/dev/color: One Year and Counting
11 engineers gathered on June 12, 2015 for the first meeting of /dev/color. A lot has happened since that meeting. We launched to the world in October. We’ve hosted a range of leaders from engineering and venture capital. We pushed ourselves to make a deeper and more scaled impact as we went through the YCombinator accelerator program in January. We’ve shared out stories, insights, and knowledge with other engineers through our blog and speaking engagements.
The last year has been one of learning for myself, the organization, and our members. We started with a small group of members who mentored one another one-on-one, with members ranging from senior engineers to college freshman. Since then, we have introduced Squads (peer exchange groups) to allow our members to form deep bonds and support one another in a small group setting. We learned that while mentoring relationships are great, they are best formed organically and when interests overlap. In this new model, members interact in person and online to maximize the number of chances to help one another.
“/dev/color has helped in getting my own diversity initiatives off the ground at my employer” — Fredrick Lee, Director of Security
State of the Organization
Today our community consists of 115 software engineers working in industry. Collectively, we are working towards 286 explicit career goals. These goals range from becoming an engineering director, to learning new technologies, to scaling startups.
The strength of our community is rooted in the diversity of our membership. 25% of our members are women. The most senior member of the group has 27 years experience in the industry, while the most junior just started her career a few months ago. Members came to software engineering from computer science programs, coding bootcamps, and self instruction. Members work for companies that are just the founders to companies with 300,000+ employees. This overall diversity creates a rich environment for us to learn from one another.
“Being part of /dev/color has brought meaningful change to the way I approach goal settings and career growth. The shared sense of accountability is an inspiration for me to achieve more and empower my community to succeed.” — Pascal Carole
Thanks
We owe a huge debt of gratitude to many people who’ve believed in our mission from the start (and even before then). They’ve generously donated their time, expertise, and resources to support our community. Without them, we would not be here.
A huge thank you also goes out to our members. Our community is literally nothing without them. From the very beginning they’ve lined up to plan events, find speakers, write blog posts. Our members have done an extraordinary job teaching one another through mentoring, shared experiences, and empathy. Together, we have all willed this organization into existence.
The Year Ahead
/dev/color is working to make sure every Black software engineer has the connections, resources, and support they need to succeed. In the coming year we’ll focus on engaging allies and companies to further support our members. We’ve built a thriving community, and this is just the start.
To learn more about /dev/color, or get involved, check out our website. Keep updated on our progress by following our blog and twitter profile.
