We are thrilled to announce that our recent DPDK Summit APAC was the first Linux Foundation event to have earned a Gold Diversity & Inclusion badge from the Linux Foundation’s CHAOSS project!
Event organizers can apply for an Event D&I Badge for reasons of leadership, self-reflection, and self-improvement on issues critical to fostering more diverse and inclusive events. For us, this means taking conscious steps to make it easier for people of all backgrounds to participate in our events — from submitting speaking sessions to attending.
The awarding of the CHAOSS D&I badge is an acknowledgement of DPDK’s commitment to implementing healthy Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) practices. These efforts are complementary to community-driven efforts to engage in using more inclusive language within the DPDK codebase. For this event, we were measured on our efforts related to Speaker and Attendee Diversity & Inclusion, commitment to a specific code of conduct for all attendees, and measurement of access to the event, specifically measuring what, if any, barriers to access attendees must overcome to attend the event. Because all recent DPDK Summit events have been virtual, it has been an especially important initiative to welcome attendees from all over the world. One way we have been able to accomplish this is to offer all virtual events free of cost.
While we are still a long way off from a fully diverse crowd, we are thrilled to have been recognized for the efforts we are making. It is so important –especially in a community as traditionally homogeneous as DPDK — that all voices be heard and welcomed.
Big thanks to Rachel Braun and the Linux Foundation Events team for help making this a reality.
We look forward to making even more strides towards greater diversity and wider inclusion among DPDK events in the future.