Diversity and Inclusion Fund

From January 2023 to date, we have been able to satisfy the requests of 47 people from 16 different countries, who, thanks to the Diversity and Inclusion Fund, have been able to receive a scholarship and attend GrUSP conferences, either in person or remotely!

Diversity, inclusion, accessibility, respect and familiarity are not just abstract words for us, but values that guide our work every single day. This is why we decided to create a fund aimed at supporting all the initiatives in which we participate and implement that gravitate around these important values.

Below you will find explained:

• what it is about;
• what we do;
• how we use the funds raised;
• how you can contribute;

What is it about

GrUSP is an association that aims to make the ecosystem of the web development world better both in terms of skills and opportunities by creating greater awareness.

What does this mean? In very simple words: to train and excite the people who work in this field by creating a familiar, friendly and diversified environment in which anyone can feel at ease, there is opportunity for comparison and therefore consequently growth both on a personal and professional level.

The objective of this fund is to be able to support all the initiatives that can develop a heterogeneous and therefore rich environment for each person who takes part in it. Diversity is an inestimable value because it allows to develop alternative points of view, unlock situations thanks to a healthy comparison and exchange of ideas, reach the set goals in the shortest possible time but above all in the most complete way, as each individual has the opportunity to contribute sharing their unique and priceless background.

What do we do

The activities in which the association has been and is currently involved to carry out this goal are many:

• from the very first events a clear code of conduct was introduced and applied in every online and physical context promoted by GrUSP;
• diversify our lineup supporting economically speakers that could not afford the travel costs to come to the conference;
• we have always cultivated a relationship with national and international communities in order to involve the greatest number of people passionate about the technologies we deal with with different backgrounds and cultures thanks to our partnership program;
• in 2016 GrUSP became Diversity Sponsor of the PHPDiversity Rainbow Elephpant campaign on Kickstarter when the project was apparently failing to take off. We are very pleased that many other people have followed in our footsteps and that the project has achieved its goal;
• in 2018 it was possible, thanks to the financial support of our sponsors, to expand the scholarships program to financially support the members of the groups under represented within the tech world and those who could not afford the costs of our conferences;
• in 2019 we sponsored and organized for the first time RailsGirls Verona, a free coding workshop for women and a few months later also a second edition;
• in 2021 we participated in the creation of DInA Tech Hub: a space to stimulate constructive discussions, disseminate, share stories by giving a voice to each person, create alliances that can allow us to unite and achieve the goal together;
• in 2022 at angularday in collaboration with ngGirls we organized a free women-only workshop with the goal of learning how to make an application in angular;
• we have organized a workshop about remote public speaking to give everybody the possibility to grow and improve their skills;
• over the years we have increasingly refined and improved the accessibility of our events and of the communication used in order to guarantee a space where anyone can really feel at ease and can participate freely;
• we carry out initiatives aimed at involving every member of the community in order to increase involvement, sharing and growth;
• growth and maintaining relationships with community partners from diverse environments in order to intercept as many people as possible.

How we use the funds raised

The resources raised to build this fund will be used for:

• finance the scholarships program by being able to include not only online participation in our events but also participation in face-to-face conferences, workshops and any reimbursement of expenses for room and board;
• participate in awareness-raising projects in the field of diversity, inclusion and accessibility like DInA Tech Hub and the Accessibility in Tech Jobs;
• finance communication campaigns to intercept people to be involved in our initiatives;
• develop mentorship programs that can bring out the most shy people but with great potential to be able to support them in public speaking, also giving the opportunity to get involved by being able to present their intervention in the PUG communities that can give feedback and make them feel safe to be able to present on larger conference stages. This gives both them and the community the opportunity to grow and share their knowledge and experiences by creating a rich and heterogeneous environment;
• achieve our goals in the area of accessibility to really give anyone the opportunity to participate, feel at ease, share and grow;
• translate into English all the resources and activities we carry out as an association in this area.

How is it possible to contribute to this project?

There are many ways to contribute to this initiative and are suitable for anyone who believes in our same values.

If you are a private individual:

• you can share the scholarships program within your network in order to intercept as many people as possible;
• you can make yourself available to mentor community members who apply;
• you can contribute financially with a sponsorship of the amount you prefer through our shop online. In this case we will be happy to be able to thank you as a contributor to the fund.

If you are a company:

• you can economically finance the fund with the amount you wish to allocate;
• you can become a diversity sponsor of one of our conferences.

Are you interested in contributing or do you have other ideas to share to better develop this project?

You can write an email to community@grusp.org or support this fund with an amount of your choice. We will be happy to add your name among our contributors.

A big thank you to the sponsors and contributors who support this project this year:

And thanks again to those who have supported the program over the past years: