Gaetano2018

Last modified by alicetragedy on 2018/03/05 21:42

About me

laura_gaetano_small.jpgMy name is Laura Gaetano. I'm currently based in Berlin (Germany), where I'm the acting CEO of Travis Foundation, an organisation that supports diversity in Open Source Software. As part of my work at Travis Foundation, I've been leading Rails Girls Summer of Code (RGSoC), a three-month global scholarship programme to get women and non-binary people to contribute to Open Source software projects, and running Diversity Tickets — a platform to offer free conference tickets to people from underrepresented groups in tech. 

I'm relatively new to Open Source, but extremely passionate about it — particularly when it comes to improving the diversity of the Open Source Software community and making projects more inclusive and newcomer-friendly. I have a background in visual and media art, and worked as a web developer before I joined Travis Foundation; I love music, travelling, making things, and space trivia. In 2016, I was awarded the Ruby Hero Award for my work with RGSoC.

Why I'm running

The Open Source Software community has a diversity problem. While the community is definitely aware of this issue, and there are programs and initiatives in place (such as RGSoC and Outreachy) that focus on bridging the gender gap in FLOSS, contributors are still primarily male, cisgender, middle-class, or generally people who can afford contributing to Open Source in their free time. I'd like to help change that, and I think being a part of OSI is a good place to start.

Agenda

  • Get newcomers into Open Source Software by talking about ways — technical and non-technical — to contribute to Open Source software through outreach, networking, and conference talks; support these new contributors through mentorship
  • Help Open Source projects attract and retain more diverse contributors by providing better documentation, having Code of Conduct infringement processes in place, using inclusive language
  • Help OSI with outreach to gain new members
  • Create or improve existing educational material on FLOSS topics; work towards more collaborations with school, colleges and universities

Contact

I'm “alicetragedy” pretty much everywhere on the internet (twitter, github). You can also get in touch with me at laura@travis-ci.org.

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