@fullfathomfive did you miss this? https://blog.duolingo.com/ending-honoring-our-volunteer-contributor-program-2/

basically the corporation has become big enough that it doesn't rely on volunteers because it makes enough money to pay people to do the work, this is a good thing... why would you want a profitable business to rely on volunteers?

this has been pretty clear for years as they've phased out the "community" in every way possible so they can focus on making a great app