,
15 tweets,
4 min read
Read on Twitter
Dear community members, it is with heavy hearts that we announce the resignation of the leadership team and the closure of GDI Oakland. (thread)
In our hiatus announcement, we stated that to resume operations we needed to see top-level changes, including the replacement of problematic leaders, public apologies, sustainable policies & efforts towards DEI, and complete transparency going fwd.
Since then, the following has occurred:
GDI released a public statement on 12/12/18 apologizing for their missteps and announcing institutional policy changes.
GDI released a public statement on 12/12/18 apologizing for their missteps and announcing institutional policy changes.
Since it was released, current and former community members have pointed out omissions and misrepresentations in this statement which appear to be intentional to cast a favorable light on HQ. (see the #gdistrike hashtag & replies to the tweet linked above)
On 12/17/2018, GDI sent an internal communication to all chapter leaders stating that they do not officially recognize our hiatus status and prompting us to either resign or reactivate by Jan. 14. A copy of that msg can be reviewed via this tweet:
Over the past month, CLs across the country have given feedback to and asked questions of GDI leadership. Many of these have gone unanswered, including calls for the ED to resign, requests for transparency, & proposed improvements to GDI put together by chapter leaders.
Last Friday, 2 town hall events took place in which HQ & the Board publicly addressed and took questions from the GDI community. Our leadership team attended & did not receive satisfactory answers to our questions.
Quotes from those calls and community members’ responses can be reviewed on the #gdistrike hashtag, and a copy of notes from those calls (as taken by HQ) is available for review here: docs.google.com/document/d/1Yk…
Given HQ & the Board’s continued lack of transparency, along with the ultimatum given in the internal email, we have opted to resign. We cannot in good faith promote an org that fails to address matters of institutional racism with the sense of urgency that such matters deserve.
With in interest in continuing this community, we're partnering with @digitalblkhippy to launch @_TechByChoice Oakland.
TBC’s mission is to increase the diversity of the tech industry by offering low to no cost tech skill building events, workshops, & classes to anyone that identifies as a PoC, woman, LGTBQ+, differently abled, or those aligned with the space we're creating.
Join our new Meetup group to get involved: meetup.com/Tech-By-Choice…
We're so grateful for the feedback that some of you have shared with us. That feedback is what led to our decision to launch TBC. We hope you will join our new endeavor as you continue our pursuit of learning.
We're so grateful for the feedback that some of you have shared with us. That feedback is what led to our decision to launch TBC. We hope you will join our new endeavor as you continue our pursuit of learning.
As stated in our last message, everybody has a place at the table. Everybody is welcome. Everybody should have the opportunity. Thank you for giving us the opportunity to support you.
With love and in solidarity,
Vanessa Archambault
vanessa@techbychoice.org
Renée Carignan
renee@techbychoice.org
Tracie Womack
tracie@techbychoice.org
Vanessa Archambault
vanessa@techbychoice.org
Renée Carignan
renee@techbychoice.org
Tracie Womack
tracie@techbychoice.org
A full copy of this statement can be found here: docs.google.com/document/d/1q3…
