Diversity, inclusion, and belonging at GitHub in 2020

Like our global community, we’ve had a year of challenges and extremes at GitHub, and I’m grateful everyday for our culture as our foundation of strength and resilience. We started our fiscal year in July 2019 on a beautiful day in Austin, Texas, where we gathered ~950 Hubbers for our Company Summit. We were so happy to be together, many of us meeting for the first time, enjoying the positive impact we are having for developers and getting ready for the biggest year of growth in our history. Our theme was Forward Together. That energy carried us into 2020, launching new products and services, acquiring high value security, analytics, package registry, and DevOps companies to advance GitHub, and continuing to grow with new Hubbers joining us every two weeks. There was a momentum and sense of purpose in our everyday activities.

Then, the most radical shift in our work life that any of us have ever experienced. Together we shared fear for our health and our families, lockdowns, concerns about social issues, borders between us and our loved ones, school closures, hurricanes, tornadoes, wildfires, and typhoons. Our culture was quickly tested here at GitHub. Together we discovered that we are all impacted by the world around us, but we are impacted differently. We all have needs, but asking for help is often harder than giving help. We are not being a burden when we share a burden. We cannot take care of others until we take care of ourselves first.

For me this has been an awakening, and I’m grateful for the unexpected time and space for reflection. As for Hubbers, we re-committed to our own journey of learning, exploring our own diverse identities, our own behavior in an inclusive culture, and what it really means to belong.

In the midst of it all, our global community has grown to over 50 million developers. We are making technology available to advance human progress and find the cures we all need. As we become the interconnected community we seek to serve, both humble and strong, unknowing and mindful, and with this renewed commitment to our community, we move forward together.

At GitHub, diversity, inclusion, and belonging (DI&B) is both a journey and a commitment. We are grateful for this year of reflection and renewal, and we’re proud to share our fifth annual Diversity, Inclusion, and Belonging Report, with a more extensive look at how we impact the world around us. We also share the initiatives that helped us grow together in 2020 and a preview of what we’re doing. We encourage you to learn more about our comprehensive company wide strategy with a focus on People, Platform, Philanthropy, and Policy.

I’m proud to share our progress and how we are moving forward together.

Read the report

Written by

Carrie Olesen

@carrieo-on