[OpenStack Foundation] First diversity working group notes
Dave Neary
dneary at redhat.com
Sun Jun 21 16:30:40 UTC 2015
Hi,
I have been very pleased to see Tristan and Roland bring up time zones
in the context of the diversity discussion, it is also a concern for
other communities like OPNFV, which has a much higher proportion of
active Asian participants than other projects I have been a member of.
In that community, we have had a lot of real-time meetings, focussed
between 9am EDT and 1pm EDT (I think that's 4pm UTC to 8pm UTC) - which
means PST participants regularly getting up for 6am meetings, and
Japanese participants staying up for 1am or 2am meetings. And we have
very few Australian participants.
I continue to believe that real-time meetings of a geographically
distributed community are, by their nature, exclusionary. The only way
to be inclusive in such communities is to *avoid real-time meetings as
much as possible* - weekly, monthly or quarterly meetings do not do that.
In the (rare) situations where regular real-time meetings are required
for the functioning of a group, meeting times should rotate so as to be
inconvenient for all equally. If you think it's OK to request a portion
of a group to attend a 3am meeting, then you should be prepared to
attend one once in a while too.
Thanks,
Dave.
On 06/19/2015 06:51 PM, Egle Sigler wrote:
> Hello Roland,
>
> Sorry this time slot did not work for you, as I am sure it did not for a
> lot of other people. There is no one time that will work for everyone,
> therefore we will be having meetings at alternating times.
>
> Please check out the full IRC
> log: http://eavesdrop.openstack.org/meetings/diversity_working_group/2015/diversity_working_group.2015-06-19-18.00.log.html
>
> There you will see that geography and time slots were discussed, as well
> as how best to accommodate it.
>
> There will be two new doodles sent out to pick days/times for different
> time zones.
>
> Thank you,
> Egle
>
>
> ------------------------------------------------------------------------
> Date: Sat, 20 Jun 2015 08:38:10 +1000
> Subject: Re: [OpenStack Foundation] First diversity working group notes
> From: roland at aptira.com
> To: ushnishtha at hotmail.com
> CC: foundation at lists.openstack.org
>
> Sorry I couldn't make it. I woke up, turned off my alarm and promptly
> fell asleep again.
>
> I notice the only Asian attendees were from Aptira. We're already
> heavily invested in OpenStack Foundation workings and Kavit and Tristan
> are used to these overnight meetings (and I clearly have some catching
> up to do) through their participation in the board, which has similar
> scheduling.
>
> I wonder how many people simply didn't bother because of the unfriendly
> timeslot (4am in Australia, 2am in China).
>
> I must re-iterate my earlier email: timeslots that are convenient for
> any single geography are exclusionary. Meetings must be scheduled so
> that all regions have a reasonable opportunity to participate and
> discussions/decisions at meetings must remain open until a full cycle of
> meetings has had a chance to process them.
>
> I'll also re-iterate a point I made at the last board meeting: taking a
> poll of people who showed up to something is a really poor way of
> working out what the general population want or need. The results will
> only reflect the needs of those who are engaged, whereas the point of
> the diversity group is to foster engagement from those who may be
> excluded for some reason.
>
> Don't make this group an echo chamber.
>
> Good morning!
>
> Roland
>
>
>
> On 20/06/2015 5:11 AM, "Egle Sigler" <ushnishtha at hotmail.com
> <mailto:ushnishtha at hotmail.com>> wrote:
>
>
> Thank you everyone for attending today's meeting. We had lots of
> great discussion, and some concrete action items.
>
> Etherpad: https://etherpad.openstack.org/p/OpenStackDiversity.1
> IRC
> notes: http://eavesdrop.openstack.org/meetings/diversity_working_group/2015/diversity_working_group.2015-06-19-18.00.html
>
> Notes from etherpad:
>
> Info on OpenStack IRC: https://wiki.openstack.org/wiki/IRC
> Web IRC link if you are not using IRC client:
> http://webchat.freenode.net/?channels=openstack-meeting
> Meetbot quick reference guide:
> http://meetbot.debian.net/Manual.html#user-reference
>
> Next meeting etherpad:
> https://etherpad.openstack.org/p/OpenStackDiversity.2
> Minutes:
> http://eavesdrop.openstack.org/meetings/diversity_working_group/2015/diversity_working_group.2015-06-19-18.00.html
>
>
> The initial meeting for this work group will be: Friday, June 19,
> 2015 at 18:00 UTC, on IRC: #openstack-meeting
> The Agenda is:
>
> * Introductions
>
> <nikiacosta> Niki Acosta, Cloud Evangelist, Cisco
> jfleet> jfleet Cloud304EST
> <imadsousou> Imad Sousou - Intel
> * kavit Kavit Munshi - AptiraIST
> <rainya> Rainya Mosher, Product Manager, Rackspace
> <ninag> Nina Goradia, IBM, CST
> <ShillaSaebi>OpenStack Operations Engineer, ComcastEDT
> <AlanClark> Alan Clark SUSE
> <eglute> Egle Sigler, Principal Architect at RackspaceCST
> * jbryce works at OpenStack Foundation
> <arcee2> Val Wanjura, Technical Ops Mgr, Rackspace
> <gpruessmann> Gerd Pruessmann, Deutsche Telekom AG
> <lsell> Lauren Sell, OpenStack Foundation
> <electrocucaracha> Victor Morales - Intel
> <cmassey> Claire Massey, OpenStack FoundationCST
> <wznoinsk> Waldemar Znoinski - Intel
> <TamaraJohnston> Tamara Johnston, EMC Global Services - CloudPST
> <barrett> Carol Barrett, Intel
> <Rockyg> Rocky Grober, Huawei, PDT
> <Mauri> Mauri Whalen - Intel
> <MeganR> Megan Rossetti - Comcast, EDT
> <vince_> Vince Brunssen - IBM
> <amandap> Amanda Plimpton - SwiftStackPT
> [13:50:49] <ozstacker> AEST
>
> * Mission Discussion and definition of Diversity-
> https://wiki.openstack.org/wiki/Diversity
>
> * Charter discussion: feedback from Vancouver was that the
> operational scope was too broad
>
> * Possible Definitions
>
> * [13:13:47] <nikiacosta> diversity - eliminate bias on
> the basis of age, race, creed, color, sex, national origin,
> religion, sexual orientation, gender identity, disability,
> marital status, and socioeconomic status.
>
> * [13:13:54] <rainya> M-W.com: diversity, noun, : the
> quality or state of having many different forms, types, ideas,
> etc. : the state of having people who are different races or who
> have different cultures in a group or organization
>
> * [13:14:54] <rainya> for me diversity is really about
> getting a variety of *thought* more than anything; so that any
> problem has lots of diferent viewpoints and experiences coloring
> the outcome; [13:16:04] <rainya> and that variety comes
> from different disciplines (engineers, devs, qa, ux, ops,
> product managers) as well as cultural and gender backgrounds
>
> * Top areas of focus for diversity: GENDER (male to female ratio);
> GEOGRAPHIC (downloads, contribution, and attendance by country;
> what countries / regions have low or NO representation?); CULTURE
>
> * Other areas of future exploration: religion, age, disability
>
>
> * Discuss proposal to engage a Consultant/Coach to assist this
> work group
>
> * Review proposed work plan, gather feedback, and owners
>
> * Next Steps
>
> * Meeting Frequency
>
> * [13:45:09] <ozstacker> And next step is have a meeting
> that is 12 hours different to this one, and include others
> before deciding on _anything_
>
> * [13:48:30] <barrett> I wonder if we want to have weekly
> meetings, given the interest, and alternate them between
> US/EMEA-friendly and APAC/Japan-friendly?
>
> * [13:52:21] <nikiacosta> @eglute - hard to meet
> everyone's needs, but if we had 3 or 4 people in a core group
> for geographies who could serve as delegates, it might make it
> easier to get stuff done
>
> * [13:52:59] <eglute> #action barrett to start 1-2
> doodles to find the best times for us to meet?
>
> *
>
>
> * Interest/Need for alternating times to make the meetings
> globally accessible. Moving forward we’ll use the
> foundation at lists.openstack.org
> <mailto:foundation at lists.openstack.org> mail list for work group
> discussions and meeting communications.
>
>
> *Action Items:*
> 1)Define diversitypolicy
>
> * volunteers:
>
> * Target date for bringing draft to group for review: 2 weeks?
>
> * Kavit Munshi(will lead + coordinate definition)
>
> * ShillaSaebi
>
> * Rainya
>
> * Amandap
>
> * Tristan
>
> * Niki Acosta
>
> * 2) Carol: Setup Doodles to find 2 good times for meeting every
> other week, alternating timing
>
> * 3) NIki: Lead the process of getting nominations for Geo
> Ambassadors once the meeting times are set
>
> * 4)Get charter ratified by BoD (review language objected to at
> Vancouver summit)
>
> * 5)DiveristyStatement: prepare proposal to be presented to BoD to
> approve the formation of a diversity policy. Include wording in
> Code of Conduct (both of them).+1
>
> *
>
>
> *
>
>
>
> *
>
>
>
>
> Resources and Information:
>
> Places doing "Diversity" well: Telstra, MIT
>
> Proposed charter, as presented to the BoD in Vancouver:
>
> May 15, 2015OpenStack Board Diversity Committee Charter
> In an effort to assert and facilitate the incorporation of diversity
> policies into its overall strategy, theBoard of Directors of the
> OpenStack Foundation is committed to fostering a more inclusive
> andwelcoming place for all people to collaborate and drive
> innovation and design cutting-edge data centercapabilities, while
> finding the best answers to our *most pressing challenges*<what are
> those?>.
>
> This committee will sponsor and create programs that encourage
> diversity by identifying and removingthe barriers that keep us from
> having a diverse, thriving community. The programs defined by
> thiscommittee will apply to the Board of Directors, OpenStack
> Foundation, Technical Committee, PTLs,Developers and the entire
> OpenStack Community. Each program will have specific success
> metricsand the committee will provide regular updates on all
> programsto the Board as well as the Community.
>
> Programs sponsored and/or created by the Diversity Committee will
> require Board of Directorsapproval. The committee will review
> existing Foundation programs and policies on regular basis
> toevaluate their performance and effectiveness. The committee will
> collaborate with the TC, Usercommittee and the BoD to ensure that
> all programs are meeting their diversity goals.
>
> Diversity is defined as all the ways people differ from one another
> including race, color, religion, sex,national origin, language,
> ancestry, age, disability, medical condition, genetic information,
> military andveteran status, marital status, pregnancy, gender,
> gender expression, gender identity, sexual orientationand other
> aspects. This includes elements such as personal background,
> experiences, education,thinkingprocesses, approaches to problem
> solving and life experiences. Diversity takes into account
> similaritiesand differences in all individuals around the world and
> can involve multiple aspects, includinggeographic location, country
> of origin, economic class or position, cultural norms and
> traditionalsocietal norms. The differences range from subtle nuances
> to very clear points of difference – this is thenature of diversity.
>
> Charter Proposal by:Egle Sigler, Kavit Munshi, Imad Sousou
>
>
> From Lauren Sell:
>
> *Summit Demographics & Community Building*
> Of course, the largest investment we make in global community
> building is moving the Summit location every six months. Changing
> locations and variables is an investment for the Foundation, but
> this practice dramatically impacts the makeup of our attendees and
> allows greater access to participate in the OpenStack community. For
> example, you can see the different geographical distribution across
> the four most recent Summits:
>
> Hong Kong (Nov 2013) Summit Attendee Demographics (3,000 total
> attendees):
> • 45% - APAC
> • 41% - North America
> • 12% - Europe
> • 1% - Middle East
> • 1% - Latin America
>
> Hong Kong (Nov 2013) top countries w/ the most attendees, descending
> order:
> • United States
> • China
> • Hong Kong
> • Japan
> • India
> • United Kingdom
> • Taiwan
> • France
> • Australia
> • Korea
>
> Atlanta Summit (May 2014) Attendee Demographics (4,500 total attendees):
> • 81% North America
> • 9% Europe
> • 8% APAC
> • 1% Middle East
> • 1% Latin America
>
> Atlanta (May 2014) top countries w/ the most attendees, descending
> order:
> • United States
> • Canada
> • Japan
> • France
> • United Kingdom
> • China
> • India
> • Israel
> • Russia
> • Germany
>
> Paris Summit (Nov 2014) Attendee Demographics (4,700 total attendees):
> • 47% Europe
> • 35% North America
> • 15% APAC
> • 2% Middle East
> • 1% Latin America
>
> Paris (Nov 2014) top countries w/ the most attendees, descending order:
> • United States
> • France
> • United Kingdom
> • Germany
> • China
> • Japan
> • India
> • Canada
> • Italy
> • Switzerland
>
> Vancouver Summit (May 2015) Attendee Demographics (5,600+ - updated
> count will be tallied on Monday night)
> • 75% - North America
> • 12% - Europe
> • 10% - APAC
> • 2% - Middle East
> • 1% - Latin America
>
> Vancouver (May 2015) top countries w/ the most attendees, descending
> order:
> 1) United States
> 2) Canada
> 3) Japan
> 4) UK
> 5) China
> 6) India
> 7) Germany
> 8) France
> 9) Israel
> 10) Russia
>
> Each Summit, we’ve grown our Travel Support Program, where we cover
> flights and accommodations for contributors who may not be sponsored
> to make the trip:
> • In Atlanta, the Foundation sponsored 21 people from 8 different
> countries for a total investment of 40,000 USD
> • In Paris, the Foundation sponsored 20 people from 10 different
> countries for a total investment of 54,000 USD
> • In Vancouver, the Foundation sponsored 28 people (7 female, 21
> male) from 14 countries for a total investment of 60,000 USD
>
> The Foundation also offers discounted and complementary Summit
> registration to University students, government and non-profit
> employees to make the event accessible.
>
> In addition to the Summits happening every six months, we have more
> than 75 user groups around the world hosting regular user group
> meetings. Many of these groups host an "OpenStack Day" event in
> their region once per year, and the Foundation not only helps
> sponsor and organize these events, but also invests in trying to get
> a Staff member to attend or speak at each event. We invest an
> approximately 100,000 USD in the regional user group events,
> including these OpenStack Days and the annual birthday meetups each
> year.
>
> You can find many of these metrics in the 2014 Annual Report:
> https://www.openstack.org/assets/reports/osf-annual-report-2014.pdf
>
> wznoinsk: is it doable to get gender and other info from openstack
> Communit Member profile (i.e: when you register on openstack.org
> <http://openstack.org> you select your gender) to extend let's say
> StackAlytics?
>
> *Women of OpenStack*
> Women continue to be an underrepresented group in terms of community
> member demographics, Summit attendees and especially speakers.
> Percentage of Women attendees at OpenStack Summits:
> • 7% - Hong Kong, Nov 2013
> • 9% - Atlanta, may 2014
> • 10% - Paris, Nov 2014
> • 10% - Vancouver, May 2015
>
> The last few Summits, several community members have worked to grow
> the Women of OpenStack (WOO) Program, which is planning several big
> acivities for Vancouver. This week, there will be a Women of
> OpenStack networking event sponsored by IBM and Intel on Sunday,
> we're sponsoring an "Allies Workshop" hosted by the Ada Initaitive
> Monday afternoon, and there will be a workshop happening Tuesday
> morning to identify actionable goals and plans over the next year.
> Also all of the #vBrownBag lightning talk speaking slots on Tuesday
> have been reserved for the Women of OpenStack. There is an
> opportunity for a similar group of community members to build and
> support diversity initiatives for OpenStack.
>
> Additionally, the Foundation and OpenStack ecosystem companies have
> been strong sponsors of the GNOME Outreach for Women Program (now
> known as Outreachy). In 2014, the Foundation itself sponsored 4
> interns, and the greater community sponsored 12 interns. The most
> difficult investment is coordination and time on behalf of mentors
> in the community, which we greatly appreciate.
>
> Additional areas I think the committee should consider focusing on
> and investing in to improve diversity in our community are the
> global Ambassadors program, publishing / providing visibility into
> more diversity metrics, recruiting speakers for Summits and other
> events, and increased investment and support for the
> internationalization (translations) team.
>
>
> Thank you,
>
> Egle
>
>
>
>
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>
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>
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--
Dave Neary - NFV/SDN Community Strategy
Open Source and Standards, Red Hat - http://community.redhat.com
Ph: +1-978-399-2182 / Cell: +1-978-799-3338
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