Diversity and inclusion needs to be a core Drupal value and priority. Not prioritizing diversity does a disservice to the individuals who could benefit directly; and diverse contribution benefits the growth and potential of Drupal and the community.

What we heard:

The Drupal community cannot achieve its full potential without making a commitment to diversity and inclusion and honouring it. The Drupal community flourishes when we ensure that talented people are not inherently excluded, and that all are afforded opportunities for engagement and development.

Much like the Values and Principles, our community needs definition around diversity and inclusion to help guide us, and it is important for our community identity that we have clarity — although we recognize this is no easy task.

What we recommend:

We recommend the creation of a diversity statement. As with other official Drupal community guideposts, like the Values and Principles, this would be a living document with ongoing improvements based on open feedback from the community.

The diversity statement would be a first-order policy along with the mission, vision, and values and principles documents. We further recommend a process be defined for reviewing ongoing commentary and/or proposed changes.

Comments

rachel_norfolk created an issue. See original summary.

rachel_norfolk’s picture

rachel_norfolk
Primary language English
Location UK
CreditAttribution: rachel_norfolk at Drupal Association commented
Issue summary: View changes
Status: Active » Needs review
mennonot’s picture

mennonot CreditAttribution: mennonot at Congruity Works commented

I strongly support a robust and community oriented process to create a Drupal diversity statement. A well written statement could provide a shared vocabulary for talking about what equity and inclusion look like in the daily practices of the Drupal community. As Drupal grows beyond being a majority white, European/US project, this is especially important so that the community can recognize how things like power and social location impact our community from the grassroots to the leadership of our institutions. We need to name our commitment to diversity and equity as one of the building blocks for healthy change.

DamienMcKenna’s picture

DamienMcKenna
Location NH, USA
CreditAttribution: DamienMcKenna at Mediacurrent commented

It'd be worth examining other organizations and communities to see what other groups do for this.

rachel_norfolk’s picture

rachel_norfolk
Primary language English
Location UK
CreditAttribution: rachel_norfolk at Drupal Association commented

Yes please!

Noting https://sustainoss.org/diversity here as an example that caught my eye...

RainbowArray’s picture

RainbowArray
she/her
Primary language English
Location Twin Cities, Minnesota
CreditAttribution: RainbowArray at Lullabot commented

Creating a diversity statement is important, although I'd suggest calling it a diversity and inclusion statement. Diversity without inclusion is a problem!

One thing that I think is really important is not just generically talking about diversity and inclusion, but getting into the specifics.

We are welcoming to people of color, women, LGBT folks, religious minorities, people with disabilities, older developers, people from areas that have a history of colonialist exploitation... be explicit that what we're specifically talking about is being welcoming to people from marginalized groups, and not for example, stuff like "diversity of thought." Principle 8 goes into how we're not tolerant of intolerance, and that is good, but being really explicit that hate and discrimination—nor those who advocate for inequality—is really key.

sparklingrobots’s picture

sparklingrobots
she/they
Primary language English
Location United States
CreditAttribution: sparklingrobots at Pantheon, Drupal Diversity & Inclusion commented

I love this idea and can't wait to see what comes of it. I also hope that we are able to use a process for this that includes the voices of those who are underrepresented within our community.

Gábor Hojtsy’s picture

Gábor Hojtsy
he/him
Primary language Hungarian
Location Hungary
CreditAttribution: Gábor Hojtsy at Acquia commented
Issue tags: +2018 Governance Task Force Recommendation

Tagging with a common tag for easier identification.

solideogloria’s picture

solideogloria CreditAttribution: solideogloria commented

I think diversity of thought is important to acknowledge as well. You can't have a community built from people of diverse backgrounds and be inclusive and welcoming to those people without first accepting that different worldviews and viewpoints are welcome.

To quote from the example document that @rachel_norfolk linked:

Conservative or liberal, libertarian or socialist — we believe it’s possible for people of all viewpoints and persuasions to come together and learn from each other. We believe in the broad spectrum of individual and collective experience and in the inherent dignity of all people. We believe that amazing things come when people from different worlds and world-views approach each other to create a conversation.

The community needs to be a place where we value the "inherent dignity of all people", inherent meaning that you deserve dignity and respect, not because of some characteristic of yourself or something you believe (which can change or be taken away), but simply because you are human.

DamienMcKenna’s picture

DamienMcKenna
Location NH, USA
CreditAttribution: DamienMcKenna at Mediacurrent commented

I think diversity of thought is important to acknowledge as well.

I used to think this was bupkis, but then Covid happened and the world disappeared down a groupthink blackhole that it hasn't fully recovered from. So now I strongly believe a range of opinions is essential to avoid the community groupthinking itself into obsolescence.

The community needs to be a place where we value the "inherent dignity of all people"

Amen.