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Building Inclusive Communities

Building Inclusive Communities

We’re all a part of a community—design, CSS, JavaScript or any other. But often we fail to reflect on what that actually means and what responsibility it conveys for us as individuals. This talk focuses on understanding what communities are; creating, sustaining and growing them. It offers insight into building participatory culture, fostering empathy and building a better future, together.

Karolina Szczur

September 08, 2017
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Transcript

  1. ⚠ Trigger warning This talk includes mentions of harassment and

    depiction or discussion of discriminatory attitudes or actions. If at any point you feel uncomfortable with the content, please feel free to leave and take care of yourself ❤
  2. I remember the magic of connecting to the Internet for

    the first time, over two decades ago. I was instantly hooked on its wonders.
  3. The platforms we were once so excited about are dehumanising

    and urging us to fit into stereotypical and often oppressive societal norms.
  4. It’s easier to feel like there’s no room for us

    at all. We don’t belong. I don’t belong.
  5. Peter Block “Our communities are separated into silos; they're collection

    of institutions and programs operating near one another but not overlapping or touching. This is important to understand because this dividedness that makes it so difficult to create a more positive or alternative future.”
  6. Diversity encompasses complex differences and similarities between people such as:

    gender, race, age, ability, socioeconomic status, religion and many more aspects.
  7. Inclusion is a sense of belonging, engaging all individuals and

    letting them function at full capacity.
  8. Equity requires a set of informed policies and practices, intentionally

    designed to promote opportunity and rectify disparities.
  9. Exclusion takes the form of discrimination that denies full access

    to rights, opportunities and resources that are normally accessible to others.
  10. Astra Taylor “We have somehow deceived ourselves into believing that

    this state of insecurity and inequity is a form of liberation.”
  11. 26% of computing occupations are held by women. Source: National

    Center for Women and Information Technology
  12. 29% is as high as the pay gap between men

    and women gets. Source: The Gender Pay Gap in Tech
  13. 30% of women of colour were passed over for a

    promotion. Source: Tech Leavers Study
  14. The tech industry often becomes a safe harbour for only

    one type of demographic —white men.
  15. Ellen Pao “We are at a crossroads. We can take

    the hard road to reforming our industry through innovation and accountability or continue with the status quo after a moment of self-flagellation.”
  16. We glorify our leaders, trusting they are the only agents

    of change. This deeply patriarchal agenda limits our capacity for improvement.
  17. Change begins with us. No reach or exposure necessary. No

    more silent bystanders. No more looking away.
  18. Being an ally is an ongoing process of unlearning, re-evaluating

    and challenging the oppressive status quo.
  19. Laurie Penny “Thousands of otherwise decent people are persuaded to

    go along with an unfair system because changing it seems like too much bother.”
  20. Sarah Jeong “The Internet is experienced completely differently by people

    who are visibly identifiable as a marginalised race or gender. It’s a nastier, more exhausting Internet, one that gets even nastier and even more exhausting as intersections stack up.”
  21. Privilege is a set of unearned benefits that come with

    identity traits, such as race, religion, sexual orientation, class or ability.
  22. It’s our responsibility as organisers to ensure safe and inclusive

    platforms for gathering. We need set the tone for the industry.
  23. We need to own up to our wrongdoing and take

    proactive steps to prevent it from happening in the future.
  24. 1. Educate 2. Listen 3. Understand privilege 4. Combat unconscious

    bias 5. Organise 6. Donate and give 7. Diversify and amplify 8. Take responsibility
  25. Peter Block “Sustainable transformation is constructed in those places where

    citizens choose to come together to produce a desired future.”