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By vonreyes on
Recently at DrupalCon Portland 2022, I was honored to share space with our amazing scholarship recipients at our Scholarship Breakfast and throughout the rest of the week. This community building felt particularly meaningful, as it was our first year gathering in person again since 2019 and for many of our scholars, it was their first DrupalCon ever!
The DrupalCon scholarship program exists to decrease barriers-to-entry for marginalized people in the Drupal community and contributing to the project. Scholarship programs like these are not charity, they are providing the resources for historically oppressed folks in our society and community who deserve as much success and access as those of privileged identity.
In addition to the 2019 Driesnote, we were grateful to host industry leaders at DrupalCon Portland 2022 to discuss inequity in Open Source. From the background and framework of understanding to actionable progress that can be made, I feel confident and energized that the Drupal community is on the right track.
A reality for marginalized folks worldwide is that not all scholarship recipients can be featured publicly. There are very real risks to living in our truth publicly, and I take the safety and privacy of our scholars very seriously. Consent and personal autonomy are everything!
Of our scholars who consented to being featured, I asked if they’d like to share their experiences with us, and 3 of them have graciously agreed. All 3 of them are some of the warmest folks I’ve ever spent time with as well as being powerhouse professionals doing incredible work in Drupal. We are all made better by being in community with them.
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How he got into Drupal (and why he stayed) I started following the Drupal community fifteen years ago, after hearing about it on the Lullabot podcast. The cooperative nature of the Drupal community stood out to me - in fact, it aligned well with the principles of Kwanzaa that I had learned from my family throughout my life. His experience at DrupalCon Portland 2022 My mentor, Leslie Glynn gave me excellent advice on how to get the most from DrupalCon. My favorite moment was Dries promoting my volunteer project (Project Browser) as a major feature of Drupal 11! My favorite session was Dori Kelner's "You Are Not A Fraud". Its focus is on Imposterism in general and how it’s actually MORE devastating for talented people. It also highlighted how it specifically affects disadvantaged groups of people. |
Kwame “|
How she got into Drupal (and why she stayed) I worked with Drupal 8 while building out UCLA's Undergraduate Admission website. Currently, I’m working with Drupal 9 on VA modernization. I want to meet more women in tech! I like digital accessibility, and connection. Her experience at DrupalCon Portland 2022 One piece of advice from my mentor (Em Nouveau) that stuck with me was to go to the Birds of a Feather sessions, since all talks are recorded but these organic small group discussions weren't. I joined the Drupal Diversity and Inclusion (DDI) table, where I felt truly welcomed as a different and beginner Drupal developer. Along with this experience, the warmth of the Drupal Association folks and insight of the diversity keynotes were so validating, healing, and empowering. |
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How she got into Drupal (and why she stayed) Federal agencies use Drupal for their content management systems a lot. I founded Friends From The City because I wanted to be the change I wanted to see in the world. Friends From The City is a digital services firm that partners with federal and state agencies to modernize their legacy systems, and Drupal is heavily used. We often try to design a bespoke user experience for authors and editors rather than using out-of-the-box templates, specifically at the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs. Her experience at DrupalCon Portland 2022 DrupalCon Portland 2022 was an amazing conference. Von Eaton is an awesome person who is welcoming and affirming. After the scholars' breakfast (which was delicious, btw) and the sessions, I felt inspired to learn more about Drupal, particularly as the founder of a design firm. In addition to the informative sessions, meeting new people at the various networking events was also a pleasant experience. I hope to attend more DrupalCons in the future and continue to learn about this awesome platform and community. Thank you for welcoming us! |
Lapedra Tolson I also want to lift up our other scholarship recipients who consented to being featured publicly:
Thank you so much to all of you for choosing to spend your week at DrupalCon Portland 2022 and for all you do to make an impact on those around you. I am deeply grateful to know you all, and I look forward to continuing to support you in your Drupal journeys.
If you’d like to read more about Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion trends in open source, here are some great scholarly articles:
