My first KubeCon + CloudNativeCon: A journey through community, inclusivity, and neurodiversity

Finding my place in the community Celebrating the OpenTelemetry community Embracing Merge Forward Introducing Merge Forward to the industry Tips for neurodiverse folks attending their first (or next) KubeCon + CloudNativeCon Connecting, collaborating, and welcoming new voices A neurodivergent perspective Looking forward: An invitation to join us Closing thoughts Resources Posted on December 4, 2025 by Diana Todea, Developer Experience Engineer at VictoriaMetrics, co-lead Neurodiversity WG, CNCF Merge-Forward CNCF projects highlighted in this post Stepping into my first KubeCon + CloudNativeCon, held this year in November in Atlanta, Georgia, felt like entering a world I had been following from afar for years; a world full of brilliant minds, bold ideas, and a shared dedication to building a more open and inclusive cloud-native ecosystem. What made this experience even more meaningful was navigating it as a neurodivergent person and discovering spaces where people like me not only belong but are celebrated. KubeCon + CloudNativeCon is often talked about as a conference but in reality, it’s a community gathering. Since Day 1 the OpenTelemetry Observatory was filled with conversations of contributors and maintainers to which I participated, and it felt like a safe space for me. One of the most unforgettable moments of the week was receiving the 2025 OpenTelemetry Community Award. This recognition wasn’t just about my personal contributions, it was a reflection of the support, encouragement and generosity of a community that thrives on collaboration. The award reminded me of why open source matters: because it’s built by people who care. A particularly powerful part of my KubeCon journey was engaging with the Merge Forward initiative. Merge Forward is a CNCF Technical Community Group made up of several subgroups, including Deaf & Hard of Hearing, Blind & Visually Impaired, Stuttering & Speech Diversity, Women in Cloud Native, Deep Roots, Friends of Dorothy and Neurodiversity. Its mission is to build supportive networks and safe spaces where underrepresented communities and their allies can come together to learn, mentor, grow, and simply be themselves. Merge Forward provides a safe place for people to share experiences, find community, and ask for help without judgment. But we cannot do this alone; we need allies.