CodeforPhilly_breakoutsession_summit2015

Editor's Notes

• #2: Title of talk: inclusivity and diversity in the civic tech community; slightly different than the usual connotation but equally important
• #3: Brigade since 2012; excited by these numbers but what do they really mean? What is the implied (and real) impact? from quantity to quality; measuring process over product Mostly backend and programmers, some mappers; looking for more front-end designers and graphic designers; project leads and community liasons Become balanced, robust community
• #4: Partners-first Best projects start with a project as the vision is being defined and creates Go find partners to start projects with We’re saying it’s more than tech, so let’s start there. These are projects that have been successful in a number of different ways but project owners and maintainers in general report that their work wouldn’t have gotten so far without the support of community partners Civic tech projects are sometimes adopted and put into mainstream use but more widely they serve as an emblem. They are concrete, tangible symbols of the will that exists to engage in civic improvement as well as the power of partnership between the general public and local government. These are proof-of-concepts for how infrastructures might work better with certain technologies, the value of open and transparent government, and the imperative for democratic, people-driven places
• #5: The idea and our goals: inclusivity and diversity Targeting people who were not coders. Topical experts bring a vision to civic tech projects Back track a bit to the starting point of when we realized we needed more diversity and partnerships; successful projects were successful when they had community partners who could help grow and maintain a project This was the banner we began with as we looked to expand our community beyond technologists. “Code for Philly isn’t just for coders” was our mantra, and as person not trained in tech, I was the poster child. Our invitation was met with enthusiasm, and we saw a major increase in attendance at our weekly workshops and quarterly hackathons. But we weren’t seeing what we expected. The number of shipped and adopted projects didn’t grow, and there weren’t as many people staying as there were coming They’re the people who answer the question, “What do you want to do in life” with “Help make the world a better place”; it sounds generic, and maybe it is, but there is a group of people who answer that question with passion rather than rationale. They might not even know what it means or what it looks like, but in that sentiment they are in search of a feeling, a sense. They want to sense that they’ve made a difference; that they’ve been successful and that their actions meant something.
• #6: We knew we wanted and needed topical experts and community partners for projects to thrive and grow, we knew they had interest in our work and community yet we didn’t know why a gap still existed
• #8: Challenges: Both technologists and topical experts reside within their own cultures. You must offer a mechanism/pipeline/opportunity for both to confidently depart from the known in order to take part and contribute to a new community Remove sources of intimidation and frustration
• #9: Visibility; be explicit about work and vision so that outsiders can figure out how they might fit in and contirbute Practical  Opportunity to engage; getting people out to the events; making the environment comfortable and welcoming Thematic Opportunity to connect and contribute -Create familiarity before the event (FAQ) know what to expect -Set expectations with civic hack 101 -integrate input into Thematic hackathons target certain datasets and topical experts Meeting with
• #10: Notion of contribution and what it might look like are different when process is the product Different levels of expertise; structured way to get involved Disrupting expectation results in innovation Sense of meaning/purpose/impact Process is the product--------our focus is on the experience over the outcome
• #11: Emergent community of practice from current CoP’s (tech/SMEs)
• #13: Successes: outward-facing welcome to first-timers, removing intimidation factor; more municipal partners outside of OIT; getting municipal partners out to hack nights and hackathons to give talks; structured ways of getting involved; organizational support from leadership Shortfalls: pairing first-timers with projects—get feedback through surveys and anecdotes; create a store of ; still intimidating and chaotic for nontechnical people; demonstrating the value of an intangible contribution Going back to this first slide and thinking about those numbers, how do we begin to think about inclusivity and diversity in relation to our goals and then measure success or lack thereof? The question is, are we meeting the needs of the stakeholders in our community and are we meeting the needs of the people we’re hoping to include and bring into the community So we’ve created the conditions for co-creation, and we must continue to iterate the best entry points and quantification as we continue to move forward; --diversity is crucial for bringing in new insights, different approaches, fresh perspectives that challenge assumption and comfort zones --being inclusive may seem like it’s only in service to having a diverse community, but providing that experience is a positive mentality for everyone in the community Goals: broader variety of skill-level; opportunity for more advanced devs to teach; better ways for SMEs to talk about the data they have
• #14: Successes: outward-facing welcome to first-timers, removing intimidation factor; more municipal partners outside of OIT; getting municipal partners out to hack nights and hackathons to give talks; structured ways of getting involved; organizational support from leadership Shortfalls: pairing first-timers with projects—get feedback through surveys and anecdotes; create a store of ; still intimidating and chaotic for nontechnical people; demonstrating the value of an intangible contribution Going back to this first slide and thinking about those numbers, how do we begin to think about inclusivity and diversity in relation to our goals and then measure success or lack thereof? The question is, are we meeting the needs of the stakeholders in our community and are we meeting the needs of the people we’re hoping to include and bring into the community So we’ve created the conditions for co-creation, and we must continue to iterate the best entry points and quantification as we continue to move forward; --diversity is crucial for bringing in new insights, different approaches, fresh perspectives that challenge assumption and comfort zones --being inclusive may seem like it’s only in service to having a diverse community, but providing that experience is a positive mentality for everyone in the community Goals: broader variety of skill-level; opportunity for more advanced devs to teach; better ways for SMEs to talk about the data they have
• #15: The vision (goals) We created more events and opportunities for engagement but it didn’t translate into more solid civic tech projects We talk about how systems and policy are to change; we talk less about how hard it is to change the people who use them Utilizing skills and knowledge from both sides; reconciling differences  co-creating knowledge and solutions  co-creating new communities of practice
• #16: We’re saying it’s more than tech, so let’s start there. These are projects that have been successful in a number of different ways but project owners and maintainers in general report that their work wouldn’t have gotten so far without the support of community partners Civic tech projects are sometimes adopted and put into mainstream use but more widely they serve as an emblem. They are concrete, tangible symbols of the will that exists to engage in civic improvement as well as the power of partnership between the general public and local government. These are proof-of-concepts for how infrastructures might work better with certain technologies, the value of open and transparent government, and the imperative for democratic, people-driven places
• #17: Make anyone a civic hacker Most importantly, for civic hacking to work we need diverse perspectives, approaches, and interests to challenge our assumptions and push our growth as a movement forward; diversity and inclusivity make our communities vibrant and keep them healthy. So let’s make everyone a civic hacker