As a former Chapter Leader of Girl Develop It, I am angry and heartbroken after learning about the harm the leadership has inflicted over the last few years. I implore them to own their mistakes and do better:
an-open-letter-to-gdi-board.com
(A thread)
an-open-letter-to-gdi-board.com
(A thread)
While I was a CL I experienced a complete lack of support in efforts to do better by our community. We waited and waited for policy changes to make our lives easier and they never came.
And now, as their infractions have come to light in the past 6 months, I feel complicit in my silence. We held out hope for leadership and guidance, but it turns out they were too busy keeping the status quo and actively hurting women of color.
I am deeply sorry to anyone in our Pittsburgh community who was harmed, either directly or indirectly, by my silence over the last few years.
I will no longer abide this, nor will over half the chapters that signed our open letter so far. This has to stop. GDI has to take accountability for their actions and make the right moves going forward.
So far, their response to the podcast released by @KimCrayton1 ft @shanisebarona is entirely insufficient, shifts the blame onto individual chapter leaders, and shows a complete disconnection from their community.
And so, this is a vote of a no confidence in the current leadership of @girldevelopit. It's been brewing for some time; this is long overdue.
I believed initially in the vision of the GDI organization and I want to see them turn this around. But more importantly, I am beholden to the community of women I served and learned from in Pittsburgh.
If GDI doesn’t align with our values, I look forward to the awesome things we can build together as a community of empowered women in technology beyond the bounds of the GDI brand.
