[UbuntuWomen] Outreach Issues? (Jasna Bencic)

[Jasna Benčić]

Maybe it would be good to start small with this like a pilot program and
slightly different from GNOME OPW....

Since this would be volunteering project and there is no financial support
for interns this will be a lot harder to do.  Those young women (interns)
are expecting a possible job opportunity after that and if there is no
official protocol in this regard then that won't happen. And I would hate
to see sad faces.

To work for Canonical those young women don't need Outreach Program for
Women at all. Many many Ubuntu projects are open. They just have to join
certain project and ask how to help. <----- Here you can see a problem
because not many women or men are aware what means to be in the FOSS world
i.e. what it means to have indomitable will to volunteer and to get "Thank
you" for a paycheck. Many of them will find that  less attractive because
they think: "Ah, why would I do this?"  I don't blame them, it's their way
of life.

What they don't know is that with volunteering there is maybe a longer way
to get a job but much safer because when you have indomitable will you
don't stop working on this. You can have breaks (longer, shorter) when you
have a struggle in your real life but you are always here.

I've been following OPW Linux kernel internships for 2 rounds now and
haven't seen any interest of young ladies to join in a small Linux kernel
group for ladies  so this doesn't stay on internship level only. This tells
you how they are just going for an internship because they want a job. And
I understand that very much. After all that is GNOME OPW goal and I respect
that a lot. Many young women struggle to get carrer, especially in IT
world.

As I said, we could start with small pilot project that doesn't have to be
OPW related but Ubuntu women related or Ubunu related. Additional reason
for that is because Canonical is not interested to be involved in GNOME
OPW.

So, I suggest a project where we could all participate as mentors in order
to switch easier and get in the shape easier. If you have 1 project and
many mentors from the start that would release potential burn out.

What kind of a project, I don't know. Something not too difficult and yet
still challenging till some point.

This would differ till some point from GNOME OPW because it is  simply sad
to see when girls who didn't make it in certain round they are on that same
beginning they were when they joined the contest. This, if you will would
be where everybody wins and their prize would be: knowledge and public
announcement that they have successfully finished for example 3 month
Ubuntu women program and they know: this this and that. They could pin this
to their CV and would have more chance to get employed because many
employers today ask: "What can you do?"  They are interested if a person is
proactive or passive. I don't have to mention which looks better.

And after first round we can ask those ladies if they are willing to
participate as mentors in next rounds so this doesn't stay on same backs
and this Ubuntu women round v.0.0.1. could go to v.0.1.0 etc


This is a sensitive project because people are in the game, so there is a
lot of work to be done before even shipping this out.

Just a suggestion and few thoughts, let me know what you think.

Best regards,


Jasna
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