This page contains notes on planning the Outreach Program for Women which aims to promote the participation of women in GNOME-related development.

Any woman with the skills and interest to get involved with the GNOME community should consider participating in the Outreach Program for Women. This program will give them valuable work experience and knowledge for finding full-time employment in the free software industry. The free software industry offers exciting jobs, a top-notch environment where people are passionate about their work, and good work/life balance due to flexible schedules and the ability to work from home.

One of the key reasons that women are under-represented in the free software industry is that free software companies usually hire people who have already participated in the free software community in their spare time and often have the detailed knowledge of the project they are being hired to work on. However, women do not typically volunteer with technical projects in their spare time. This internship program is a great way of bridging this gap, by making women aware of the great employment opportunities in the free software world and providing them with the free software background that will make them more qualified in the eyes of the free software employers.

• Women Participation in GNOME!

  • Motivation, goals, ways to get involved, and asks for program sponsorship

• GNOME Women Outreach Program 2011

  • Running December 12 to March 12, 2012

• GNOME Women Outreach Program 2012

  • Application deadline in the beginning of April; runs May to August, 2012

• Past Programs

  • Past programs and previous years' internships

• Projects Interested

  • Information about projects interested in participating in the program.

• GnomeLove

  • This is where you want to go if you want to start contributing to GNOME.

• GNOME Women Resources

  • Details ways to get involved, including the mailing list and the IRC channel

• Benefits

  • Benefits for women and GNOME from the program and contribution by women

• Promotion Ideas

  • Ideas to promote the program and contribution by women

• Sponsors

  • Sponsors for the program

Resources

• A GNOME Journal Article with plans for the new program and lessons learned from the WSOC in 2006, including an interview with its participants

• How to Be a Good Mentor, a guide by Federico Mena-Quintero based on his experience with WSOP and GSoC

• Announcement Poster for the Women's Summer Outreach Program in 2006.

• Comments from Chris Ball about how the program was advertised in 2006 and what was learned