[OSGeo-Discuss] Rewording the diversity argument

[Marc VLOEMANS]

I Totally agree with your emphasis on 'active'. That makes it operational.

Code of conducts, bylaws and other formally stated policies can provide a
necessary framework, but it will be people/us/individuals who will have to
lead by example and by engaging and by upholding the values.
It is about a bottom-up approach and a scratch-our-own-itches attitude IMHO.


Op vr 13 okt. 2017 om 09:24 schreef María Arias de Reyna <
delawen+osgeo at gmail.com>

> On Fri, Oct 13, 2017 at 9:01 AM, Marc Vloemans <marcvloemans1 at gmail.com>
> wrote:
>
>> Dear all,
>>
>> Please notice that the concept of diversity is not about equal
>> numbers/quota's. That has and will backfire as it misses the point and
>> easily degrades individual achievements.
>>
>> It is essentially about 'inclusiveness'!
>>
>> I am trying to be sensitive to the European way of approaching the matter
>> versus the American way. 'Diversity' as a term carries different
>> connotations/values/interpretations for different cultures.
>> Therefore I rather talk about 'inclusiveness' as everyone has felt left
>> out at least once. So is able to relate to how that feels.
>>
>> Are we inviting and welcoming everyone that adds value in some way or is
>> genuinely interested in OSGeo?
>> Do we truly have the 'open' culture we pride ourselves on (e.g. past
>> email treads attacking individuals could suggest differently)?
>> Please, lets work on that, keep each other sharp and avoid window
>> dressing.
>>
>> Kind regards,
>> Marc Vloemans
>>
>>
> Hi,
>
> I agree that maybe the word diversity may be too cultural-related and
> maybe we should avoid it as we may not be talking about the same things.
> Maybe some native speakers can create a glosary of terms we can use when
> talking about diversity and inclusiveness?
>
> I know what to use in Spanish, but sometimes I am not sure how that
> translates properly. It's like, can I say "black" if I am just being
> descriptive? Because "afroamerican" may work fine in America, but what
> about black people in Europe who has never been to America? "Afroeuropean"?
> Why the difference? It is always confusing to me because I always get
> different advices here.
>
> Also, I think that being just welcoming and open on a pasive way is not
> enough, which is how OSGeo has behave until now (or at least from my point
> of view). That's the classic argument when men are asked about the lack of
> women in tech. "We don't forbid them to come. If they would be interested,
> they would be here. We will be happy if they join." And that's not how it
> works. In my opinion, we have to be actively welcoming and inclusive at all
> times. The slippery moment we forget, we are making people move away.
>
>
> Op 13 okt. 2017 om 08:23 heeft María Arias de Reyna <
>> delawen+osgeo at gmail.com> het volgende geschreven:
>>
>> Hi Ger-Jan (and all),
>>
>> On Thu, Oct 12, 2017 at 6:00 PM, Gert-Jan van der Weijden - Stichting
>> OSGeo.nl <gert-jan at osgeo.nl> wrote:
>>
>>> Hi Board member candidates (and fellow voter members),
>>>
>>> = And one to all of you:
>>>
>>> Some of you talk about being an inclusive organization.
>>>
>>> For the geographical and probably cultural aspect of inclusiveness, do
>>> you think the Board should have it's roots in as much continents /
>>> languages as possible, so preferably 1 Board member from every continent
>>> (not counting for Antarctica, ha!)
>>>
>>
>>
>> I am no friend of quotas. At least everytime I have been offered things
>> just because I was a woman and they needed a female because [reason not
>> related to my real value] it made me feel really bad. Why would I want to
>> be somewhere (a board or whatever) where everyone knows I am there not
>> because I deserve it but because something I didn't even choose? If I
>> accepted, no one was going to hear my voice, I would have been unable to do
>> anything for real. No, thanks.
>>
>> Said this, on an ideal world probably we would have in average one person
>> for each continent or language or culture or ethnicity or gender or
>> whatever criteria you want to split people into.
>>
>> Would we achieve this by forcing quotas? We could but, I rather prefer to
>> get more diverse people engage and enthusiast with OSGeo so in the end they
>> will become natural leaders. Making an effort to help diverse people more
>> comfortable in OSGeo and encourage them to participate more? Yes. Giving
>> visibility to diverse people that are doing great things inside OSGeo?
>> Sure. Making an effort to put someone in some position just because we have
>> to fill a quota? No, thanks.
>>
>> _______________________________________________
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>> Discuss at lists.osgeo.org
>> https://lists.osgeo.org/mailman/listinfo/discuss
>>
>> --
Kind regards,

Marc Vloemans

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