Unconscious Bias Training for Chairs and Tech Leads

[Christoph Blecker]

Hello everyone,
As you are all aware, the Kubernetes community is both large and diverse. We have folks working on the project from many different backgrounds. Inclusivity is a core value[1] of our project, and we recognize the strength and success that comes from having an environment that is welcoming and respectful to that diversity.

The Linux Foundation offers an online course[2] on unconscious bias that is recommended to all speakers at KubeCon events. Last year, the Kubernetes Steering Committee added to its charter that all steering committee members would be required to take this course as a part of assuming their seat on the committee.

While we recognize that taking a 30 minute online course isn’t going to eliminate bias in our community, having understanding and being able to identify possible language or practices that may proliferate such bias can only help improve our community.

To that end, the Steering Committee is enacting a governance change[3] that will require all Chair and Tech Leads in the community to attest that they have completed this course. For existing Chairs and Tech Leads, this must be completed by August 31, 2020. For new Chairs and Tech Leads, they will have 30 days from the date of their appointment to complete the course.

When complete, please comment on the following tracking issue: https://github.com/kubernetes/community/issues/4959

If you have questions or concerns about this, please reach out to the Steering Committee via one of the following communication channels:

• Public Mailing List - stee...@k8s.io
• Private Mailing List - steering...@k8s.io
• Public Slack Channel - #steering-commmittee

Thank you all for your continued efforts to make this a safe, diverse, and welcoming community.

Best regards,
Christoph Blecker
On Behalf of the Kubernetes Steering Committee

[1]: https://git.k8s.io/community/values.md
[2]: https://training.linuxfoundation.org/training/inclusive-speaker-orientation/
[3]: https://github.com/kubernetes/community/pull/4940

[Christoph Blecker]

Hello everyone,

As of this morning we have 56 of the 108 leaders in the community that have reported that they have completed this training. This is fantastic progress!

As a reminder, if you haven't yet completed it, please do so before August 31, 2020.

Thank you again everyone for the powerful, supportive response to this initiative!

Cheers,

Christoph

[Christoph Blecker]

Hello everyone,

As of this morning we have 68 of the 108 leaders in the community that have reported that they have completed this training.

As a reminder, if you haven't yet completed it, please do so before August 31, 2020. Completion is required for all active chairs, technical leads, and working group organizers.

If you are unsure if you have completed this yet, there is a list of all required community members and their status listed here: https://github.com/kubernetes/community/issues/4959

Thank you again everyone for the powerful, supportive response to this initiative!

Cheers,

Christoph