Encouraging Women to Participate in Apache Projects

Mailing List Ideas

1. Emphasize ASF Code of Conduct on project websites
2. Contact IT Womens Groups
3. Setup / Define Benchmark measurement
4. Tailor ASF website to handle women landing on various pages / guiding them through specific route & information
5. Start a series of blog positive experience blog posts
6. Start a series of Apachecon presentations themed on encouraging diversity

What do we want to achieve? / What is the overall goal?

General mission type statements eg

• To make the ASF a culturally diverse and representative community
• To increase the diversity of the ASF

What does diversity mean?

Diversity in gender? Ethnicity? Age? What else?

Main two are gender and ethnicity.

What are the objectives?

Increase involvement of under-represented groups in Apache projects

Attract under-represented groups to the ASF

Retain under-represented groups within the ASF (no use attracting new people if the older ones leave)

Maintain diversity as a reflection of "population diversity" or what else? (part of this is defining a level or taget of diversity the ASF want to reach, plus being able to monitor it to confirm it)

Possible Plan

1. Set diversity goals / visions / targets (e.g we want to have x% of xyz group by ????)
   
   
2. Identify the under-represented groups within the ASF
   1. Find out what diversity level we have now (We think it is low - let's get some real figures as proof or not! We might be surprised)
   2. Easiest stats to get could be survey of gender and ethnicity of ASF Board, ASF Members, PMCs and Committers. (Not sure how representative they will be of the entire ASF population but it will be a start and it will be concrete figures)
      
      
3. Measure / benchmark the current diversity level
   1. This is the starting point
4. Define a detailed programme and plan for communicating and engaging with the under-represented groups
   1. Partnering with groups
   2. Being present at events
   3. Presenting / Doing Talks about Apache
   4. Communicating the them about the ASF programmes that could help

How can we achieve this? 

• Could be followed up by anonymous surveys of individual projects (project level because containable and easier communication group. Easier to communicate on a mailing list to a specific project than trying to communicate to all projects and all contributors at the same time. Lessons learned from initial projects can help revise and refine methodology for others)