Inclusive open leadership

The words open source are so often used when referring to pieces of software or hardware. But in reality, open source can refer to any project which is developed and nurtured in an open and transparent way by the community. As such these projects lifecycle are determined by the community and its sustainability, longevity, and health depends is intimately ligated to again, this community.

In this talk, I will draw from my experience building, and leading communities of practice and open source projects to introduce the concept of inclusive leadership and provide practical guidance on ways to engage a diverse range of contributors in the long term. I will also present techniques and resources I have used when mentored people from underrepresented backgrounds to step up into positions of leadership in the open source world.

Transcript

1. Inclusive open leadership Tania Allard, PhD [she / her] Developer advocate @Microsoft @ixek SciPy 2019 http://bit.ly/scipy2019-leadership
2. 2 About me @ixek
3. 3 ⚠ Warning Brief mention of harassment, burnout, systemic discrimination Take care of yourself @ixek
4. 4 Story time... @ixek
5. 5 @ixek Meet grandma Mae
6. 6 3 @ixek Sell her recipe and make $$$ Open Source her recipe Start her own company And get her employees to sign NDAs Something else? 1 2 4 What are her options?
7. 7 Open source!! @ixek • Attach a license and make it public • Make sure that others can contribute to the project • Accept / reject contributions • Has less time to bake as now she looks after a community
8. 8 Sounds familiar? @ixek
9. 9 Opening a can of worms... @ixek Harassment / bullying, hard decisions High burnout incidence Contributing to open source is a privilege It’s ok if your circumstances change Is it worth it?
10. 10 @ixek (Intentional) inclusive leadership
11. 11 @ ixek https://github.com/mozilla/diversity/blob/master/evaluation_tools/governance-basic.md
12. 12 Invite and onboard @ixek
13. 13 How are you bringing new voices to the table? @ixek Developer - community events Open, safe and active communication channels Intersectional tech / communities initiatives Reach out to people including underrepresented folks
14. 14 The first contact can invite or deter folks @ixek
16. 16 Planting the seed Step 0. PyCon UK, Hacktoberfest with PyData and Her + data Step 1. PyCon USA Step 2. PyCon UK, Hacktoberfest, Django conferences EuroScipy @ixek
17. 17 @ixek
18. 18 Effective onboarding Setting clear expectations and limits. Mentor / pair those stepping into leadership or contributing roles. @ixek
19. 19 @ixek
20. 20 @ixek https://docs.carpentries.org/topic_folders/policies/code-of-conduct.html
21. 21 Empower the leaders of the future @ixek
23. 23 @ixek
24. 24 Renew and recognise @ixek
25. 25 @ixek Offboarding is as important as onboarding
26. 26 What does sustainability mean to you? To your community @ixek
27. Check-ins Keep our community healthy
28. 28 @ixek To summarize 1. Being intentional about leadership 2. Have clear onboarding and offboarding processes 3. Define clear expectations 4. Empower the leaders of today and tomorrow 5. Continuous evaluation is key 6. It’s ok to step down
29. 29 @ixek Thank you http://bit.ly/scipy2019-leadership Images from Unsplash from John Schnobrich, Franck V., and Nathan Dumlao