LibreLadies mission statement

libreladies
#1

Hi ladies,

now that we have this mailing list, IRC channel (be prepared for my daily dose
of feminist linkspam :)) and Telegram group set, I'd say it's time to think
about some mission statement for us

i.e. why are we here, what is it that we want to do, what are our goals. I'd
eventually like to have some article about LibreLadies on official TDF blog, but
before that, we need at least some wiki page with $subject.

At the end, someone else has to write it (because I can only write code ...
okay, maybe also scathing code reviews :)), but let me at least provide some
input.

Some answers to "Why Question" are here:
http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Founding_a_women_geeks_group

Some sample statement of purpose here:
http://geekfeminism.wikia.com/wiki/Statement_of_purpose:_communities_including_men
(presumably we don't want to exclude men, right?)

But just as I'm strongly against copy'n'pasting the code :wink: I'd oppose if we'd
just copy'n'pasted the above w/o much thinking, so I'd suggest that those who
feel like (also men! if there are any) can state their motivation, why they
came here in the first place and we take it from there. Maybe some common
patterns emerge

I'm here, on LibreLadies ML, because:

1. After 15 years in FLOSS and some 10 years of being IT professional, I
always felt lonely being frequently the only woman in a team, on an event, or
simply in a group. Seeing other women around makes me feel less lonely, less
exceptional and more included.

2. I'm old :slight_smile: so I don't really search mentoring or need to see female role
models anymore. However, I'm painfully aware of how much younger women need
both of that, so I'd like to be there for them. By being part of LibreLadies
I'm making myself more visible for that purpose.

3. Sometimes I just need to vent my frustration about some male hackers
unaware of their privilege, or about sexism 2.0 and I believe this is the
place where people (instead of slapping their foreheads and asking "Wtf are
you talking about?") will relate and understand

B.

#2

Hey Katarina,

Where can I start to write something for our mission statement, so later we
can review and publish it? Website?

Also we need an article to announce the new group "Libreladies".

~Jona

#3

Hi Jona & ladies,

Where can I start to write something for our mission statement, so later we
can review and publish it? Website?

I hoped for some brainstorming here on the list, but TDF wiki is another place
that comes to mind

Also we need an article to announce the new group "Libreladies".

Makes sense, but only when there's some mission to write about :slight_smile:

#4

Hello group,

First of all sorry for my late reply on this thread.

After finishing a proposal idea for LibreLadies, I've been thinking a
lot on doing something else in order to include other underrepresented
groups. Being a core member of 'Fedora Diversity team' has helped me a
lot in the way of thinking how to have an inclusive community and be
diverse. Women are a minority at LibreOffice, but let's include also
other groups that are/feel minority at our community. We need to
emphasize the fact that we want our community to be more diverse:
whoever you are, and whatever your background, we welcome you. We can
call it LibreDiversity or something else, we can think about it, but I
want something bigger and not only for women. First steps that the
Diversity Team can do is helping women to get onboard, but let's think
big and be more inclusive!

I want to hear also your opinions for this, feedback are more than
welcomed. :slight_smile:

Also at the end of the email you have the proposal for LibreLadies (we
can keep it even if we wave a diversity team), it's short but I think it
contains all the necessary information's and it's better not to be very
long in order for people not to get bored while reading it.

Kind regards,
Jona

===================================================
LibreLadies is a project designed to connect and assist women who are
interested in using and contributing to LibreOffice.

*Mailing list:* libreladies@documentfoundation.org
*IRC Channel:* #libreladies

*Why do women need their own group to contribute to LibreOffice? *
It is hard enough to become a member of a new community and learn its
culture and processes. Women (a minority in open-source communities)
face a unique set of challenges and go through a different set of
experiences than men when trying to become contributors. Because women
are a minority it is harder for us to find others who've been through
the same things, or with whom we can share experiences and advice.
LibreLadies's goal is to address this need.

*Joining LibreLadies**
**How do I get started?*
I'm a woman who would like to become a LibreOffice contributor.
Welcome to LibreOffice and LibreLadies! A great way to get started is to
join our mailing list and send off a post introducing yourself and your
interests (What kind of contributions would you like to make?). You can
also join us in our IRC channel, #libreladies, on freenode.

*How are we going to encourage more women to contribute? *
LibreLadies is planning to have some activities (online and offline),
where the main goal is to share experience in order to motivate other
women to be part of open source communities and contribute. Providing
role models by increasing the visibility of active women in LibreOffice
will encourage other contributors. Another way is giving talks at Open
Source conferences and actively encouraging and educating the
LibreOffice community to increase understanding of the issues facing
women who wish to contribute to our community. Each event will be well
documented in order to be used for other communities too.