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Keynote: Exceeding Diversity and Inclusion Goals to Fuel Open Source Growth - Johanna Koester

394 views · Published 25 October 2018 · 16:49 · Indexed 23 September 2026

Channel: The Linux Foundation · 2018 · Science & Technology

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Keynote: Exceeding Diversity and Inclusion Goals to Fuel Open Source Growth - Johanna Koester, Program Director of Developer Technology and Advocacy, IBM

Diversity and inclusion are more than a checkbox; it’s fuel for open source community growth and success. While we have seen great progress for diversity in the form of center stage presentations and focused meetings at most tech events, the reality is that there is still more to be done drive effective inclusivity of those diversity groups.

Through the stories of successful open source contributors from under-represented groups, Johanna’s keynote will celebrate the best practices that have enabled the success of these individuals and then provide recommendations to further drive inclusion in any technology community. Open source communities have shown the world that when we bring together members of multiple companies and diverse backgrounds, we can achieve far more than working apart. It’s for that reason that open source communities today have a great responsibility to continue advancements for inclusion not only to fuel their own success but more importantly to model the benefits of inclusion to the world. 

About Johanna Koester
Johanna Koester, Program Director of Developer Technology and Advocacy at IBM, leads a global team with responsibility for unleashing the best of open technology to today’s developers through digital and face to face events. Over the past 10 years, she has had the distinct honor of leading IBM’s project office responsible for founding and sponsoring many strategic open source communities including the OpenStack Foundation, Cloud Foundry Foundation, Node.js Foundation, Cloud Native Computing Foundation, ODPi and more. In this role, she has been an outspoken advocate for open technologies to foster the development of the next generation of Cloud and AI Technology to drive interoperability and speed of innovation for industry developers. Through her involvement in these communities, she always carves out time to advocate for diversity in open source communities including leadership roles in the Women of OpenStack committee and Cloud Foundry Ambassadors. She holds a BS and Computer Science and Math from Tulane University and an MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. You can find more background information as well as her views on developer and open technologies on Twitter @jokoester.

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