Are you passionate about Project Calico and its community? Do you recognize Calico’s value in the open-source networking and security domain? If you answered “YES!” and are willing to help other users learn about the Project Calico community, we invite you to become a Big Cat by joining the Calico Big Cats ambassador program.
What’s involved?
We created the ambassador program to empower community members with resources and tools, and to reward our most loyal and enthusiastic users.
The role of a Big Cat
- Be a resource for Project Calico community members
- Help local Calico users learn more about Project Calico
- Represent the Project Calico community publicly
Big Cat rewards
Big Cats will have access to exclusive perks, such as:
- Annual swag pack
- Calico Big Cats exclusive jersey
- Calico Big Cat Badge to share on your social media
Please note that Ambassador Rewards are granted at the discretion of Tigera, may change at any time, and have no cash value.
How can I become an ambassador?
To participate in the Calico Big Cats program, you must be a Project Calico user and be interested in contributing to the community in one (or more) of the following ways:
- Speaking at community events
- Participating in meetups
- Contributing to Calico content (e.g. answering questions on Project Calico related forums, writing blog posts and open-source code)
By participating in this program, you agree to our term of use along with the Project Calico Code of Conduct.
Register Here
Meet the Calico Big Cats
Geoff BurkeSenior Cloud Solutions Architect, Tsunati
"Kubernetes Network Security is a GO, when you leverage Tigera’s Calico!" Geoff Burke has 20 years of IT experience, 12 years in Data Protection. He is a Calico Big Cat Ambassador, Veeam Vanguard and a Veeam Legend. Geoff is always looking for new educational resources for continuous learning and has CKA, CKS, CKAD, KCNA, Calico Operator Level 1 and Calico Operator Azure expert certifications. LinkedIn
Ompragash ViswanathanSenior Software Engineer, Harness
"Project Calico is my go to CNI plugin for Kubernetes Infra and the community is literally awesome with great learning resources, documentation and active collaboration!" Ompragash has a panache for automation and works for Harness as a Senior Software Engineer. At home you will find him busy tinkering with Ansible or writing pipelines automating complex routines. He can be found on GitHub @ompragash. LinkedIn
Jurgen AllewijnCloud Architect, Luminis
"Calico helps me create secure Kubernetes environments."
Working in IT since 1992. Always had a focus on the infrastructure side of IT. Passionate about virtualization, cloud (native), and Kubernetes.
Currently working as the lead cloud architect of the Azure-based cloud platform of the City of Amsterdam.
LinkedIn
Edi RecicaSolution Architect, Luminis
"With Calico, we are able to provide our clients with enhanced network security, observability, and compliance." With over two decades of experience in the industry, Edi Recica is passionate about cloud infrastructure and security. Edi also works at Alliander—the largest Dutch electricity and gas distribution system operator (DSO)—as a Solutions Architect within the system operations department. LinkedIn
Stanislav KolenkinSenior Solution Architect, ProfiSea
"Simple, scalable, and flexible—Calico is excellent with a Layer 3 approach and I love the policy-driven network security features. Calico is the best choice for me if I want to automate the secure deployment of new containers. Thank you, Tigera, for creating Project Calico!"
Having worked in the IT industry for 16+ years, Stanislav Kolenkin has hands-on experience with some of the most innovative DevOps projects using AWS, Google Cloud, Calico, and other industry-leading niche technologies.
Walter LeeLead Software Engineer, A Major USA Bank
"Calico is a production-ready container networking open-source tool that you can easily use in AWS, Azure, GCP, and other Kubernetes distributions. Calico is my first choice for any critical production workload in terms of security and performance!" Walter Lee is a passionate cloud, Kubernetes, DevOps, AI/ML, data, web/mobile performance software engineer from San Francisco, USA. He works on speaking engagements, technical writing, and more cloud certification exams in his free time. LinkedIn
Andre AtkinsonSenior Cloud Product Manager, Vocus
"Calico is an amazing CNI plugin, offering a wide range of security features with an amazing community to support you on your journey!" Andre Atkinson is a highly accomplished IT professional with over 10 years of experience in the industry who is passionate about staying current with technology trends. Andre is dedicated to using his knowledge and experience to help grow the IT community and drive innovation in the field. LinkedIn
Saurabh MishraDevOps Manager, Vodafone Group
"Calico is one of the most powerful Kubernetes CNI frameworks that simplify network security solutions with a flexible approach."
Saurabh is a cloud architect and SRE with an interest in all things related to cloud, containerization, and automation. He is also a DevOps Institute Ambassador and Google Cloud Champion Innovator.
LinkedIn
Parth GoswamiCustomer Enablement Engineer, Cloudera
"Project Calico embodies the true spirit of open-source collaboration, empowering individuals and organizations to build a resilient, secure, and scalable network infrastructure that is essential for modern-day cloud-native applications." Parth Goswami is a Customer Enablement Engineer at Cloudera, who is passionate about Free and Open Source Software (FOSS). He advocates for open-source literacy and inclusivity, believing that everyone should have the opportunity to contribute to and benefit from open-source projects. LinkedIn
Saurabh MishraDevOps Manager, Vodafone Group
"Calico is one of the most powerful Kubernetes CNI frameworks that simplify network security solutions with a flexible approach." Saurabh is a cloud architect and SRE with an interest in all things related to cloud, containerization, and automation. He is also a DevOps Institute Ambassador and Google Cloud Champion Innovator.
