I was homeschooled as a kid. And then I went into public school and I was like 11 or 12. But when I was homeschooled, oh, hi Ashley. When I was homeschooled, my parents actually invested in a lot until my personal interest. So I found out really young that I was an artist. I just kind of just knew I just started drawing and I was like, yeah, this is for me. This is something I wanna do. So my parents invested in that and that was something I'm very privileged to have them do to pay attention to that and give me that opportunity. So from a really young age I knew I was an artist and I was practicing my art, taking art classes through high school. And I decided that being an illustrator was not marketable at the age of 17 because we all make great decisions at the age of 17. And then I was gonna go to school for photography and then I was gonna go for something called visual media which was photography and graphic design. So I applied to RIT for that position or that course of study and I got in which was awesome. So RIT is Rochester Institute of Technology and that is how I came to Rochester actually. I grew up in New Jersey. So I came to RIT and it was 2006 and I very soon found out that I was not a photographer and that I had, I don't know, just made this decision that seemed like a good one but it's based off of, I'm not even sure what. So I decided to focus on making as much art as I could.  So it's calligraphy, I did type-based design, I did air brushing and sculpture and painting and all these different fine art classes, really whatever I could get my hands on just love fine art. And as I was finishing up my studies, I actually ran into something called the FOSSbox at RIT. So the FOSSbox is a group at the university that's kind of like a social group but it's all around free and open source software and it's giving people opportunities, there are students opportunities to get connected to the open source world. And beyond that, there's actually a minor at Rochester Institute of Technology on open source. I think I believe it is the first minor in open source. So that was something that Fedora was actually involved in. So super, super cool. And that is my first like formal introduction to open source, but like I didn't realize before that I had a computer from high school it was so old, but it was all I had and my roommate in college was like, oh, I'll put a bungee on it. And I was like, what's this? I don't understand. But like I don't have money to buy another computer. So like, yes, please put a bungee on it, right? So I can just write my papers and stuff. So I also had a bunch of, so I didn't know that I was running free software when I ran into the FossBox at RIT. And it was actually through my connections there that I saw an opportunity for an outreach internship. So the internship was for Fedora Badges and the mentor was Marin Zafi, or Ms. Mo, as a lot of people know her. I dipped my toe in and I introduced myself in channels and stuff like that. And I have to say, based on my experience now that there's a lot more exposure on that program. I think there were less applicants when I was doing my thing, but I applied and I got the internship. I was so excited. At that time I was like freelancing and like it was right when I was finishing school I was like freelancing and like doing retail work and like trying to be an artist or something. So I got this internship, I was thrilled because I was actually like making money and because I was getting a chance to do graphic design. And at that time, like I didn't, I had taken a couple of graphic design classes but I didn't think I was necessarily be able to go down that path. And I ended up having an amazing three months.  I made like 80 badges. I made a style guide. I made posters. I made resources for newcomers. I ended up making a workshop later on. So the internship was just awesome. Really enjoyed the work that I did. And I could see it all going up onto the website. So it was like pretty cool. But I was really just communicating with my mentor mainly and a little bit with the design team and that was about it. So I was still poking around there because I had free time. And then Mizmo actually contacted me and she said, hey, there's this conference going on. It's called Flock and it's for Fedora contributors. This is a perfect thing for you to do. And I was like, okay. And she's like, you should submit a talk for it. And I was like, it's in another country. I can't afford to go there for artists. She's like, no, no, no, no. If you get accepted, they'll fund you. And I was like, mind blown, like what? They're gonna pay for me to go to Europe? Okay, I'll try for this. So yeah, I submitted a session and it was accepted. I was just like once again, mind blown. So I'm like about to get onto a plane to go to Europe for like, just leaving college very recently kind of slightly unsure of life. And definitely not the most confident person at that time. And I went and I did it. And I gave a presentation to a room of like 50 people I did not know. And it was scary as heck. How am I just gonna say it like that? I felt like I was gonna puke a hundred times over. It was really nerve wracking for me.  But I met so many awesome people and everyone knew who I was. Like I came on Zoom. The scene was like, hey, I'm Rick Attenor. Although I do have the other side of this story but the positive side was that people knew the work that I had done because badges was like kind of new and everyone was super excited about it. I literally just made like 80 new badges or something like that. So people were working on earning them and I don't think they like knew who I was necessarily. But I met all of them and they were so excited about the work and I immediately met, I don't know if immediately is the right word. I forget exactly, but I met a group of people that were like, yeah, we're gonna go out dancing. Right? And I was like, I wanna do that. That sounds awesome. Yeah, I'm on board for that. And yeah, and I ended, they like convinced me or didn't even have to convince me to go out with them and we went out into town and I made friendship. I started friendships that I still have down that night. So we ended up being like the unofficial block party goer group and we like go out to discos and to karaoke and stuff like that. So anyway, I just made a really amazing group of friends right away. On the other hand, this was like six or seven years ago now at this point 2014. And it was like, I would say it was a slightly different time in Fedora. Like when I went to block, it was like 180 people and there was maybe like 10 women there. I think there was maybe some more ladies that had actually come with partners. But it was like a real error extremely of minority in that situation. And it was very uncomfortable for me. Like already having come from going through all these nerves about traveling across the world on my own to present all these people I don't know and all of this stuff, like on top of that, there was like, no, not really many women there. It was overwhelming, you know? And especially because I'm a designer and I was going to this tech conference and every like circle that I walked into is like a conversation I didn't understand anything. I didn't understand everything, anything that they were talking about like barely. But I proceeded to introduce myself.  So we get on the topic of badges.  Or like I'm, I present femme as a feminine person. And I love wearing dresses and accessorizing. And I think that there's a trend, but probably in older generations for women to kind of assimilate in a, like what they're wearing kind of way, like they'll also wear T-shirts and jeans. And I'm just seeing that based on my experience at that conference, that that was what I was seeing. And I was like the only person there wearing a dress. So it was just, I felt really out of place. But I was simultaneously experiencing these great feeling, like these great connections and these experiences of friendship and also validation for the work that I have done and completed during my internship. There's like a lot of like conflicting stuff going on. I also like went out with a group of people and I was chatting with somebody I'd met at the conference and we were often like aside. Like it was a huge place, right? For stories or something like that. And there was all these little nooks and crannies to chat. So I was off chatting with somebody and I came back and somebody told me that they were making jokes about me being with this person who happened to be a man.  And like I'm getting shamed for talking to a man. Like, so it just doesn't make any sense when you think about it like that. So like these are the kinds of things and I don't think people even think about it as a big deal, you know? Like sometimes it's kind of just like making an off-handed joke.  Sorry. To not lose myself or just run into a hole or something like that. So I was having these like conflicting kinds of experiences and it was tough. For I had brought like a nice dress to wear to the special event. So I brought like an even nicer dress, right? And I look for it and on the top deck you had to like walk in between all the tables or walking down and just like having people just like staring at me like, who is this person? I just didn't really fit the way that I looked and it was just very, it was something that was very obvious to me. Just by the way that I was treated. I don't think that I was malicious. I don't find it to be that way. I think it is more of a, of this person is unknown to us and that's a little scary in a way because I was different, right? So let's move on. I made it, I had mostly a positive time. I'm still here guys, so don't worry. So I continued on. I continue to contribute to Fedora. Mismo continued to include me and stuff that was happening on the design team. She actually flew me out to Boston on time to help her hack on a website and to just catch up on badges and stuff and it was a, it was a totally great time. She and I planned a design team hack fest together. I think it was called the FAD. You know, it was multiple days. It's one of our funny acronyms. So yeah, I continued on. And then I remember we had, it was a hack fest I think in Boston for the design team. And I had some idea for badges and I was talking to Mismo about it and I was like, I wanna do this. I'm thinking about changing the way we run this aspect. I honestly don't remember what it was. She was like, why are you asking me? I was like, well, because I don't know why I'm asking you because you're the design team lead. That's why I'm asking you. And she's like, you don't have to ask me. You run that project. And I was like, what?  And I was like, I do run that project. Actually, yeah, I do run that project because at that time I was triaging tickets, making designs, giving improvement, like helping people with improvements, helping come up with concepts for art, just doing all kinds of various things for badges. And I was like, yeah, I'm running that. So I think that moment was like a good realization moment for me that like, if you're doing the thing in Fedora, like you're doing the thing and you can make decisions about your project as long as you're making them with, the proper amounts of consideration. So that means including stakeholders or people who might care about the changes you're gonna make. So at that time I think I did check in with the badges team and everyone's on board, but anyway, I had like ownership of this team and it really empowered me. I felt like I was doing something important. I felt like I was doing something kind of cool and off beat, I guess, like not the common thing. So it was like interesting to me, some kind of appeal in that. And then I continued on. I did workshops at the different flocks. I think I attended, I have attended every single flocks since Prague. That was 2014. And then the last one, I did a hack fest to try to, I was in Budapest, a hack fest to try to help the badges. At that point, it was like that older program, sorry, older application. And it was like running Python 2 when it was about to fall over. And so like we got to do something. Like we need an intern. We're like, how are we gonna get an intern? And we didn't know, we didn't really know, but we did some planning. We did some writing of problems down and use cases. And we had Renata there actually doing some usability stuff for the website. So it was a really cool hack fest. And it was like the first one that I ran. So that was cool. It was like a session, it was half a day, but I still, oh cool, I ran a hack fest. And yeah, and that was 2019. So meanwhile, if you haven't been to flock before, I will explain to you, like at the end of the conference, we kind of have like a wrap up session and they give people a chance to come up to the podium and say what, they're talk about their flock experience, right? So I don't know how it happened the first time, but at the end of the conference in this wrap up session, I was like the only design team member there. So like Matthew Miller just like looked like, just like turned around in the crowd and like looked at me and was like, you. Right, so yeah, so he was like, you can go up there.  And I did not want to say anything, but I did anyway. Oh, that's hilarious. Yeah, I did have things to say and that was the point I was gonna come to, right? So it happened once and then like the next year it happened again. And like the third year I was like, okay, I'm just gonna expect this. But it was because I do have things to say and I do have opinions. And I think it comes from a part of who I am as a nurturing person is a person who wants to bring joy into other people's lives. I found leading that the badges team that I was able to do that for people. People found happiness and fulfillment out of their work on that team. And the mentorship that I was doing there even in the small capacities or bits that I was doing it, I found to be extremely satisfied beyond that. When I was at the conferences in person with all the other contributors, I started to realize that I was kind of like a magnet for other women to come hang out with. And I think a part of it is because I have a welcoming nature and I'm just, I'm like, yeah, let's hang out. I'm down, let's do this, you know, more of a merrier. So I realized that it was kind of happening. And then I realized that I could like just encourage that a little bit. So I started going out of my way to introduce myself to new women that I saw at the conferences. Very specifically, like I would go with that in mind. Like anyone who I see who I've never seen their face and they're a woman, I'm going to introduce myself no matter how awkward I feel. Or like, how much I don't want to do this, I am going to do this. Because it was really hard for me to feel welcome. And I wanted to make sure that other people felt welcome. I think that was part of it as well. So I had things to say and I was doing this work and meanwhile in my own like work life, I was becoming a purchasing agent and learning how to manage all aspects of purchasing. There's a lot to it, but it has to do mostly with forecasting and different kinds of purchase orders, bids, et cetera. It's just, it's kind of boring. But I learned like a lot of admin stuff and I learned how to manage and navigate like office environments like writing emails and like beyond that, I was taught how to negotiate and how to kind of win over people a little bit, right? When it comes to negotiation and purchasing actually, there's quite a bit of people skills and negotiation skills that you need to have. So they were helping me with my admin stuff but they're also helping me with like my EQ. So between all of these different things, I kind of at one point realized like I want to work for Fedora. I didn't know how I was gonna do it. I just said, I'm gonna work for Fedora. So I started applying for jobs and this is the third job I applied for. I applied for this in like, I wanna say June or April of like the 2019, yeah, something like that. And I applied and I didn't hear back for months and I was like, okay, I guess that's it. But then I got the kind of me again in October and it happened like all suddenly I had to do a bunch of interviews and then I was hired as Fedora's community action and impact coordinator. This was a huge accomplishment for me personally. I broke into a field that I never thought I would be in ever. I am a fine artist. At my core, I identify as a fine artist and I'm here doing this thing and I absolutely love it. Absolutely. I'm getting like slightly emotional but yeah, it's a huge thing for me. Somehow I managed to get into this. I jumped over into this field but I think there's a few things that made it happen. I was determined. I was determined to stay committed to something and stay committed to something and I did. And I realized that the relationships that I had in the community meant something to more than just me. Like it meant something to the other people obviously but it was a network that I had built within the Fedora community and that meant something and I felt dedicated to that. And I also felt dedicated to the work that I did in badges and proud of that work for sure. So what has it been like since I became FK? I think it would have been so much different if COVID had not happened. Let's be real. Can I tell you guys, I had bought a wall calendar and I had written out like all the different trips I was gonna take. I had like San Francisco, I had Portland, Oregon and I was gonna go to Texas. I had a trip plan to Raleigh. I had my house plan to go to Ireland and back to the Czech Republic. And I was considering a trip to India. So I have to say that my first year as FK was not actually what I expected. I expected, yep, I was supposed to go to France too. The first year of being at FK has not been what I expected and I'm okay with it. I think it's given us a really interesting opportunity. So you know when you are, let's recall 100 years ago back in summer of 2019, when we were traveling constantly and things were like really, really busy and life was constantly on the go and you were like, oh my gosh, when can things stop and I just wanna break and things to pause. You ever have that feeling? I mean, I have had that feeling. I'm sure some of us have. This is kind of like a weird chance to have that pause. So I'm like trying to make the best of it. Like what are those things that I've always been like, well, I want the time to do this thing or I want the time to do that thing but I'm never home long enough to get into this or that or blah, blah, blah, blah. I really had this weird chance to take a pause and I'm gonna say some moments I'm like completely at peace with it and some moments I'm climbing up the wall. So it's a toss up on how effective that line of thinking is. There have been challenges. First, I'm gonna talk a little bit about the joys. So this event is a joy for me. You guys, I'm connecting with all of you one by one over the last three days has been awesome. I didn't expect to host the conference quite the way that I did but I think it was perfect for this and I think that it was fulfilling for me to be able to connect with each one of you personally and talk with you and chat with you and see where you're at with your life. Just really, really awesome. Like coming out of this weekend, each day I've just felt my heart is full and I want to take you all out to dinner and celebrate the work that we do. Cause we're pretty badass. So this is one of the things that has been the most fulfilling. Nest with Fedora, super fulfilling. Just gonna say that what made it the best was the people. We got into the platform and people were chit chatting with their personality and kind of letting it all hang out and that was what made it great. I put a lot of work into it though and that's also what made it great. I really put a lot of work into that event. So seeing people react to it the way that they did was awesome.  Oh my gosh, so many personal emails back and forth about phone numbers. Wait, I need your area, your country code to get these swag out to people. But like seeing the tweets of the people just absolutely loving it. I, my heart wasn't so full. I was so happy that I had brought that joy to those people. Really, that's like, those are some of the most fulfilling things. The ambassador slash community outreach revamp. I'm super proud of that. I wrote that proposal based off of like a bunch of thinking that I did on that. It was funny too, because when I first got into the position Matthew and Ben made me a document that was things for Marine document. And like at the bottom, it was like, probably don't do anything with the ambassadors for a while. And it was funny because only like four or five months in, of course, like I'm working on ambassadors. But I think it was because Justin wrote something on the ambassador like ticket and that conversation was started again. The conversation was set up again. And you know what I said? I have the resources to make this happen. And that's what I did. So I'm super proud of that. I wrote that. We've gotten so much feedback. We've gotten a ton of involvement. And if people wanted to drop some stuff in the chat, yes, I agree. If someone wanted to drop like a link for the community outreach stuff in the chat, that would be awesome. So yeah, that's been a super success for me. There's been cons, not getting to travel. That's kind of really, really sucked. And I know everyone's in it with me on that. I have a reform ahead and food to eat. And I'm very thankful for being safe right now during this time. COVID has created an interesting thing happening in this world. And I just got to share quickly, like this has been the most challenging part of the FK role has been code of conduct. And from what I can understand, in previous years, we've only had one or two incidents a year since COVID began in March. We've had like 15 incidents. So one incident is like pretty emotionally taxing. And it's really on myself and Matthew to handle these incidents. So just even one can be like a thought depending on what it is. Each thing is different. And then when they're getting opened like one every week, it's like when, when will this end? And I think that I came to a couple of conclusions. Like COVID has put people on edge and people are not in their usual routines. So they're quicker to react emotionally. People who regularly have some behavioral things, maybe they're a little bit hard to work with, kind of lose their, lose control of their emotions more often. Another part of being FK is getting personal messages from people. In some ways, people see me as a community, a symbol of like community. And so therefore they like, oh, this community person, I have a thought about the Fedora community. So therefore I will message her and tell her my thought about the Fedora community. And it's like, that's great. I'm just trying to do my job and live my life. And you are giving me a laundry list of gripes that you have about how things are run. And I might not actually have any control over how that's handled. So that's one thing. Another thing is something that's kind of hard to admit and say, but there's some people who kind of are not great people. Or because of their circumstance, that's how they, that's who they, right? So there are people who message me with things that are not nice. So right. So like I would say that the hardest part about being FK is dealing with this stuff. And I'd say that it's mainly because of COVID. If we hadn't been all thrown into this thing together, I don't think it would have gone this way at all. So that's just a really interesting thing. And I'm still doing some processing on it. And how I dealt with it all was I took some time off. I stepped back a little bit and I worked on my boundaries. Then I said, what do I need to do to take care of myself? Let's set up some boundaries and roles to make this a bit better. So yeah, that's been like kind of my past year, the pros and cons. And I would say I'm starting to feel comfortable in the role and I'm starting to feel like people are also getting excited about the work that I'm doing. And I sense, I don't know why I'm thinking that. Maybe I'm just hopeful thinking, but I feel like people are very active right now. And it's really exciting for me to see people just working on all these different projects. I mean, I've seen people in the chat room is more active than ever. And I don't know, I wanna think part of it because I'm here with a lot of energy and excitement for Fedora. And yeah, I think that's, I think that's my, my women in tech story and I'm, I actually took me 40 minutes to tell. I think that might have been the longest presentation. Thank you guys for sitting that one out. Matthew, if you wanna join, you're welcome to come up here. And if people have some questions, feel free to drop them in the chat. Maybe Matthew has a few questions he wants to, he's gotta get on the right computer. Cool. In the meantime, give me one second. All right, I'm right back. All right, who has questions? Okay, hold on one sec. Who? Talking for 40 minutes. Okay, since you started as the app cake, what has been your biggest surprise so far after working in the community for years? Oh my gosh, you guys are gonna love this. So I feel like this is kind of a touchy subject, but we're gonna go there and we're gonna go there with genuine honesty. So like before I became the app cake part of the Fedora community, I remember things that happened that were maybe like questionable. Like we didn't understand why like Red Hat did this thing or like Red Hat made this decision or like why this thing was happening or why this change was happening or et cetera, et cetera.  So I think like going behind the curtain of Red Hat, I'm gonna tell you like there's nothing. I was surprised at how like, hey Matthew, I was surprised that how there really wasn't a clear structure of like Red Hat wants this XYZ thing for Fedora. And cause like I think that that was kind of a, that's a perception that might be out in the community, but it's not really quite like that. And I'm actually doing some digging on trying to understand how priorities come to Fedora because that's something as a contributor, I always wondered about like just different methods. Like how do they all funnel into Fedora? So anyway, that was like my biggest surprise that it's not very well laid out in the background and it's really driven by me and Matthew and Ben and we're the ones doing it for real. And with you guys, with your help. So anyway, Matthew, did you have any questions for me? Yeah, I was kind of thinking about your conference experience and obviously having more representations in the community kind of helps make that better. It makes it easier to fit in if you know, you aren't the only woman or if you aren't the only person who's not dressed like a 1990s college student. Yes. If you'll seen. But like, what can we do at our conferences, events and just day to day in Fedora to make it more comfortable and to make it safe so those kinds of experiences don't happen to people. So I want to say one thing. I think we're beyond that cringe worthy of a moment because at like flock in Budapest, there was like, I'd say over 30 women there and there were plenty of women wearing dresses. So I think that that it's actually become a little bit more easy for that expression to happen already. And I think that representation is one of the biggest things. So I think having events like this, like I was thinking about the Fedora women's days that I've been at before. And it was like a small group at a local place. I actually am really loving this. Like the fact that we're able, like, cause there's so, there's few women contributors who are like core contributors. So it's really good for us to connect with each other like this and we live all over the world. So I think like continuing to have a global network for women to get connected into for Fedorans. I think that's great.  Yeah, that's always valuable for everybody. Maria's got a question in the... Do you want to read it just for the video? I will. Yeah. Masha asks, do you have any tips on how to overcome the need to constantly check in with everyone on the work that I'm doing? Wait, I don't understand the question. The work that who's like checking in about your own work or checking in about work that other people are doing that's related to the work you're doing or like basically check in like... Okay, I got it. I understand. So I think the idea, I think the question is asking like, how can I feel confident in just doing the work without getting it reviewed constantly or like all the time? So I'd say a couple of things. So like when it comes to designing badges, it's about finding the resources. So we have a style guide for the badges and it's about studying that and learning that. So instead of asking for like each individual, like, oh, I just changed this one thing in the badge or just changed this one thing that, modeling your design after the aesthetic of fedoras design or specifically badges. So I can speak from that angle. And I'm kind of curious maybe Matthew can talk a little bit actually from like the development or engineering side of that. I don't know if he's paying attention. Oh, network problems, shoot. It seems to have cleared up. It was you were in slow motion like a robot. So that was... Yeah, I guess one thing in fedora in general, which I'd like to encourage and it's hard to do, but you shouldn't need to ask permission to do things that can always be changed later. Like if you've got a design or something that you feel good about, say here it is. Or if you have, this is just like, people doing packaging in fedora do this. If you're the owner of the package, you make an update and there it goes. And you want to make sure that it doesn't affect other people, but as long as it's your area, you do it and then you work with other people around it, but you don't need to ask permission for it, just go for it. And then if there's something that needs to be adjusted about something, it can always be tweaked later, but the default should be you're empowered to do it, which I know that's a hard to build up a feeling to do that. It is not just me. Yeah, all right. It wouldn't be like a presentation without that, so. Would you like to repeat? I think I was saying something like, yes, I agree. Hmm, very good. So wise. Right, right, so very, very wise. But yeah, any other questions from the chat or from Matthew? Otherwise, if not, I'll do my little scripty thing. Cool. All right. All right, here we go. You got a question. Oh. Here it came one, it started the question, it was, do you feel that the badges and in suspense have changed the community spirit? Absolutely, absolutely. Now, I have to say I was not in the community before badges existed. So maybe Matthew might even be a better person to comment on this, but I'm gonna say that it seems integral in our culture. People talk about it constantly, constantly. So I think it brings a very lighthearted and fun side to our community and the work that we do that, I don't wanna say necessarily dry because most people find it really fun. But to an extent, it's not very shiny, right? So I think making a shiny thing to go with that effort that you've made is really an important thing. And to add to that, I think it's one of the most important parts of community management and community health is recognition, recognizing people for the work that they've done. So I do think that badge, oh yeah, Matthew, you should comment too because you were here before. Yeah, I think it did, it kind of something that kind of fit into the culture we had and people have that little like, a little bit of, there's some competitive spirit in getting the top badges, but a friendly competition. People were happy to compete over something meaningless, I think, right? And that kind of is the fun of it. The meaning comes from itself, not from it being an actual recognized prize or something like that. It's that people are happy to compete over that. And I think kind of the sense of whimsy in the badges with your animals and the different, also the taxonomy of which animals go to which badges, stuff like that. I don't know, that's awesome. And yeah, so I think, I don't know if it quite, I don't think it like by itself or like reinvented the culture, but it reinforced a lot of the positive things we've really, we have. And I think people really enjoy it. And I think continue to be a tool, I'm really excited for some other future things where we have like, badges to help new contributors earn these series of five badges as a new contributor. And then you're a, whatever, Fedora level one, something. You get set and you earn badges for your badges. That's what you gotta do. So badges is actually in the process of being updated and moving to Badger. So I'm hoping within the next six months, we're gonna see something new. We're gonna see hopefully a website that's working. Did you know that the way to manually assign award, manually award a badge and know that it works is if you get an error? Yes, yeah, yeah, I do that all the time. Oh yes, 500 error. Cool, the badge has been assigned. If you don't get an error, then it's, it hasn't gone through. So there's some things need to be worked on, but I... No, I'm just pointing out because it's funny because like we'll do just the work around. It's like, oh yeah, great, perfect, working. No bother, no bother here at all. Okay, so I'm gonna read my...  No, you don't have to. You can just chill because we're gonna edit the video. And then afterwards, I just wanna do some closing remarks and say anything you might wanna say.  All right. Okay. Hi, my name is Marie. I am from the US. I am a woman and I speak English. We are from different countries. We speak different languages. We are of different cultures, but Fedora unites us with open source. We are Fedora. Woo-hoo! Nice. Okay. Okay, so that actually is based off of our Buddha past video. I am so excited to see the content that we make from this weekend's sessions. Like I have a ton of ideas and I just can't wait to unroll them also. I hope I can get with a small team together to do this. I already had a couple of people messaging me about it though. So we're good. I found all the talks, I didn't make it to all of them, but I plan to watch videos of the ones I didn't make it to. I found all the ones I saw so inspiring and just made me feel great about community and about Fedora, even when their problems exposed, I think just shows a lot of positivity and a lot of strength that we all have and that all of you bring to Fedora, all of you, Marie, all the other women, non-binary people and then on the chat here as well, I appreciate all of the men who showed up to be in the audience and be part of this. That's, it's important part of being an ally and being inclusive. So again, yeah, so much thanks to everybody. Cool. So my remarks are more extended. I don't know, Matthew. You're welcome to stay on the... No, no, it's your show. You should have the extended remarks. Okay. You want me to stay on or should I drop off? You're welcome to stay on because I think you'll have comments on what I'm about to say too. So I kind of wanted to like, as the three days have happened, I've been taking notes slash just thinking and pondering on what everyone hasn't been sharing. So I wanted to just talk about a few of the like, I don't know, general overall lessons that we can like take from these stories and share with other women, nine binary people and men in our life as a way to bring positivity into our world even more, right? So here we go. These are some of the things that I really noticed in each one of the sessions. Taking the leap, taking the leap, not being afraid to do the thing, realizing that courage does not mean the absence of fear. It means overcoming that fear. So I think that that was something that was like pretty much in every single session. They were like, this happened, but I just did it anyway. I just kept doing it. And I took that chance and I did that thing. Next, don't be afraid to ask questions. I know sometimes it's hard to ask if you can empty room questions or whatever. I get that. So maybe you find a sideway and then you talk with somebody just like, hey, I'm working on this thing. Can I private message you? And they'd be like, sure, most likely. And then you can ask that question that you might feel a little self-conscious about privately. Just one way to handle something like that. But don't be afraid to ask those questions because that's the only way you're gonna learn. Seek out mentorship in some way or another. Basically, every one of these people has had a personal connection with someone in Fedora and that is how they found their way here. And I think this is relevant for like most community type work or just life in general, you know? I think in Fedora, the way to do that would be to find people who are doing similar to like your niche thing. Like say like coding in Python. So you go to the Python SIGs or you're really into typography. So you go start hanging out with the designers. And you just start making friends and talking about common interests. And then once you start to- Spot SIG too, if you're specifically into typography. That's true. And once you start talking with these people that have similar interests as you, then you can start being like, hey, I have this question. I was just wondering how this thing works. And that's when you get the links and the explanations and et cetera, et cetera. So sometimes when we don't necessarily know how to ask the question or maybe we're not sure, you might lead it up with some footwork, right? Another thing that I've been thinking about during this whole time is like most of the stories, the success of the stories was women drawing on personal strength. And I just, I think we just need to like point that out and celebrate that. Everyone was said, I am going to do this. I want this. I knew I wanted this. I heard it in every single one. And you guys made it happen. So I just think that's so impressive and so inspiring. And it makes me feel blessed to be amongst you all. Beyond that, I consider like everyone here to be my friend. And I think that like we are going to be the best support for each other, like D and I and Fedora Women's Day and you know, not Fedora and I'm burning folks series. It's not about excluding men. It's absolutely not. We, I have so many men in my life that I love. I have so many coworkers that are men that I enjoy working with. It's not about exclusion of men. It's allowing us to forge stronger connections because this is a hard place to be as a minority group. This is for us to be able to support each other and hear these stories and draw strength upon them, send them to other women in our life when they're up on YouTube and say, hey, I heard the story and it reminded me of you. So I really, I think we're the best support network for each other. And like I said, we welcome men too. It's just about connecting with each other because there's so few of us. And I think it's important and making that group and building that culture amongst ourselves as women too as being supportive. Because I think we all know like the queen bee thing and we kind of all come up against that if you're a woman, you know what I'm talking about.  So we need to build a culture where we're supporting each other and lifting each other up. That's another big part of it. So I just wanted to point that out that the strength that we have, the mentorship that we have, all these different connections, it's the person power that's making women in Fedora really great. So yeah, those are my thoughts about the conference. It's been awesome, Matthew. I don't know if you have anything to say after that. Yeah, I think that was very well said. I don't have a lot to add to that. I can talk more about our confidence and being insecure and those kind of themes. I think those are, so like that's true for men as well but I think it's a thing that particularly we're in your minority group and particularly just a lot in the way that women often present, it makes it a step harder to both, again, there's two things. First of all, the like, I'm not sure I'm qualified for this but I'm gonna go for it anyways. Like don't wait till your qualifications are lined up. I said this in a chat earlier but there's a study on this and men are much more likely to apply for jobs that they don't think they're qualified for and then assume that they'll be able to get it and grow into it than women are. And that is a lot of a lot of agenda and balance comes down to kind of that. Being able to go for something, where you might not be qualified, it also ends up with a lot of people unqualified in their positions but that's a different problem. But just like go for it and you have the ability to learn, you have the ability to grow and also the people who are making the decisions for is this the right job for me? Also, if it is a good job, they should be able to appreciate that you can have the ability to grow and you might not have 100% of the things they're looking for but that you have the potential to get them. So that's super important. And the other thing about questions is also a confidence thing. I think Marie made a good point of you can ask questions on a side channel where it's not embarrassing, find a friend and ask them questions but it's also super awesome to ask questions that you might think make you sound stupid. Like you don't have to pretend that you know the answer to things.  Oh, you're doing three things. You're getting an answer. You're showing that it's okay to ask questions and you're showing other people that it's safe to do this. That's yeah. Wait, there's a third. I support. I had a third one. I'm not good at counting but... I support option two but I also think it's just speaking to this crowd specifically. I think it's important to give people like the permission like within our culture that this is an okay thing to do because it's not easy. And I think people need to access this information and someone to talk to in different manners. So that's just, that's my reason for promoting it. Definitely. You're confident enough to ask the question in the channel, go for it. I mean, there's welcoming people there too, definitely.  You get the question answered, you get it answered for other people and you show people that it's okay to ask questions there that I summarized it in three. But I also want to make it really clear. Anybody listening to this, anybody like if you want to ask me a question in a side channel like a private message or whatever, I am happy to do that and I will never think the less of you or for asking a question about something that, you know, you might think ought to be obvious, but there's so much that ought to be obvious that just plain isn't, that it's probably not you. It's probably that it's something that needs to be explained more clearly. And I'm happy to do that for things that I know or to find someone who knows the answer for things that I don't. Plus plus is for you in the channel here. And Alberto says I love this talk. Yeah, and pastors, you know, you kind of were talking about confidence in the stuff and pastors and you're most definitely a common topic. I think a lot of people deal with this. I've definitely dealt with it too. And it's, this is a topic that we can be open about with each other. And I think that's cool. So, you know, when those feelings come, talk to somebody about it. Cool. Well, I've been talking for like an hour. I think I'm good. I think I'm good. Time to go get some tea. Yeah, I think and just relax. Like this has been a really nice weekend. It was a different pace than next. And it was very personal. I really enjoyed that. So yeah, cool. Thank you everyone for coming and taking time out to do this, to do this with us. And hopefully we can just learn and improve for next year. I'm gonna get out a survey for people so we can hopefully make some improvements. And yeah, that's all I got. Yeah, very well. Thank you so much, Marie. Everybody give Maria a gigantic thank you for all the organizing she did for this. Organizing. Organizing, yes. Yes. Yes, bye, bye. Thank you and goodbye everybody. I'm just enjoying these comments. So I'll just stick it for one second. But bye. All of my wonderful friends. I miss you guys. I wish I could give you big hugs. Miss you all. I miss you too. Very welcome. Thank you everybody. And I will see you online.


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is now time for member statements and I recognize the member for Oshawa. Thank you Speaker. Businesses in Oshawa, Durham region and across Ontario are very concerned about the devastating impact of COVID-19. They're trying to survive and make it through to the other side. I've been hearing from businesses, downtown BIAs, the Chambers of Commerce and Boards of Trade. The Ontario NDP submitted the SAVE Main Street Plan filled with recommendations based on what small and medium businesses have been asking for. They need tools like the successful digital Main Street program so that business can get online and get to their customers and community. Enhance wage subsidies because the feds 10% isn't going to cut it. We need to institute a utility payment freeze, postpone tourism and marketing fees in the hospitality sector, and dedicate resources to ensure the food supply chain has what it needs. And invest in the tools and resources that entrepreneurs need for the future. Commercial landlords are still not taking advantage of the federal money so the Premier should pick up the phone and use Ontario's influence with the feds. Small and medium businesses are desperate to open but worried at the same time. So support them with help and ensure that there are clear guidelines. How will they get PPE? What happens if they need support? They want to know that there's some security if they need it. Small Main Street and medium businesses have always been the backbone of our communities, especially now in the face of such uncertainty. We have to listen to them and support them. Reshaping the future is a big job speaker that will take all of us and this government needs to put its money where its mouth is. We have to invest in and ensure the future of small businesses, not just hope it happens. I hesitated to interrupt the member during the course of her statement, but I would ask the House to come to order so that I can hear the member who has the floor and is presenting to the House. Order. Member Statements, the Member for Brantford-Brant. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. I rise today to recognize the extraordinary frontline workers not only in my home riding of Brantford-Brant, but throughout Ontario. In our hospitals, doctors, nurses, cleaning and kitchen staff, IT workers and all support staff, on our roads, paramedics, fire, police, military, dispatchers, delivery personnel and all support workers. In our long-term care homes, nurses, PSWs, cleaning staff, recreational and therapy workers, in our fields, farmers, farm workers and farm families, in our stores, pharmacists, assistants, grocery store clerks, security staff and workers, tirelessly restocking shows. The workers that you never see, hydro technicians, municipal sewage workers, water treatment staff and telecommunications professionals that link and give us access to information, the ability to talk to our loved ones remotely and to keep us entertained. A huge thank you to all in our province who have stepped up either working to treat COVID-19 patients, working to prevent outbreaks and the Ontarians that work daily to keep us safe, comfortable and fed. Recently, I reached out to our long-term care homes in my riding of Brantford-Brant to hear firsthand the reality of what was going on in the ground. While my thoughts are with the residents who cannot see their loved ones in person, I was most impressed with the level of preparedness and dedication to fight this deadly virus. If you are a team leader, a manager or director and wants to recognize excellence in your organization, I urge you to contact your local MPP. Thank you. Thank you very much. Member statements. The member for Kitchener's Center. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. The pandemic pay announcement was made on April 24th, but it wasn't until May 15th that the ministry's responsible contacted eligible employers to provide more details. That meant four long weeks of critical frontline workers continuing to put their lives on the lines to protect Ontarians while wondering if they would qualify for this pay. Wondering if their work was valued by this government. We know staffing shortages plagued the system because of the government's cuts leading up to the pandemic, and now exclusions based on random criteria that was never disclosed to the public has added insult to injury. PSWs at long-term care homes qualified for a pandemic pay but called my office asking why the person working alongside them did not simply because they had stepped in to provide temporary help through private home care companies. Why were ambulance attendants not on the list or people who provide MRIs? What about clerical support staff organizing and prioritizing appointments or laboratory technicians who do our testing? What about healthcare workers supporting the unsheltered or those helping people navigate addictions in community? Why are they missing? For four weeks my staff monitored the list and while we're grateful to see more roles added, we're frustrated it's taken this government so long to see that frontline workers are part of an intricate web of people who rely on each other to keep us all safe. Real leadership requires well thought out plans and complete transparency. So do better. Ontario's watching. I'm going to have to ask the independent members to keep the volume of their voices down, earn member statements. I need to be able to hear the member who has the floor. We need to show respect for each other. Member statements. The member for Whitby. Good morning, Speaker. Thank you. In response to the epidemic staff at the community care department, the community food boxes program. The program speaker was developed to support residents from communities in the region of Durham unable to safely acquire the essentials needed during this unprecedented time. With the support of local businesses and farms, the food boxes contain the essentials for healthy eating, much of which are locally made or grown in the region of Durham. These boxes speaker are delivered throughout the region of Durham and help to relieve the pressure from immediate family members unable to provide the necessary care to their vulnerable loved ones. Speaker, community care. Durham is a multi service charitable organization with a long history of providing community support services to adults and their caregivers who have needs related to aging, physical and or mental health. Speaker, community care. Durham will continue to partner with local businesses and farms to bring Durham residents in need during this extraordinary time, a truly community experience. Thank you to the staff at community care of Durham and all the volunteers who are delivering the community food boxes. Know that you're making a difference in so many lives throughout the region of Durham. Thank you, Speaker. Member statements, the member for Brampton North. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. Demand for security guards has drastically increased during COVID-19 pandemic. These men and women have been asked to take on challenging roles on the front lines, ensuring that our grocery stores, hospitals, government facilities and care homes are safe. There is currently an acute shortage of licensed guards in Ontario. Many guards are currently being asked to work double shifts and overtime, but demand persists. In a province posting historic job losses, there are as many as 5,000 positions that remain unfilled. This demand will only increase as the government moves slowly to increase economic restrictions. The good news is that there are thousands of Ontarians ready and willing to take on these roles. Unfortunately, new licenses and testing have been suspended, rendering it impossible to become qualified as a security guard in Ontario while testing and licensing facilities remain closed. The province urgently needs to temporarily remove and continue with testing, online testing and certification for the duration of the pandemic. We understand that a similar program has been undertaken in Quebec. Despite the dangerous essential work that security guards are carrying out, reports are that guards are not receiving the $4 an hour top-up the government promised. To be clear, many guards are working in care homes, hospitals and detention centres. Most are working in roles that require placing themselves, Mr. Speaker, and their families in danger while screening, interacting with members of the public. This needs to change. Member statements, the member for Scarborough Guildwood. Speaker, it's an honour to rise today on behalf of the people of Scarborough Guildwood. Today I thank everyone who's doing their part to curb the spread of COVID-19, especially our healthcare heroes. I had a chance to meet several of them at the Scarborough Health Network on Friday when the Scarborough Business Association delivered food packages for lunch. I thank these essential workers who are keeping our province moving. At the same time, I'd like to acknowledge the hardship experienced by small businesses, not only in Scarborough but across the province. Over the past weeks, I've touched base with a number of small businesses owners in my riding of Scarborough Guildwood. I hosted a virtual small business recovery consultation and heard from owners such as the JC Banquet Hall, a fine arts instructor who does her instructions now over Zoom, and the owners of G&G Electronics, a family-run business who has been operating continuously for over 65 years. I want to thank Katie Sayuki for moderating this session. I'd also like to thank the Scarborough Business Association for hosting a virtual set of meetings to facilitate networking, information sharing, and promoting new and innovative partnerships. It's clear that some industries will do better and they're better situated to recover and adapt from COVID-19. But whether or not our small businesses survive depends in large part on the steps that government will be taking in the coming weeks. The message from small business is loud and clear. With drastically reduced incomes, they need support now. They're asking for commercial rent relief and without thank you very much. Thank you very much. Member Statements, the member for Burlington. Thank you so much Speaker. Burlington is a community like no other in good times and in bad. We rally together to ensure no one is left behind speaker. I'd like to thank some of the local organizations who've lent a hand to make each day a little brighter for someone else. The Burlington Food Bank last month served 650 families twice as many as last April. In addition, organizations like the Compassion Society, Food for Life, Burlington Salvation Army, and Wellington Square United Church are also providing support. I want to acknowledge the Burlington Dads group who held a bottle drive a few weeks back and raised $6,110 and 387 pounds of food for Holton Women's Place and Burlington's Food Bank. We're also coming together online. More than 10,200 people have joined the Facebook group, Burlington On Restaurants Takeout and Delivery. This group supports local restaurants and promotes Burlington's Takeout Wednesday. When the lockdown began, I also extended my office hours to help Burlington residents navigate the support available from all levels of government. We've also arranged marriages licensed in several urgent cases. A special thanks to Amber LaPoint, the City Clerk, and Port Colburn, Sarah Kim, the Town Clerk in Grimsby, and the Clerk's Office in Markham for going above and beyond to help. Adjusting to our current reality of six feet apart has been challenging for all of us speaker. As always, Burlington is stepped up. Thank you very much. Your statements. The member for University Rosedale. Thank you, Speaker. When I walk through my neighbourhood of University Rosedale, I see more and more empty storefronts and four lease signs. College Street, Law Street, Dundas Street, Kensington Market. Small businesses are giving up and going under.  Two-thirds of commercial tenants didn't make may rent. Aunt Tran, a parent and first-time business owner of a bakery on Bloor Street. He had invested everything into his business, closed. Matthew Lungwe, owner of Base Camp Climbing Gym. He invested thousands into renovating a former adult movie theatre into a popular gym, closed. Nishtish, a thriving Indigenous-run restaurant cafe on Bloor Street, faced so many additional barriers to open, closed. El Gato Nero, an Italian restaurant on College Street, run by Carmine and Michael Revelli. In a Facebook post they wrote, we feel fortunate and proud to have had the opportunity to serve this city since 1960. And we are honoured that we are able to be a part of so many people's lives through their trials and tribulations, their triumphs and joys. Closed, closed. These businesses make our city. They employ people, they give Toronto its character, its culture and its identity. Ontario Government, this is a message for you. Put a moratorium on commercial evictions now and provide rental support to commercial tenants. Help us and help my riding survive this pandemic. Thank you. For the third time I'm compelled to ask members to keep their voices quiet when other members are having or presenting their statements in the House. This time I have to ask the government side. We have to respect each other. Minister of Natural Resources and Forestry, come door. Member statements, the member for Flamborough, Glenbrook. Thank you, Mr Speaker. I'm pleased to rise today to talk about the critical role Hamilton International Airport is playing in the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic. Hamilton is the nation's hub for the delivery of personal protective equipment to frontline workers. It is also the largest domestic express cargo airport in Canada. On April 11th, a 767 cargo jet landed in Hamilton from Shanghai with 75,000 pounds of desperately needed PPE. Since then, plane load after plane load of N95 masks and other vital medical supplies have arrived at Hamilton Airport from sources right around the world. The shipments are temporarily stored in a 77,000 foot air cargo space before being delivered to sites right across the country. The facility at Hamilton specializes in the shipment of pharmaceutical and biomedical supplies. Hamilton Airport cargo jet and their delivery partners DHL, Perlator, UPS and Canada Post continue to work around the clock to meet the surging demand for PPE and other medical supplies. I want to commend all of the air cargo and delivery teams at Hamilton Airport and CEO Kathy Puckering for their commitment to supporting the supply chain and keeping Ontarians safe. Thank you. I apologize. Member for Peterborough Court. Thank you, Mr. Speaker. And what seemed like an eternity ago way back in the last week of March, a gentleman named Tim Burke reached out to me to see if it would be possible under the COVID-19 restrictions to put on a fundraiser telethon style. Tim has been involved in a number of initiatives to help with mental health and addiction supports in their community through an organization named Peterborough Strahm. His original idea was morphed and modified so that we could observe all of the social distancing rules. And with the help of people like Meg Murphy, Pete Dalladay, Neil Morton, Jeff Duke, and David Feely at Kojiko Peterborough, the final concept was put together. Artists and celebrities across Peterborough would record songs or inspirational messages. And all of it would be combined into a two hour show broadcast on Kojiko's Your TV as well as through Facebook Live and YouTube. In total, more than 55 local artists took part and 35 local celebrities and community leaders provided messages of hope to our community. Our very own Premier Ford took time to send the message of hope to our community. All of the proceeds from this event will go to community foundations of Peterborough and to the United Way in support of mental health initiatives for those suffering during COVID-19. The telethon ended with a very fitting rendition of the tragically hips Bob Cajun, sung by the Peterborough singers. Thank you. Thank you. That concludes our member statements for this morning. It is now.