Brand Guidelines
Communities are infrastructure. The systems supporting them are not.
Community Stack is a stewardship-led community infrastructure group. We build, operate, and steward the infrastructure communities rely on across technology, civic life, and the third sector.
18
Communities
12
Conferences
25,000+
Members
3
Ecosystems
Mission
Build, operate and steward the infrastructure communities rely on.
Not simply an events company, a software company, or an advisory firm. We operate the communities, build the platforms, create the discovery layer, steward the insight, and research what comes next.
What Makes This Different
Built Around Practitioner Audiences
Each ecosystem is designed around the people actually building, operating and leading technology in the field. Practitioners get relevant events and useful conversations. Sponsors engage with coherent communities rather than scattered one-off events.
Vision
Civic infrastructure that outlasts any one organiser, funder or company.
Open code, open directories, shared standards and stewardship structures. Built to be fundable rather than charitable, and designed to survive — including surviving us.
Why We Exist
Communities are infrastructure.
What holds them up should be too.
The value
Communities share knowledge, create opportunity, connect people and provide support that institutions alone cannot.
The problem
Too many run on fragmented tools, volunteer goodwill, short funding cycles and knowledge that walks out of the door when people move on.
Our response
We turn the tools, knowledge and operating models behind strong communities into infrastructure anyone can build on.
Who We Are
Founded and run by community operators.
Community Stack is a stewardship-led community infrastructure group founded in Barnsley by Ethan Sumner. The company builds, operates, and stewards the infrastructure communities rely on across technology, civic life, and the third sector.
Its work spans three ecosystems (AI & Data, Cloud Platform & Open Source, Finance Technology & Startups) and three products (Engine, Junction, Switchboard), supported by Labs and the Signal insight layer. Its mission is to make communities easier to find, run, sustain, and harder to lose.
Ethan Sumner
Founder & CEO
Community organiser and technologist from Barnsley. Microsoft, Mastercard background.
2026/27 Conference Programme
Flagship conferences
Practitioner-led conferences spanning AI & Data, Cloud, Platform & Open Source, and Finance Technology & Startups — in-person and virtual, across the UK and globally.
Ecosystem Portfolio
Three ecosystems. One unified network.
18 communities and 12 conferences organised into three coherent technical ecosystems, each with its own identity and shared infrastructure.
The Stack
The stack. One coherent system.
Each layer operates a different part of community infrastructure — from the communities themselves to the platforms, discovery layer, and civic campaigns that hold them together.
Ecosystem
Three practitioner ecosystems — AI & Data, Cloud Platform & Open Source, and Finance Technology & Startups — run as long-term infrastructure across 18 communities and 12 conferences.
Engine
The open source platform underneath everything. Events, ticketing, sponsorship, memberships, CFPs, microsites, analytics and four public directories — one foundation for all products.
Junction
Engine configured for technical communities. Meetups, user groups and conferences. One place to find every community, one practitioner identity across all of them, and a talk archive that links submission to recording to speaker.
Switchboard
The full-service digital platform for the third sector, helping charities and grassroots organisations become visible, accessible, and easier to engage with. #NoCommunityLeftOffline.
Labs
Applied research, national campaigns, pilots and innovation focused on digital inclusion, accessibility, offline participation, and the future of community infrastructure.
How We Operate
10 operating principles.
Ten principles that hold across every product, partnership, pricing decision, and governance choice.
Infrastructure first.
We build for durability, not hype.
Stewardship before scale.
Growth matters. Trust matters more.
Communities first, always.
We do not sell individual member data, run pay to play speaking slots, or accept sponsorship that buys editorial control.
Free where it matters, paid where it can be.
There will never be a paywall between a small organisation and a basic digital presence.
Accessibility by default.
Accessibility is part of the infrastructure, not an enhancement, and never something we withhold at any price.
Open where possible.
Engine's core is open source and stays that way. We do not use licensing to trap organisations that cannot afford to leave.
Local agency, shared standards.
Each community keeps its identity while benefiting from shared infrastructure.
Reinvestment over extraction.
Revenue improves quality, governance, technology, accessibility and resilience before it does anything else.
Impact over activity.
We measure outcomes, not activity for its own sake.
Trust by design.
We are clear about who runs communities, how decisions are made, and where the value goes.
Advocacy & Impact
National campaigns.
Community Stack runs campaigns focused on digital inclusion, accessibility, and building critical infrastructure for the third sector.
#NoCommunityLeftOffline
Ensuring rural, isolated, and digitally excluded communities can access support and participate online.
#DigitalSENDInfrastructure
Campaigning for joined-up digital infrastructure for SEND families across education, health, and social care.
#CommunicationForAll
Advocating for universal access to communication tools for non-speaking and AAC-dependent individuals.
For Coverage
Quotes available for use.
Approved quotes from our founders for use in press, media, and partner materials.
“Communities are infrastructure. They move knowledge, create opportunity, support participation, and reach people that institutions and traditional systems often miss. The systems supporting them should not be fragile by default.”
Ethan Sumner
Founder & CEO
“Community Stack exists to close the gap between the value communities create and the fragile systems they are forced to rely on.”
Ethan Sumner
Founder & CEO
“We are not simply an events company, a software company, or an advisory firm. We operate the communities, support the wider market, build the platforms, create the discovery layer, steward the insight, and research what comes next.”
Ethan Sumner
Founder & CEO
“Stewardship before scale is not a slogan. It is the operating constraint that determines how we grow, what we take on, and what we refuse to do.”
Ethan Sumner
Founder & CEO
Logos & Assets
Core brand logos.
Download official logos in PNG format. Each brand has a full wordmark and an icon mark for different use cases.
Community Stack
Primary brand logo
Community Engine
Events and conferences platform
Community Switchboard
Third sector discovery platform
Color Palette
Brand colors.
Our color system is built on a deep navy foundation with vibrant accent colors for each brand. Click any swatch to copy the hex value.
Primary Palette
Brand Colors
Typography
Type system.
We use two typefaces: Montserrat for headings and Poppins for body text.
Headings
Montserrat
Bold weight (700) for headlines, titles, and display text.
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
Body Text
Poppins
Regular (400), Medium (500), and Semibold (600) weights.
The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.