Diversity & Inclusion Working Group (Long Term Working Group)

Updated - June 2025

The purpose of this Long Term Working Group (WG) is to break down barriers to access and increase connection among participants in the Academy Software Foundation projects, the larger open source community, and broader Media & Entertainment industry. The WG will bring together software engineers/developers, marketing/communications professionals, HR, and anyone else passionate about Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) within the ASWF ecosystem.

Goals

  • Be a guiding force towards diverse leadership and membership across the Foundation and its projects, working groups, and events.
  • Encourage and enable/empower high school and college students to pursue a career in or participate in open source projects by educating them on uses in the Media & Entertainment industries.
  • Provide guidance and resources for ASWF members to educate their colleagues on open source and D&I topics, especially junior engineers and internal D&I organizations.

Diversity and Inclusion is a large topic that spans a wide range of topics. The working group will not directly address D&I challenges outside of Open Source within Media & Entertainment. We will be strategic in supporting initiatives that will have the biggest impact on this mission.

Governance

The WG is open to participation by all, but is led by the Governance Group made up of the Co-Chairs and Initiative Leads.

Co-Chairs

The Co-Chairs are responsible for general running and function of the working group. This includes but is not limited to:

  • Planning and presenting working group roadmaps on at least a yearly cadence
  • Appointing Leads for planned initiatives and assisting as necessary
  • Planning, communicating, and running regular working group meetings on at least a monthly cadence
  • Presenting Working Group updates annually at Open Source Days

One Co-Chair will serve as the Long Term Working Group Voting representative on the ASWF Technical Advisory Committee (TAC). This person is responsible for attending TAC meetings and representing the views and interests of the WG, as well as providing WG updates on a yearly basis (or as needed).

Current Chairs

  • Carol Payne
  • Karen Ruggles (TAC Representative)

Initiative Lead

The Initiative Leads are responsible for a single initiative as scoped by the Co-Chairs and Working Group Members. Responsibilities will vary per initiative but will always include:

  • Planning, communicating, and organizing initiative needs & volunteers
  • Regularly communicating initiative progress and status to the larger Working Group

Members of the Governance Group do not have a set time frame to serve as a Co-Chair or as an Initiative Lead. However, moderately frequently (2-3 years), it is suggested that at least one Co-Chair change, such that new ideas and voices are encouraged.

  • Any member of the D&I WG can nominate themselves or an individual for Co-Chair
  • For any nomination, a period of one month (or two meetings) will be observed for other nominations or discussions to be considered
  • After the nomination period, a vote will take place. Nominees would need approval from both current Co-Chairs & majority approval from the Initiative Leads.

Changes and updates to the Charter require supermajority approval in a joint session where Co-Chairs and Initiative Leads meet, discuss, and vote. If a Charter change is proposed, the Co-Chairs and Initiative Leads will seek feedback from the WG members prior to the final vote.

Communication

This WG communicates on the following channels:

Meetings

See the ASWF D&I WG calendar. This WG meets regularly on the second Wednesday of the month. The time slot on off-weeks can be used for subgroups to meet. All meetings are open to anyone that is interested in participating in the WG.

Join from PC, Mac, Linux, iOS or Android: Zoom Link

Meeting Notes

Meeting notes are kept on Confluence: https://lf-aswf.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/DIWG/pages/11141675/Meeting+Notes

Other group documents, recordings, and any presentations made during WG meetings are available in Google Drive here: https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/1BYHOot7vzcoJcxOBNDz3jfWi3LDYKUbK

Conduct

The guiding principle for conduct must prioritize inclusion, openness, and support. The group engages with communities that often face hardships directly or indirectly due to marginalization. It is important to always maintain the spirit of inclusion.

All those participating in WG meetings, activities, presentations, membership, and activities associated with the WG are held to the standards of Linux Foundation’s Code of Conduct. Any violations of the Code of Conduct will be addressed by leadership of the WG and any results are final.