Plone Foundation Membership Approves Diversity Statement

At the annual meeting of the Plone Foundation held November 28th in Bristol, UK, the assembled members approved by acclamation a statement of our community's openness to everyone who wants to be involved. 

"The Plone Foundation and global Plone community actively encourage the involvement and participation of everyone.  Our community is based on mutual respect, acceptance and encouragement; with each of us taking personal responsibility for helping each other live up to these principles.  We believe diversity of ideas, skills, cultures and viewpoints are irreplaceable in keeping Plone and our community vital, growing and viable. We want our community to be more diverse, by any measure - so whoever you are, whatever your background is, whatever views and goals you have, we welcome you."

While some felt the statement was simply common sense, others expressed satisfaction at joining the growing ranks of open-source communities who have taken a stand on encouraging broader diversity in their ranks. 

Plone has long been favored with a globally diverse community of developers from around the world, representing many regions and languages, but like most other open-source projects, sees the advantages in including people of many disciplines, cultures and backgrounds.  As one of the people involved in developing the statement put it "Our users are all sorts of people - from every imaginable background, job sector, and area of interest.  When you are creating something for that diverse a group, you need a group that can represent their many viewpoints and needs."

The diversity statement is available on the Plone website.

Special thanks is due to Plonechix, Joel Burton, Elizabeth Leddy, Steve McMahon, Trish Ang and Calvin Parker for their ideas and help in making this happen.