The Mojaloop Foundation has named Nathan Delma as its first Community Engineering Lead. This new position has been designed to nurture and strengthen the technical engagement of Mojaloop’s growing open-source community.
Engineering Director James Bush, who oversees Nathan’s new position, described the motivation behind creating it: “We want the engineers in our community to be even more effective and engaged in our mission. Having someone dedicated to making sure their experience with Mojaloop is as good as possible is a critical step.”
Originally joining the Foundation as a Deployment Specialist in the spring of 2024, Nathan has consistently demonstrated initiative and leadership, going far beyond his original scope of work. With more than a decade of experience as a software engineer, including eight years in payments and R&D leadership, he brings both technical depth and community empathy to this new role. Delma’s fluency in English and French is another asset that will strengthen Mojaloop’s reach, especially since a good proportion of Mojaloop adopters are based in francophone countries in Africa.
Supporting a Maturing Open-Source Community in Taking Greater Ownership
Mojaloop’s community has evolved steadily since its inception, reaching a level of maturity where contributors are ready to take on greater ownership of the platform. As Delma explained, “One of the priorities has always been to get new adopters — to get people to know Mojaloop exists and want to try it as the basis for an inclusive instant payment system. Now we’re getting to a level where we also want the community to own more of the projects, communicate more, request more, and report more.”
Bush described the intent of Delma’s new position as, “guiding adopter engineers in taking more ownership within the Mojaloop codebase, with a view to them being in control of their own destiny.”
That shift — from awareness and adoption to active stewardship — is what Delma will help guide.
“The future of Mojaloop includes a community of users of the software who all contribute to each other’s success,” Bush said.
Building Confidence and Inspiring Broader Participation
One of Delma’s priorities will be helping engineers feel comfortable contributing, whether they’re new to the community or experienced participants. “We engineers tend to be introverts by nature,” Bush noted. “Nathan navigates this very well because he’s an engineer himself. He can relate to those who prefer one-on-one conversations rather than speaking in front of a large group.”
Delma’s day-to-day work will include guiding developers through the process of joining workstreams, making code commits, and finding the right documentation or mentors. “If someone is interested in the project but doesn’t know where to start, I can help them understand how the code is organized and where they can participate,” he said.
His immediate goal is to encourage more active participation in Mojaloop’s product council meetings and workstreams, and to see greater contributor activity in the Foundation’s GitHub repository. “Once someone has been guided through their first contribution, the next one becomes much easier,” Delma explained. “Seeing that kind of engagement across the community will be a big achievement.”
Looking ahead, he envisions a fully community-driven Mojaloop — one sustained by contributors worldwide who share ownership of its future. “The ultimate goal,” he said, “is reaching a point where the community takes full responsibility for Mojaloop’s future.”
Welcoming Talent at Every Level
Delma will also play a key role in attracting and mentoring contributors of all experience levels. While he emphasized the need for seasoned engineers, he also sees great value in bringing in younger developers.
“We need experienced people who can contribute now and mentor others,” he said. “But we also need younger developers because they represent the future. The more they get interested in Mojaloop early on, the more likely they are to stay with us as we grow.”
This mix of expertise and enthusiasm, he believes, will help ensure Mojaloop’s continued growth and innovation.
Join the Mojaloop Community
As Mojaloop continues to evolve toward community-led maintenance, the Foundation is actively welcoming both senior and junior software engineers, as well as professionals in payments and financial regulation, to participate.
To learn how you can contribute your expertise or get involved, visit the Community Page.
