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

• Increase involvement of under-represented groups in Apache projects

What does diversity mean?

Diversity in gender? Ethnicity? Age? What else?

Main two are gender and ethnicity.

What are the objectives?

• Attract under-represented groups to the ASF
• Retain under-represented groups within the ASF (no use attracting new people if the the ones already here leave)
• Maintain diversity as a reflection of "population diversity" or what else? (part of this is defining a level or target of diversity the ASF want to reach, plus being able to monitor it to confirm it)
• Monitor the level of diversity (could be related to publishing details of diversity...)

Possible Plan

1. Set some 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. Identify any specific groups we want to focus on (e.g women)
      
      
3. Measure / benchmark the current diversity level
   1. This is the starting point
   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. Harder stats to get wil be surveys of the whole ASF population.
      
      1. Could maybe be handles by anonymous surveys of individual projects
      2. 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.
      3. Lessons learned from initial projects can help revise and refine methodology for others
      
      
      
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
      
      
5. Define detailed plan for internal communication within ASF about Diversity initiative
   1. Existing communities may also have ideas and contacts
   2. Promotion of plan and prepare existing communities for diversity surveys - so it will be expected
   3. Internal blog / communications about diversity plan updates (what is happening, where and when)
6. Rollout diversity action plan
   
   
7. Regular review of action plan