GitHub Universe Community Partners

Community Partners are helping us build a diverse, inclusive environment at GitHub Universe. We select partners based on several criteria but the three main questions we ask ourselves when reaching out to partners are:

• Do they have an audience that can benefit from complimentary tickets to the conference?
• Does their work focus on lowering the barriers to entry for people from underrepresented backgrounds?
• Are they making a positive social impact, namely in the geographic region where the conference is?

We know that the cost of attending a tech conference is prohibitive for far too many. We also know that bringing people from disparate backgrounds fosters innovation—something that our industry relies heavily on. Lastly, we’re aware that folks across communities do work that makes the tech industry better for everyone. What better way to create the environment we want than to take the time to listen to members of our local community, create space for their voices, and include them in our efforts to put down roots of our own?

With that, we are honored to announce this year’s Community Partners for GitHub Universe. We are happy to host small groups from each of these organizations and we encourage you to learn more about them.

Women Who Code:

Women Who Code East Bay is a local chapter of Women Who Code, an international nonprofit dedicated to providing free technical resources to women (including transgender and gender non-binary folks) world-wide. We partner with local tech companies to provide workshops, networking opportunities, and study groups to communities who have historically been denied access and strive to improve the industry through diversity.

Interested in getting involved?
Come to a meet up.

Year Up:

Year Up is a non-profit organization that has created a one-year intensive training and education program that provides high school graduates and GED recipients from the Bay Area with a combination of hands-on skill development and corporate internship opportunities. Its mission is to close the Opportunity Divide by providing urban young adults with the skills, experience, and support that will empower them to reach their potential through professional careers and higher education. Our young adults develop valuable, in-demand skills, and our corporate partners gain access to a strong pipeline of talent to meet their hiring needs.

“As technology companies continue to scale, their commitment to practices that support diversity and inclusion will be a key ingredient in their ability to access and secure high-level talent, enabling them to meet market demand.” – Allan Alday, Associate Director of Partner Relations, Year Up Bay Area

Tech Workers Coalition:

The Tech Workers Coalition stands with workers. We are a community-centered coalition of tech workers, labor organizers and community organizers. The Tech Workers Coalition seeks to redefine the relationship between tech workers and Bay Area communities. Through activism, civic engagement and education, we work in solidarity with existing movements towards social justice and economic inclusion.

Interested in getting involved?

We’ll be meeting and greeting on Sept 27 at 6:30 pm to talk about upcoming actions and ways people can support. Email hello@techworkersco.org for details. Also join our newsletter at techworkerscoalition.org or follow us on Twitter @techworkersco for more events and updates.

Code Tenderloin:

Code Tenderloin is a workforce development start-up that provides job readiness, job training, and job placement for residents of the Tenderloin and other San Francisco communities that experience “Tenderloin-like” situations. Our mission is to quickly integrate marginalized communities into the burgeoning mid-market job economy so that all San Franciscans can share in the gains of local economic development and wealth creation. We work with citizens—typically 18 to 25 years old from communities of color and communities of low-income—who generally face the highest barriers to employment.

To distribute our tickets, we selected Code Tenderloin partners who have a passion to participate in the world of programming and all things tech-related; many are graduates from our inaugural June 2016 Code Ramp class.

Written by

Bianca Escalante

@bescalante