_______________________________________________Hi Foundation Members,
I will like to announce my candidacy for the GNOME Foundation board of directors 2022 election. As a GNOME foundation member for three years now, my goal has been to support diversity within the GNOME project. Hence, since being elected as a board member, my activities have been around promoting diversity within the GNOME project. I have highlighted this in my talks at GUADEC, participation in the Linux App Summit (LAS), and building the GNOME Africa community.
I have collaborated with other outstanding boards of directors for two years to create a strategic direction for the GNOME project. Welcome newcomers, establish a diverse and sustainable Linux app ecosystem, and funding local-first applications for the GNOME desktop are three initiatives that have been a priority for us to expand. The welcome newcomer's initiative will aid in the success of programs like Google Summer of Code (GSOC), Outreachy, and GNOME University outreach within the GNOME project. Through these initiatives, we could engage individuals to devote their time to run these programs, including paid mentors, and create resources to help newcomers in the future, such as developer documentation, examples, and tutorials. The main goal of a diverse and sustainable Linux app ecosystem initiative is to increase the financial sustainability of users in our community, which influences the variety of people who can afford to join and stay in our community. The funding Local-first applications GNOME desktop and apps aim to provide users with simple and dependable access to technology by seeking philanthropic and grant funding. As someone who shares the belief that a consistent board is beneficial for the Foundation's ability to set, refine and execute strategies over more extended periods. It will be a pleasure to serve on the board again as it continues to push strategic actions toward achieving the aims of these highlighted initiatives for the global growth and expansion of the GNOME project.
As a maintainer of GNOME Africa, I have collaborated with a team of brilliant community volunteers to bring the GNOME project to African space. Today, Africans are accepted into initiatives like Google Season of Docs and Outreachy within the GNOME project. With the recently selected GNOME African university ambassadors, strategic efforts are ongoing to bring GNOME projects into African universities. The GNOME onboard Africa event is steadily becoming an annual event where experienced GNOME maintainers assist newcomers from Africa in understanding how to contribute to the GNOME project. These efforts would not have been feasible without the members and contributors of GNOME, who have always volunteered to support us on this journey. I firmly believe in the value collaboration brings to open source. I aim to continue this endeavour by collaborating with more individuals and organizations within and outside the GNOME community to strengthen and broaden the GNOME project's influence across Africa.
As an observer in the Community Health Analytics Open-Source Software Project (CHAOSS) (A Linux Foundation Project), I have contributed to developing metrics on occasional contributors within open-source projects. A data-driven approach to diversity within the GNOME project could help measure and improve our health in diversity. With diversity metrics in place, we can thrive for improvements in our community, which can further help us take strategic steps that could motivate newcomers to join GNOME and feel a sense of belonging. Hence, if selected for this next term of the board in 2022, I intend to collaborate with members and contributors in brainstorming around diversity and inclusion metrics that would help improve our effort of diversity within the GNOME projects globally.
My career journey has been a variety of experiences that have improved my leadership and problem-solving skills. For over ten years, I have worked on database projects and development as a consultant to organizations within the information technology industry and educational institutes. My consulting experience has helped me build my marketing, people, and collaborative skills. I have worked as a faculty member where I collaborated with non-profits within the educational sector in Nigeria, developing programs and digital content for public schools. I designed digital educational program content and improved my marketing, management, and fundraising skills. As a founder of a non-profit (Pranet Initiative), I am collaborating with Tech She Can UK (non-profit) with intelligent volunteers to raise awareness for early technology skills among children living in rural communities in Nigeria. We are introducing open digital lesson plans for kids in rural communities to bring more girls into technology early. Also, I am working as a software engineer focusing on backend development at IKEA.
Joining the GNOME project has allowed me to contribute towards building a diverse and sustainable free software that everyone can trust. It will be a privilege to continue in this capacity and serve on a Board of directors next spring 2022. As a Linux user, I am proud of our impact on desktop applications and the open-source space. I would like to use this medium to thank all GNOME contributors, volunteers and staff serving in their various capacities in consistently releasing different versions of GNOME and aiding usability. Thank you all.
Thanks,
Regina Nkemchor A.
https://events.gnome.org/category/7/
https://github.com/chaoss/wg-common/blob/main/focus-areas/people/occasional-contributors.md
https://www.techshecan.org/our-members
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