diff --git a/CHANGELOG.md b/CHANGELOG.md
index b0712162..103cba76 100644
--- a/CHANGELOG.md
+++ b/CHANGELOG.md
@@ -5,6 +5,12 @@ All notable changes to the sdlc-workflow plugin are documented in this file.
 The format is based on [Keep a Changelog](https://keepachangelog.com/en/1.1.0/),
 and this project adheres to [Semantic Versioning](https://semver.org/spec/v2.0.0.html).
 
+## [Unreleased]
+
+### Added
+
+- Contributors ladder with CONTRIBUTING.md, CODEOWNERS, and GitHub Issue templates (TC-5072)
+
 ## [0.12.2] - 2026-07-03
 
 ### Fixed
diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index 5e118fa5..7d6e3e42 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -118,6 +118,12 @@ workflow.
 - [Conventions Template](docs/templates/conventions.md) — Template for
   documenting your project's coding conventions
 
+## Contributing
+
+We welcome contributions! See [CONTRIBUTING.md](CONTRIBUTING.md) for the
+contributors ladder, promotion criteria, and workflows for issues and pull
+requests.
+
 ## License
 
 Apache-2.0. See [LICENSE](LICENSE).