Keynote: Finding Purpose in Open Source Through Community Building.

About This Talk

Growing up, I had little enthusiasm for Computers and Mathematics and I found it difficult to navigate these areas in school. However, after my first encounter as a mentee at a Django Girls event held in Accra, Ghana, I saw the value of Open Source Software and Community and was challenged to encourage the participation of more women. This challenge evolved into a bigger one which involved bringing together more Africans, to share ideas, collaborate, and find their career paths, while also inspiring the next generation of contributors. My efforts in strategic team building, projects, and communities like Django Girls and PyCon Africa helped us reach these goals.

In this talk, I will share my journey of how I was challenged to contribute to open source by bringing others into it, and how it has helped me develop resilience and a growth mindset. I will discuss how I discovered the benefits of open source, overcame the challenges of contributing, became strategic about community building, embraced discomfort, and ultimately found a sense of purpose and fulfillment in my contributions.

Through my experience, I aim to encourage others to keep welcoming new people, particularly those from underrepresented groups, to participate in open source. Show them the various ways that open source can help them improve the world and fulfill their goals.