Dear search committee,

Please see my answers to the application questions below and my attached resume. Thank you for consideration!

Best, Marina

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* Why do you believe diversity and inclusion are important for Fedora?

I have personally observed diversity and inclusion work going a long way in attracting new people to open source communities, and consider this work essential for extending the reach of the community and offering more people the positive experiences and the opportunities associated with being involved in open source. Because Fedora both produces software for end-users and has a community of contributors, there is opportunity for diversity work which will bring more new users and more new contributors.

* Why do you want to serve as Fedora’s Diversity & Inclusion Advisor?

I have a lot of experience and am passionate about diversity in open source and about desktop development. I have done software development, community management, and diversity outreach for the GNOME Project, and have served on the board of the GNOME Foundation for two years.

I have recently started in a new role of Senior Outreach Specialist at Red Hat, with diversity advising for open source communities as one of the main activities for the role. Being Fedora’s Diversity & Inclusion Advisor would offer me and my team an in-depth experience with diversity efforts in one large open source community, which we can then apply to support diversity efforts in other communities.

At the same time, I'd be glad to see this search attract someone with additional experiences and diversity perspective, for whom I can be a contact when they need help, especially with anything time consuming.

* What specific minority group(s) or issues can you offer insight about?

I co-organize Outreachy, a program which offers mentorship and internships to people from groups underrepresented in free and open source software. Outreachy is currently open to women, including being expressly open to trans women, and is also open to trans men and genderqueer people. I also serve as a director and advisor for the Ada Initiative, an organization dedicated to supporting women in open technology and culture.

I'm most familiar with the efforts to increase participation by women in open source. I'm familiar with the best practices for including people with different gender identities.

As a new mom, I'm having first-hand experience of the needs of parents when it comes to participation in open source collaboration and conferences.

I'm also learning about inclusion efforts in technology for people of color in the US and for people with disabilities. I recently attended ACM Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing, where I was able to learn more about these topics and connect with people working on them.

For Outreachy, we are engaging new coordinators from African American and Latina backgrounds and are planning to expand the program to underrepresented racial minorities in the US in the next round.

* What perspectives, experiences, or knowledge about diversity and inclusion could you share with the Fedora community?

I have experience with diversity initiatives such as increasing visibility of minority contributors through talk invitations and feature articles, organizing networking events and forums, encouraging conference attendance, providing mentorship, and adopting codes of conduct through my work on Outreachy, the Ada Initiative, and in the GNOME community. I stay on top of the best practices for inclusion in open source and the broader technology industry, and know a lot of people who work on inclusion efforts.

* Do you have experience working across various cultures? (Cross cultural refers to various geographies, cultural groups, etc.)

I've worked with people from around the world who participated in Outreachy and GNOME. I grew up in Ukraine, and have a good understanding of the culture in Eastern Europe and the countries of the former Soviet Union.

* To give us further insight, feel free to provide names and contact information for up to three people who can speak to your passion, interest or experience with diversity and inclusion.

Karen Sandler (karen@sfconservancy.org), who is currently the Executive Director at Software Freedom Conservancy, has been co-organizing Outreachy with me for the last 4 years and closely knows my passion and dedication for making free an open source software more inclusive.

Máirín Duffy (duffy@redhat.com) is a Principal Interaction Designer at Red Hat. We have both been involved in many initiatives for promoting women in open source, going back to the Women's Caucus hosted by the Free Software Foundation 6 years ago. Máirín has also coordinated Fedora's participation in Outreachy.