Altruism in Tech

Promoting diversity and inclusion in tech by connecting newcomers with tech professionals.

Welcome!

Our day just got better. Thank you for visiting Altruism in Tech repository, it’s our pleasure to have you here. :)

If you are a newcomer in tech seeking help, if you are one of those kind humans who love to help others, if you’re a curious soul interested in knowing more about the project or if you’re here to just hover around, you’re most welcome, read on! :D

• Introduction
• Why does this project exist?
• What we plan to do about it?
• How are we doing it?
• What do we need?
• Contribution
• Participation Guidelines
• License
• Contact Us

Introduction

Altruism in Tech is a project being developed under the Mozilla Leadership Training Program, 2017 and mentored by Kristie Whitaker.

The project is designed to help and guide people in tech who have lost their way, or find it difficult to start in the first place. The idea is to make the tech industry more inclusive and welcoming for a diverse set of people, by connecting them to a mentor, over internet for a call. The aim is to create a portal where interested Mozilla employees can volunteer by making themselves available for a one-on-one meeting, with a newcomer seeking help in their area of expertise.

Why does this project exist?

• Lack of diversity in field of tech
• Newcomers suffering from the impostor syndrome: Fear of not being “good enough”
• Lack of proper guidance while learning a new technology
• Absence of a mentor to reach out to, when in doubt

What we plan to do about it?

• Lend an open ear and listen to their problem
• Try and help clear the doubts and insecurities of a newcomer
• Guide them in some specific domain of tech
• Impact the world and build a better tech future, one individual at a time

How are we doing it?

The goal is to develop a website where volunteers can register themselves as mentors, and where a newcomer can search through the database of mentors to connect with someone experienced in the field they're interested in working/learning.The mentor-mentee would be connected when both parties approve a connection. The goal is to:

• Have a database of volunteers willing to make themselves available online (not necessarily a call, if you’re not comfortable) at some pre-decided time slots.
• Give newcomers the opportunity to search and request to connect with a mentor based on their common area of interest.
• Set up a meeting (connecting online) between a mutually acknowledging mentor and a newbie.
• Have an ask-to-answer platform on the website.

What do we need?

Volunteers/Mentors

(Bear with us while we work on letting you inspire and impact the world. Meanwhile come say hi, and let us know how we could do things better) First things first, if you are considering being a mentor, a huge hug of appreciation for you. The world needs more of you and we are delighted to have you on board. You are a potential mentor if you check any one or more of the following:

• like to help, guide, advice, mentor others
• are experienced in some domain of tech
• have something to share with a newcomer
• can devote a teensy-tiny amount of time out of your busy schedule (we really appreciate this)
• can answer some questions online, share advice, resources, good practices, tips and tricks, or anything else that you think can be helpful.

Meanwhile, please register here: https://goo.gl/forms/5o9qxSnyk3Nuoz2I3

Newcomers/Mentee

(Bear with us while we work on making your lives a little easier. Meanwhile come say hi, and let us know what do you think of the project) If you’re trying to learn something new and find it difficult to continue or even begin, then we’re here to help you because we understand tech can be overwhelming at times. You are the future who will drive this community forward and you are important to us. We’d love to help! More power to you, for trying to fight against the odds. More information coming soon.

Contribution

We need help to see our vision turn into reality. Any help, big or small, with the code, idea, suggestion, feedback, typo, anything at all that you think would be of help, is most welcome and much appreciated. If you’re interested in the project, feel free to open an issue, create a PR, or just come say hi and tell us more about yourself here.

Participation Guidelines

We are following Mozilla Community Participation Guidelines, please have a look at it here.

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - you can see LICENSE file for details.

Contact Us

If you have anything to share, anything at all, feel free to drop by the Altruism in Tech room on Gitter and say hi. We would love to hear from you. You can also contact Ipsha by email (ipsha21 [at] gmail [dot] com) or on Twitter.

Thank you for your interest. Have a nice day! :D