Category Archives: Getting involved in open tech and culture

Apply today: Linux kernel internships through Outreach Program for Women

The Linux Foundation is sponsoring the first ever Linux kernel internships offered through the Outreach Program for Women. The internships pay $5000, plus a $500 travel grant to the LinuxCon North America conference in New Orleans, Louisiana in September.

If you identify as a woman, genderqueer, or genderfluid, have ever wanted to learn to develop the Linux kernel, and have the free time to work on the internship, you should apply now! The deadline to finish your application is May 17, 2013, but please start your application by May 1.

Not sure you can write a good application? Lots of help is available: you can join a mailing list, ask questions on IRC, or email the mentors directly. You are encouraged to start your application now, and finish it by May 17th using any of these avenues for help.

We’re thrilled that the Linux Foundation and their mentors are taking this major step towards increasing diversity in the Linux kernel development community. Thank you, Linux Foundation, for creating these internships!

GitHub donates private repositories to women learning open source software

We’re excited to announce that long-time Ada Initiative sponsor GitHub has donated unlimited free private source code repositories to the Ada Initiative, to be used by women learning to write open source software. To get a free private repository on GitHub, just email the managers of the Ada Initiative GitHub account with your GitHub account name and ask for one! Updated to add: This offer is far more popular than we expected! Please be patient while we fulfill your requests. AdaCamp San Francisco attendees are also encouraged to use GitHub for collaborating during the conference, whether for writing code or words.

GitHub changed how open source software is developed, making it easier than ever before for people to post their code, send changes to other people’s code, and get their code reviewed. GitHub gives anyone unlimited free public code repositories, but charges for private repositories, which only selected people can see. This encourages GitHub users to use open source software licenses and share their code with other people.

In working with women in open source, the Ada Initiative found that many women are reluctant to post their code publicly when they are first getting started in open source software. This reluctance has good reasons behind it: fear of being told they are bad programmers, fear of being publicly mocked or harassed, and even fear of losing job opportunities. All of these are greater risks for women on average than men. But the best way to get better at programming is to collaborate with and get review from other programmers, which is far easier to do with a shared repository like those provided by GitHub. Unfortunately, private repositories are too expensive for most women just getting started in open source software.

We went to GitHub with our dilemma, and they immediately offered us unlimited free repositories on the Ada Initiative GitHub account. GitHub is a long-time supporter of women in open source, and sponsored both AdaCamp DC and AdaCamp San Francisco. We’re thrilled to offer women in open source private repositories for the purpose of learning open source software development. To get a private repository, email the Ada Initiative GitHub team members with your GitHub account name and ask. If you run a women’s open source programming group or event, such as PyLadies or Women Who Code, and could use some private repositories, please ask to become a team member for the Ada Initiative repository so you can create private repositories for your event.

Thanks again to GitHub for their generous donation and support of women in open technology and culture!

Reminder: visit the Ada Initiative feminist hacker lounge at PyCon this week!

Ada Initiative advisors Lukas Blakk and Liz Henry write:

At this year’s annual USA Python conference — PyCon in Santa Clara, California, March 15–17 — the Ada Initiative will have a booth in the Exhibition hall, set up as a feminist hacker lounge. In partnership with Mozilla, the booth will provide space to chill out during the conference with other attendees. Brainstorm with feminist Python hackers on projects you’re currently working on or are just now dreaming up!

Throughout the three days of the conference we will have some organized Birds-Of-a-Feather (BOF) events on various topics. Come check out the booth schedule and say hello! Snacks will be provided and we also have fabulous stickers. Previous Python programming experience is not required to hang out with us.

Note that unfortunately no last-minute registrations for PyCon 2013 are available: the event sold out in February.

Women who are registered for the conference and attending on March 16 may also be interested in the PyLadies lunch, register ASAP to make sure there’s a place for you.

Call for Participation: Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing (closes March 15)

Submissions are now open for the 2013 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing, to be held October 2–5, 2013 in Minneapolis.

Submissions are encouraged from college students and professionals at all levels—from undergraduate students to entry-level industry employees to senior women in industry, government, and academia. Technical women and those who work with them (including technical men, corporate recruiters, nonprofit advocates, etc.) are all welcome to submit session proposals.

This is a great opportunity to gain professional visibility as a subject matter expert, expand your network and advance your career.

This year’s conference will focus on key areas where emerging technologies are having dramatic impact. They are: Software Engineering, Mobile Experiences, Media & Entertainment,  Medical Technology and  Education Technology.

Submissions are due by March 15, 11:59 PM (PST) or March 16th 2:59 AM (EST).

Find out more at the Call for Participation web page.

Systers Spring 2013 Pass-It-On Awards: applications open, apply by April 10

Kristin Potter writes:

The Anita Borg Systers Pass-It-On (PIO) Awards honor Anita Borg’s desire to create a network of technical women helping one another. The cash awards, funded exclusively by donations from the Systers Online Community, are intended as means for women established in technological fields to support women seeking their place in the fields of technology. The program is called “Pass-It-On” because it comes with the moral obligation to “pass on” the benefits gained from the award.

Women of all ages (over 18), nationalities, and backgrounds are encouraged to apply.

The deadline to apply for the Spring 2013 round is Wednesday April 10, 2013 at 12:00noon PST (UT-8)

Reference letters are due on Wednesday April 24, 2013 at 5:00 PM PST (UT-8).

If you would like to apply, or know of a woman in technology who would like to apply, you can read about the awards online at Systers Pass-It-On Awards Program.

Guidelines for completing the online application form for this award are available online.

The application form for Spring 2013 cycle of the Systers Pass-it-on Awards is online.

Please help us publicize the PIO awards to your professional and social networks and encourage your peers to apply.

Got open tech and culture news to share with women in the Ada Initiative’s community? Email share@adainitiative.org.

Ada Initiative at PyCon: Come to our feminist hacker lounge!

Ada Initiative advisors Lukas Blakk and Liz Henry write:

PyCon is close to selling all its tickets, so if you’d like to come, buy your ticket now!

Women at the conference on March 16 may also be interested in the PyLadies lunch, register ASAP to make sure there’s a place for you.

Meet and greet: BlackGirlsCODE, January 31, Washington DC

BlackGirlsCODE are having a volunteer meetup in Washington DC on Thursday January 31. BGC volunteers from multiple cities are attending, and current and potential BGC in the District volunteers are invited to attend.

The event will be held at UNCF corporate office located at 1805 7th Street, NW, Washington, DC, from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM. RSVP at EventBrite. General volunteer signup for BGC through the United States is also available.

Got open tech and culture news to share with women in the Ada Initiative’s community? Email share@adainitiative.org.

Wikimania 2013 scholarships: contributors to free knowledge, free software, collaborative and/or educational initiatives encouraged to apply

Wikimania 2013, the annual international conference of the Wikimedia movement, will be held from 7–11 August, 2013, in Hong Kong. Applications for travel scholarships are now open and close on February 22.

Eligibility (who can apply for a scholarship): Any active contributor to a Wikimedia project and/or Wikimedia volunteer in any other capacity, from anywhere in the world, is considered eligible. Participants in other free knowledge, free software, collaborative and/or educational initiatives are also encouraged to apply.

Selection: All applications for scholarship are reviewed by the scholarship committee. Applicants will be rated on the following four dimensions: activity within Wikimedia (50% of total score), activity outside Wikimedia (15% of total score), interest in Wikimania and the Wikimedia movement (25% of total score) and fluency of English language (10% of total score).

To apply for a scholarship to aid in covering expenses for Wikimania 2013 in Hong Kong, please submit a completed application form by 22 February 2013 23:59 UTC.

— the editors of the Wikimania 2013 website

For more information, see the Wikimania scholarships page.

Got open tech and culture news to share with women in the Ada Initiative’s community? Email share@adainitiative.org.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported.

Allies workshop at Everyone Hacks in San Francisco Jan. 19

The Ada Initiative will be teaching the Allies Workshop this Saturday, January 19, 2013, at the Everyone Hacks event in San Francisco, California.

The Ada Initiative Allies Workshop is for people who may or may not be women in open technology and culture, focusing on practical, everyday ways they can support women in their community. After a short introduction on the basic concepts, we role-play or watch other people role-play through common scenarios, and discuss why some things work and others don’t.

Everyone Hacks is a two-day event focused on teaching women how to form teams quickly and build software that works in a short time – the skills often used at hackathons, startups, or fun projects. People of any gender are welcome. Child care is available both Saturday and Sunday for an extra fee.

We teach the Allies Workshop several times a year. Would you like to host an Allies Workshop in Australia or New Zealand? Because we’d like to teach one. The conditions are:

Dependent on staff availability
Travel and accommodation paid if outside Sydney
At least half of the workshop spaces must be open to non-profit employees and open tech/culture volunteers

See our Workshops and training page for more information.

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0 United States.

Apply to Hacker School in New York City: needs-based assistance for women attendees (deadline Jan 1)

Nicholas Bergson-Shilcock writes:

Hacker School is a three-month, full-time school in New York forbecoming a better programmer. It’s like a writers retreat for hackers. Tuition is free, and we provide space, a little structure, time to focus, and a friendly community of smart people dedicated to self-improvement.

We strive to make Hacker School the best environment to learn and grow as a programer. Towards that end, we have explicit social rules (e.g., no “well, actuallys,” no “feigning surprise,” no “subtle sexism”), we aim for gender parity (our past two batches were 37-45% female), and we host amazing people as programmers in residence who work directly with students (last batch: Jessica McKellar, Peter Seibel, Alex Payne, Stefan Karpinski, and David Nolen).

Tuition is free, and we provide $5000, need-based grants to women for living expenses.

We value free software, beautiful code, and personal growth. Apply now to be part of our winter 2013 batch, which begins in February.

You can also learn about the type of people we look for and if we’d be a fit for you.

Ada Initiative notes: the next Hacker School program runs full-time in New York City from February 11 until May 2, 2013. Applications are due by January 1.

Got open tech and culture news to share with women in the Ada Initiatives community? Email share@adainitiative.org. The Geek Feminism wiki has further outreach channels for women in open source.