She is the Zowe Explorer Squad Co-Lead and a contributor to Zowe client-side projects.
3 Fun Facts:
- She is an avid read and audiobook enthusiast; some favorite authors include Jim Butcher and Lisa Gardner.
- She enjoys spending time riding her motorcycle and taking road trips of any kind.
- She enjoys attending Comicons.
Why she wanted to be an ambassador:
I love getting the chance to share information, updates, and education with users about the Zowe projects as well as the education opportunities provided by the Open Mainframe Project. Just this past year I presented in over 20 different opportunities that were focused on Zowe, 8 of them were face to face across 2 SHARE conferences and a Women in Tech conference. I feel like an Ambassador already, I finally remembered to get the application in on time.
Geoffrey Decker, Instructor, NIU
Geoffrey Decker earned his B.A. in Music from the University of Kansas in 1986 and his M.S. in Computer Science from Northern Illinois University in 1990. He worked for 11 years in the Kansas City area as a mainframe software developer in the financial industry before returning to NIU in 2001 as a computer science instructor focused on mainframe and enterprise development. He is a co-founder of Eli Madison Memorial Apprenticeships and continues to teach and mentor students at all levels.
He has professional experience with programming languages including COBOL, Assembler, JCL, C++, C, and CA-IDEAL, and has taught these as well as Java and Android mobile app development. His master’s degree focused on MVS Systems Programming.
With over 36 years in software development and 23 years in higher education, he has received three Excellence in Teaching awards from NIU’s Department of Computer Science in 2005, 2019, and 2021. He has been named an IBM Z Champion in 2022, 2023, 2024, and 2025, and is a member of the Governing Board of the Open Mainframe Project of the LinuxOne Foundation.
He plays French horn in the DeKalb Municipal Band and the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra, writes program notes and classical music reviews, reads history, and is fluent in German.
3 Fun Facts:
- Fun facts about me are that I play French horn semi-professionally, being a member of both the Kishwaukee Symphony Orchestra, our local community orchestra, and in the DeKalb Municipal Band during summers.
- Another is that I own about 25,000 compact discs and 5000 vinyl records, 98% of it all being classical and opera. I subscribe to and regularly attend performances of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago and Music of the Baroque Chicago.
- Finally, I love to cook!
Why he wanted to be an ambassador:
Anything I can do to spread the word that mainframe education is important and that a lot of my current and past students want to work in mainframe! I am 110% devoted to mainframe evangelism!
Germanas Samrickis, Software Developer, Rocket Software
Experienced Database and System Administrator with a strong background in the financial services industry and expertise in mainframe infrastructure. Skilled in analytical problem-solving, system optimization, and ensuring compliance with industry standards. Additionally, an accomplished Software Engineer proficient in designing and delivering scalable solutions using enterprise-level programming languages. A dedicated educator specializing in enterprise server technologies, middleware, server architecture, and administration, with a passion for mentoring and empowering others with real-world, practical expertise. Recognized as an industry-wide expert and IBM Champion, regularly speaking at international conferences to share insights and drive innovation. Strong information technology professional holding a Master’s degree in Information and Information System Security from KTU.
3 Fun Facts:
- I basically live on boards—snowboard in the winter, wakeboard in the summer. Grass? I only touch that by accident when I fall getting off the lift.
- I studied political science to change the world… then I realized debugging code was way less stressful than debating policy. So now I fix bugs instead of governments.
- Years of teaching taught me one thing—open source on the mainframe turns curious students into future tech disruptors.
Why he wanted to be an ambassador:
My goal is to inspire others to engage with mainframe technology and help them realize its relevance in addressing modern challenges. I want to contribute to its growth, drive meaningful collaborations, and ensure that this technology continues to thrive in a rapidly evolving landscape.
Harithamma D, Senior Software Developer, IBM
Haritha is a senior coding expert, open source leader, and problem solver with over 15 years of experience in technology. She has worked as a Tech Specialist and Tech Lead in the banking and airport domains and is now the Open Source APAC Guild Lead, actively contributing to the z/OS open-source space.
She is a software developer skilled in C, C++, Java, Shell scripting, SQL, System Design, CORBA, and Multi-Threading, with a strong understanding of Distributed Systems. Her experience spans platforms like Linux, Solaris, and z/OS.
Her journey started in Finance and Airports, moving from application development to system development, enabling new tools and libraries on z/OS. She advocates for their adoption to improve the developer experience. As the APAC Guild Lead for the zOpen community, she focuses on building impactful tools that enhance the z/OS platform.
3 Fun Facts:
- I’m all about road trips 🚗 —just don’t ask me to ride a bike!
- I’m deeply into Carnatic vocal music—it keeps my mind as harmonized as my code (well, most of the time).
- I’ve been honoured with the Outstanding Technical Achiever Award, TCAP Significant Leader Award, and IBM Tech 2025 Award—not just a coder, but an achiever too!
Why she wanted to be an ambassador:
I aspire to be an ambassador because I’m passionate about bridging the gap between modern tools and legacy systems, enabling developers to navigate complex environments like z/OS with ease. Having transitioned from application development to system development, I’ve gained a unique perspective that allows me to empathise with challenges faced by developers across diverse platforms.
As an ambassador, I want to create awareness about the availability of widely used open source tools on platforms like Linux, macOS, and Windows, now ported to z/OS through zOpen. By sharing this information, developers familiar with these tools can seamlessly adopt zOpen tools, enabling them to work more efficiently on z/OS. Our efforts in porting and enabling these tools aim to make developers’ lives easier and help them adapt to z/OS as a first-class development platform.
Being a part of initiatives like the zOpen community and contributing to the development and adoption of impactful tools has shown me the importance of representation and advocacy. Through blogs, presentations, and hands-on demonstrations, I aim to empower developers, foster collaboration, and inspire them to embrace z/OS as a robust and developer-friendly platform.
As an ambassador, I want to bridge communities, share my knowledge, and drive innovation to make z/OS a platform that developers love working on.
Igor Todorovski, Software Developer, IBM
Igor Todorovski is a passionate advocate for open source software on IBM z/OS. With over 17 years at IBM, he has worked extensively on z/OS and compilers, and now focuses on open-source enablement. As the lead of the zopen community, he is driving modernization efforts by building a thriving ecosystem of developers and porting over 200 open source tools to z/OS. His mission is to bridge the technology gap between z/OS and other platforms, making it more accessible to developers.
Igor is deeply engaged in the open source community, collaborating with maintainers and developers to upstream z/OS support in widely used projects. Beyond technical contributions, he is involved in public access initiatives, educational efforts through guild meetings, blogs, and advocacy to make z/OS a first-class open source platform.
3 Fun Facts:
- Igor’s favourite editor is Vim (and now NeoVim). He once spent an hour perfecting a Vim macro just to save five minutes of repetitive typing.
- His dog, Bailey, is often a furry co-worker by his side during late-night open source coding sessions.
- He finds renovations and coding equally satisfying. Both can start as a mess but come together beautifully in the end.
Why he wanted to be an ambassador:
I want to become an Open Mainframe Project ambassador because I’m passionate about advancing open source development on z/OS and making it a first-class open source platform. Through blog posts and speaking engagements, I can share my experiences with z/OS Open Tools, highlight how we’ve modernized the platform through the tools we’ve ported, and promote open source innovations.
JJ Lovett, Sr Manager, Education & Customer Engagement, Broadcom
JJ Lovett is a leader in global customer success and engagement strategies, program development, customer experience, and operations management with a track record of translating business and technology needs into results that help drive value. 25+ years of experience in the information technology sector and 20-year veteran of the United States Armed Forces.
3 Fun Facts:
- I haven’t counted how many countries I have visited, but a cool nugget is that I have stood on the easternmost point (Somalia) and westernmost point (Senegal) in Africa while supporting various military missions there.
- My wife, Ali, and I have two daughters – Juliana (21) and Keira (19) – both awesome young women doing very well throughout their academic careers. The cool tidbit is that both were born at 12:52 AM on their birthdays.
- For our annual trips, as a family, we have picked various US National Parks across the 48 contiguous lower states to explore. It’s been a great way to see the expansive nature of our country and its natural beauty. We have expanded beyond the US focus to Canada (Banff & the Canadian Rockies) as well as the Caribbean (St Kitts & Nevis).
Why he wanted to be an ambassador:
I’ve been doing a fair bit of it the past several years so would be nice to make it official. I enjoy giving back to a community that has given to me so much throughout the years. I have spoken at several SHARE events in sessions and BoF events as well as IBM Tech Exchange Community Day and GSE UK. As a part of the MOE Core Team, I write the update blogs for the project as well.
Rahat Khan, Student
Rahat is a 19-year-old open source enthusiast making meaningful contributions to the community. In his first year of college, he was selected for the Linux Foundation Mentorship Program (LFX’24) and now works as a contractor for OMP under the Linux Foundation.
Currently pursuing a B-Tech in Computer Science Engineering with a focus on AI/ML, Rahat maintains strong academic performance while actively participating in open source projects. He’s contributed to numerous respected organizations and recently joined the Open Mainframe Project (OMP) as an ambassador. His journey with OMP evolved from LFX mentee to full-time member (contractor).
Beyond coding, Rahat is passionate about tech content creation. His YouTube channel has garnered over 1.5 million impressions where he hosts podcasts with industry leaders, including IBM’s CTO. He’s building the “1stSemCoder” community to help students navigate their early coding journey, leveraging his experience in software development to create accessible educational content.
As a digital creator, Rahat bridges technical knowledge with engaging storytelling, making complex concepts approachable for beginners while fostering an inclusive open source community.
3 Fun facts:
- I’m the only software developer from my entire town, pioneering tech in my community.
- I went from not knowing how to operate a computer (as I didn’t own one) to having two laptops and working as a Linux Foundation contractor in just one year.
- I can raise one eyebrow independently – a quirky skill I sometimes use during debugging sessions!
Why he wanted to be an ambassador:
During my mentorship in 2024, I learned about the OMP Ambassador Program and its impact through my interactions with several ambassadors, including those from OMP and IBM Champions. As part of my work on the “Mainframe Voices” video series, I had the privilege of interviewing these passionate individuals, which gave me a deeper appreciation for the ambassador community’s role in spreading knowledge, fostering collaboration, and promoting innovation.
This inspired me to start contributing to OMP, and while I’ve made initial contributions, I am eager to do more. Becoming an OMP Ambassador would allow me to actively participate in this vibrant community and amplify my efforts to share knowledge and advocate for open source and mainframes. By leveraging the resources and connections provided by the program, I believe I can reach a broader audience and encourage others to explore these areas.
I’m particularly passionate about educating people about the significance of mainframes and the opportunities within open source. As an ambassador, I could do this more effectively by hosting workshops, writing content, and collaborating with other ambassadors. The platform would also give me a stronger foundation to back my efforts, making my initiatives more impactful and meaningful.
Ultimately, I see this role as an opportunity to not only grow my own understanding but also to contribute to the broader mission of OMP by fostering a stronger, more informed, and more engaged community.
Rudiger Schulze, Senior Technical Staff Member, IBM
Ruediger Schulze is a Senior Technical Staff Member at IBM Germany Lab and as Tech Lead responsible for Observability and OpenTelemetry for IBM Z and LinuxONE. He is a co-chair of the OpenTelemetry on Mainframe SIG in the OpenTelemetry community and leads an open innovation community for observability at IBM. He has more than two decades of experience in the successful development and implementation of mainframe and cloud projects for large customers. He is certified as a Cloud Solution Architect for multiple clouds and enjoys designing and building innovative hybrid cloud solutions for his customers.
3 Fun Facts:
- I like listening to synth pop and melodic electronic music.
- I spend most of my vacations in Poland.
- I used to do cycling tours, mostly across Europe and climbed the Col du Galibier twice.
Why he wanted to be an ambassador:
Since my first contact with the Open Mainframe Project (OMP) in 2023, the OMP was pivotal in establishing and promoting the work of the SIG OpenTelemetry on Mainframe. This collaboration with the OMP gave me the opportunity to participate and speak at various events about the OpenTelemetry adoption on mainframes in 2024 – for which I’m very much grateful. I’d like to continue this collaboration with the OMP, increase my own contribution to the OMP and further explore opportunities for meaningful give back to the community.
As an Open Mainframe Project Ambassador, I plan to
(1) continue to drive the adoption of OpenTelemetry to enhance the end-to-end observability capabilities of the mainframe platform in hybrid cloud environments, (2) focus on knowledge sharing about application modernization, modern development, DevOps and observability best practices and (3) champion open standards to simplify and streamline mainframe operations.
Sean Rooney, AIOps & Automation Client Services Technical Consultant, IBM
Sean Rooney is a dedicated mainframer currently supporting large-scale migrations and conversions to Broadcom’s automation product: OPS/MVS. He helps organizations adopt and integrate mainframe automation solutions, working closely with clients to solve challenges and develop strategic adoption roadmaps.
He grew up in New York and now lives in San Diego, California, combining East Coast determination with West Coast creativity. His career includes roles as a Db2 Database Administrator and Storage and System Support Engineer, giving him a strong technical foundation in enterprise-level systems.
Sean is passionate about mainframe education and mentoring, sharing knowledge with the community, and speaking at conferences to inspire others. He values continuous learning and enjoys connecting with professionals to drive innovation and growth.
3 Fun Facts:
- Sean lives in San Diego, his favorite beach activity is beach volleyball.
- Sean is a huge dance music fan, seeing over 50 DJ’s in 6 countries (and Taylor Swift in Sydney, Australia) in 2024.
- Baseball is Sean’s favorite sport (both to play and watch). He’s adopted Padres season tickets since moving to San Diego but his hometown Mets are still his #1 team.
Why he wanted to be an ambassador:
I would love to take my involvement with The Open Mainframe Project to the next level! I presented at SHARE Kansas City 2024 representing Mainframe Open Education for a session titled “It’s a Jungle Gym: Today’s Mainframe Workforce Roles & Careers.” I currently attend every Mainframe Open Education: Community Discussion and Mainframe Open Education Student User Group meeting, along with attending the Open Mainframe Project Marketing Committee Meetings when I can. I’m currently a 2024 IBM Rising Champion and expect to be named an IBM Champion for 2025. I’m proud of my strong LinkedIn presence and look forward to the opportunity to spreading the word about The Open Mainframe Project! I feel so passionate about The Open Mainframe Project because I remember how strongly I felt that somethign like this group/community existed when I was starting in the mainframe space a decade ago.
Stefan Schmitt, Senior Technical Staff Member, IBM
Stefan Schmitt is a Senior Technical Staff Member in the LinuxONE and IBM Z organization. Stefan is focused on showing the flexibility of IBM LinuxONE and IBM Z to deliver dynamic IT infrastructure. Enabling customers to manage their private cloud like they experience on public Cloud environment through automation.
Stefan has more than 20 years of experience as technical leader, collaborating with partners and customers through joint projects. His experience spans from Security, Compliance, Web Development as well as enterprise grade cloud native applications.
3 Fun Facts:
- Played American Football in Germany for 15+ years
- Specialized in sour dough bakery
- Joined the Mainframe late
Why he wanted to be an ambassador:
Being able to share the information about how to run modern or state of the art concepts on the mainframe and exchange information with people outside of the regular Mainframe bubble interests me on the role as Ambassador.
The new ambassadors join an already thriving program with thought leaders from several Open Mainframe Project member companies and other industry organizations. To see the complete list of ambassadors, please check out the Ambassadors Page here.
If you would like an ambassador to speak at your event, please contact pr@openmainframeproject.org with the name of the conference, date and links.
