Hello All, I am interested in contributing to increasing diversity and inclusion in Apache products and community. Wanted to run by you all a few suggestions I have in mind as below.
(1) I would like to propose the addition of awards like "Rookie PR" (or any other name that sounds good to all) to recognize new budding contributors, across all Apache projects. This will be an incentive for newcomers and inspire them to pick up PRs. We can make a rule that there will be no repetitions, to ensure that new contributors get a chance each month. This will help increase awareness of open source contributions to Apache in the community and boost their LinkedIn profiles too (since might be aspiring job seekers/students). In the long run, this will result in reduction of the list of open PRs for all Apache products as well. (2) I would like to spread the word about Apache products, women and diversity candidates and start open source contributions. I was looking at the growing Apache list of projects <https://projects.apache.org/> and see a big potential for the community to get involved in building Apache products. I have a network of people across other ERGs like Women in Big Data <https://www.womeninbigdata.org/wibd-structure/>, Women Tech Meetup <https://luma.com/womentechmeetup>, AnitaB <https://anitab.org/our-mission> + IIT alumni and was thinking that if we can spread about Open Source Contributions, it will be beneficial to increase diversity for Apache Software Foundation. Potentially, if we can get speakers, I can share with these ERGs and collaborate to co-organize events (like knowledge sharing, panel talks, hackathons). Your thoughts on this? Warm Regards, Srabasti Banerjee <www.linkedin.com/in/srabasti-banerjee> A little bit about me: Open Source contributor to Apache Airflow and Google products working as a Data Architect. Since 2016 I had been trying to break into it and finally made it in 2023, after learning that it is possible for the general public to do so, from kind fellow contributors. Having been scammed by a firm under the pretext of training, I want to help spread the word about open source contributions, so no one lands in the same boat. I am the Global Training Director for Women in Big Data DataCamp Donates program. Blog for 2024 highlights are as follows: https://www.womeninbigdata.org/highlights-of-2024-wibd-and-datacamp-donates/ . There are 450+ certified professionals looking to transition to Data roles, and open source contributions will be a great way to break into the market + help Apache products grow faster, at scale.
