Innovative Thinking Women Technologists Take the Lead as Open Source Maintainers “The open source community is an environment of mutual respect and trust for everyone, with appreciation and value for other people’s opinions. It’s a welcoming and inviting place for people to work together and share goals and ideas. Beyond the technical aspect, it reveals a wonderful side of human beings.” Written by Intuit Blog team Published Dec 8, 2020 - [Updated Nov 10, 2022] 2 min read “The open source community is an environment of mutual respect and trust for everyone, with appreciation and value for other people’s opinions. It’s a welcoming and inviting place for people to work together and share goals and ideas. Beyond the technical aspect, it reveals a wonderful side of human beings.” — Rocio Montes, Staff Software Engineer, Intuit In a tech industry where diversity remains a work in progress, the open source movement offers both cause for optimism and a practical way forward. With low barriers to entry and a focus on what you can contribute rather than who you are, the community welcomes newcomers, including members of typically underrepresented groups. In fact, diversity isn’t just respected in the open source movement—it’s highly valued. When people from different walks of life are involved in a project, the perspectives they bring to the table will help make the product better for everyone who uses it. Meanwhile, open source participation can be a valuable resume-builder for technologists of all backgrounds, at all stages of their career. A group of women technologists who have taken leadership roles in the open source movement came together recently for a panel discussion of their experiences, “Women Open Source Maintainers: Insights from the Front Lines.” In this webinar, they share key insights from their open source journey, explore the challenges women in technology can face, and offer inspiration to companies looking to foster open source engagement by women within their engineering communities. You can view the discussion on-demand here. “I hope that efforts like this webinar raise awareness for women starting in their journey of the benefits of joining the open source movement. As part of this community, you will learn from a wide variety of projects, and from the people and processes that drive them.” — Ramya Achutha Rao, Senior Software Engineering Manager, Microsoft To learn more about opportunities to get involved, make a difference, and advance your career as part of the open source movement with Intuit, check out our sponsor page for this week’s GitHub Universe 2020 virtual event, and register to attend Intuit’s talk on Thursday, December 10, from 10-10:30 a.m. PT to learn How Intuit is Overhauling Legacy Engineering Practices with InnerSource. And, find out how to Get Some Swag! Previous Post Taking an Open Source Approach Inside Your Company Next Post Intuit CTO Predicts a Virtual, AI-enriched, Connected Future in 2021 Written by Intuit Blog team Our team of contributors loves to uncover inspiring stories and share helpful tips to help power your prosperity. Browse Related Articles Taxpayer Empowerment Simplifying Family Tax Credits: Why it Matters and What Can Be Done News Intuit UK Gender Pay Gap Report Innovative Thinking Intuit Survey: U.S. High School Students Want Financial Education at School Social Responsibility Building financial confidence for today’s generation Social Responsibility Intuit partners with The Farmlink Project to address climate change and combat food waste Life at Intuit How to become a better trans+ and non-binary ally Life at Intuit Here’s how women at Intuit inspire inclusion Taxpayer Empowerment Powering prosperity for women means addressing gender inequities in the tax code Job Readiness Powering prosperity, one community at a time Taxpayer Empowerment Setting the record straight on tax preparation