Not to sound overdramatic but with each passing hour I’m getting more and more saddened by the rejection of the DEIB devroom that we proposed at #FOSDEM (an initiative driven by @RosannaSibora and @Gina)

It would have been so powerful to have a DEIB (Diversity, Equity, Inclusion and Belonging) track - to promote the visibility of a different kind of folks in tech AND celebrate them at Europe’s largest open source gathering.

A mini 🧵🥲

2/4

I LOVED tinkering with computers in my childhood and teenage years and it never even occurred to me I could have gotten into computer science or engineering. I didn’t have any examples of that. I chose Mass Communication instead.

It’s only now, many many years later, that I have discovered the world of FOSS (thanks to the Fediverse) and self-hosting. I’m having so much fun and I almost wish I could turn back the clock and study to become a sysadmin (my heroes!)

3/4

My child is at that age (5 almost 6) when girls start experiencing a confidence gap. I would have been a proud mamma to show her the incredible diversity of presenters in our devroom at FOSDEM.

I’ve been showing her examples of other kinds of excellence (than stereotypical cis white men - sorry no offense) since she was an infant.

But it’s so much more powerful when you discuss people you know IRL and can show actual examples...