My experience of the AWS Community Builder Program (Year 2)

Introduction

In my last post, I wrote about the impact of different communities on my tech career. In this post, I will talk about my own experience being part of the AWS Community Builder Program. I have been an AWS CB for the past two years and will hopefully be part of the program in 2025.

What is the AWS Community Builder Program?

Let's start with what the program is and what happens in it. The AWS CB program is provided by AWS and brings together individuals who are passionate about AWS and sharing AWS knowledge with other people. You need to apply to be an AWS CB, and you must renew your membership every year.

My First Year Journey

When you are accepted into the program, you will be invited to join the CB Slack Channel. My first year as a CB was quite eye-opening - I got to meet very talented individuals who had extensive knowledge of AWS Services and technologies. I would explore different channels, learning about what people were building and reading their blog posts. My strategy was noting down people's names, reading their blog posts, and following them on their social media profiles. This gave me lots of information about writing blogs, creating content, career ideas, and general internet presence tips. I quickly revamped my website and remade my LinkedIn profile based on the advice I got from my fellow CBs.

Learning from Industry Leaders

Another impactful moment in my first year was a presentation by Jeff Barr on how to create content. This presentation was pivotal for me, and I still use the notes I wrote that day.

Local Community Involvement

In the previous blog, I mentioned being part of the Mzansi AWS User Group in Johannesburg. This is a vibrant community in Johannesburg - we have presentations at least once a week. One or two people will pick a topic they would like to teach, which could be at any level: beginner, intermediate, or advanced. I made sure to be involved in these presentations and their preparations. I also used information from the CB slack to improve my presentations and general conduct.

Growth in Year Two

My second year has been phenomenal! I remember joining our user group as a wide-eyed tech newbie who just wanted to get a job in tech with little AWS knowledge. The people in our User Group were really helpful and played a huge role in helping me get my first tech job. I shared my experiences about this in the previous blog - please check it out!

Leadership Recognition

With all my contributions to the User Group, I was nominated to be part of the leaders! This was such a big deal for me as I vividly remember joining this User Group as a newbie and now being part of the leadership team. I am so grateful to my colleagues in the group who vouched for me and believed in me to be part of the leadership team. I know that being part of the AWS CB program played a vital role in this nomination. Learning from fellow CBs helped me immensely.

Future Goals and Mentorship

I am still learning about myself and trying to improve as a CB. One of the things that I am learning is mentorship - how to be of service to other people who were in my situation 5 years ago. I would like to put more time into this in the coming year. I am thinking of how to scale my mentorship capacity as an individual and also as a collective. I now have a network of very talented people, and I would like to create a movement to help newbies in tech and also people looking to transition to AWS from other technologies.

Looking Ahead to 2025

The year 2025 is quite exciting for me as a CB, and I would like to welcome more people into the program. I have already encouraged some individuals in our UG to apply. I am also looking to spread awareness of AWS in my hometown. Happy new year!!! To more community builders in 2025!