image added

Signed-off-by: kirti763 <kg4180553@gmail.com>

Author: kirti763

src/collections/news/2025/2025-11-16-cncf-honors-innovators-and-defenders-community-awards/index.mdx

@@ -19,16 +19,20 @@ resource: false
 published: true
 ---
 
+import { Link } from "gatsby";
 import { NewsWrapper } from "../../News.style.js";
+import Blockquote from "../../../../reusecore/Blockquote";
+import kubeconImage from "./kubecon-2025.png";
 
 <NewsWrapper>
 
-[Atlanta] [KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America] – November 12, 2025 —
+[Atlanta, GA] [KubeCon + CloudNativeCon North America] – November 12, 2025 —
 The Cloud Native Computing Foundation (CNCF) has announced the winners of its 2025 Community Awards, celebrating contributors, mentors, end users, and long-time ecosystem champions. Among this year’s honorees is **Layer5 founder Lee Calcote**, recipient of the **inaugural Outstanding Mentor Award** for his deep and consistent commitment to growing community talent across CNCF and Linux Foundation programs.
 
 <a href="https://www.cncf.io/announcements/2025/11/12/cncf-honors-innovators-and-defenders-with-2025-community-awards-at-kubecon-cloudnativecon-north-america/">Read the official CNCF announcement</a>
 
-## Recognizing Leaders Shaping the Cloud Native Ecosystem
+## **Recognizing Leaders Shaping the Cloud Native Ecosystem**
+
 The CNCF Community Awards spotlight individuals whose work strengthens the global cloud native community. This year’s recognitions included:
 
 - **Lifetime Achievement Award**  
@@ -43,7 +47,7 @@ The CNCF Community Awards spotlight individuals whose work strengthens the globa
 
 These awards highlight the diverse technical, organizational, and community-driven efforts that contribute to the sustained health of the CNCF ecosystem.
 
-## Lee Calcote Receives the Outstanding Mentor Award
+## **Lee Calcote Receives the Outstanding Mentor Award**
 
 CNCF honored **Lee Calcote** for mentoring more than **60 times** over the past five years, across programs including:
 
@@ -54,15 +58,19 @@ CNCF honored **Lee Calcote** for mentoring more than **60 times** over the past
 
 Many of his mentees have gone on to become active contributors and maintainers within CNCF projects, reflecting the long-term impact of his mentorship.
 
-> “This year’s award recipients reflect what it really takes to sustain the cloud native community.”  
-> — *Chris Aniszczyk, CTO, CNCF*
+<Blockquote
+ quote="This year’s award recipients reflect what it really takes to sustain the cloud native community."  
+ person="Chris Aniszczyk"
+ title="CTO, CNCF"
+/>
+
+## **Strengthening the Global Open Source Community**
 
-## Strengthening the Global Open Source Community
 With over **270,000 contributors** and **728 member organizations**, the CNCF ecosystem thrives on collaboration, documentation, mentorship, and sustained contributions. This year’s awardees exemplify the dedication required to keep cloud native innovation moving forward.
 
 Layer5 congratulates all recipients and celebrates the community-driven spirit that continues to move open source infrastructure forward.
 
-## About Layer5
+## **About Layer5**
 
 Layer5 is the cloud native management company behind <a href="/meshery">Meshery</a>, the extensible cloud native manager enabling teams to build and operate modern distributed systems with confidence. With a global open source community of more than 10,000 members, Layer5 empowers engineers to collaborate across multi-cluster and multi-cloud environments.