Why I Joined the LPI Board of Directors – Henrietta Dombrovskaya

Database management brought me to PostgreSQL, PostgreSQL brought me to open source advocacy, and—during the past year—open source advocacy brought me to the Board of Directors at Linux Professional Institute. In this article I’ll trace this journey and describe the benefits of being on the LPI Board.

In the course of my professional career, I have held various positions starting with Database Administrator and Database Developer, then later Associate Director of Databases and Director of Data Analytics. Now I am a Database Architect at a global trading firm, DRW Holdings, focused on PostgreSQL. Basically, I hold down a job that demands 200% of a person’s effort, then I put in another 200% contributing to and advocating for PostgreSQL and open source.

I contribute to the development of PostgreSQL, and co-authored a book about it (PostgreSQL Query Optimization: The Ultimate Guide to Building Efficient Queries). I also host monthly meetups at the Illinois Prairie PostgreSQL User Group (sponsored by an organization I cofounded and run, called Prairie Postgres), and conferences, notably the upcoming https://2026.pg-data.org PG Data Conference 2026 in Chicago.

When LPI noticed my professional and volunteer contributions, they asked me to join their Board. I realized that seeing how a major, world-spanning certification organization runs could benefit the PostgreSQL community, because we are pursuing their own journey to offering certifications.

For years, PostgreSQL developers have kept in sync with trends in databases, including data types for the vectors used in AI. Success has raised its profile among outsiders: PostgreSQL has become something to emulate!

So PostgreSQL developers are routinely asked to recognize other databases (usually offered in the cloud) as compatible with PostgreSQL. The community realized that it needs to standardize what „PostgreSQL-compatible“ means, to avoid brand dilution and improve the user and developer experience. The project has to introduce some rigor into defining what PostgreSQL is, and needs to create a community-certified compatibility program via open-source tests. LPI is a great place to learn more about testing and certification.

Another factor that brings me to LPI is my devotion to training others. I have reached out to educational institutions for many years to promote free and open source software, particularly PostgreSQL.

Computer science programs tend either to neglect databases or to teach proprietary databases offered at cheap educational rates by software vendors. In response, in the introduction to PostgreSQL Query Optimization, I wrote, „PostgreSQL originated in an academic environment and is maintained as an open source project, making it an ideal database for teaching relational theory and demonstrating database internals.“

It is therefore my goal to overcome the hoary old prejudice against free software and to make PostgreSQL a standard for schools and universities. I spoke on „PostgreSQL and Academia: Establishing Partnership“ at this year’s SCALE conference. LPI’s extensive Partnerships with trainers and universities makes it a useful forum for this mission.

In conclusion, I see my contributions to the LPI Board as an extension of my goals as an advocate for my chosen software project. LPI gives its Board members a global forum, with Partners and connections on every continent, to spread the reach and use of free and open source software.

If you are an LPI Member and want to apply for the Board of Directors, click here.