Introduce yourself here!

[Samie Kaufman - Your Gal at Gliffy]

Thanks for the reminder nudge, @Kat Warner :) I supposed I'd been lurking for a bit and forgot to add myself to the group until I wanted to comment on something!

My name is Samie (she/her) and I work in Marketing for Gliffy, which was one of the first apps in the Atlassian ecosystem and helps people draw or diagram their ideas in just a few clicks. While working full time, I'm also completing my MBA and have focused specifically on how to foster creativity and innovation among teams. I started taking design classes when I was 15, shifted over to copywriting, and now am working my way up to owning the strategies that inform both. 🤓  I care deeply about supporting LGBTQ folks and strive to be an advocate for people with disabilities — I want to support all initiatives to be more inclusive, but these are the two "zones" that I have personal experience with.

Prior to joining Gliffy, I worked at Target as a professional brainstormer-slash-writer, which is a large retailer here in the United States. While there, I got to develop marketing for the first mass-retail adaptive clothing line (go Cat & Jack!) as well as work on Target's Pride campaigns in 2018 and 2019. I much preferred the 2019 work, but haven't updated my portfolio to include it. Whoops. Instead of writing scripts, I would rather let people use their own words to describe their experiences, so I love using interviews and real people (vs. traditional hired "talent") whenever possible in my creative work.

While I'm not so directly working on D&I initiatives anymore, I'm obviously working on myself. I'm based in Minneapolis, which became a focal point for conversations about racial equity this past summer. I am trying to stay involved and continue learning through all those important conversations. 

Thank you for inviting me to share — and for everything you guys are sharing in this group!

[Hana Kučerová]

Hi everybody!

I started to summarize some information about me and then I remembered @Thomas Schlegel did an interview with me here on the community, this is the best introduction I can have.

What is not written there is I'm 6'4" tall woman, which is really highly above average.

I've always worked in IT, every time as an only "technical" woman in team.

But don't get me wrong - I love my life and work and I wouldn't trade it for anything in the world!

[Malka Jackson _Isos Technology_]

I am _only_ 5'10" but i enjoy being "The Tall One" in my group, and I spent many years as the only technical woman on the team so your post resonated with me. Let me jump over and read your interview after this meeting I have. 

[Nicole Reichert]

Hey hey! 

I'm Nicole from GLiNTECH, a Platinum Atlassian partner - working on getting all this Atlassian stuff into the hands of business!

Some cool facts about me:

• I earned a Diversity and Inclusion medal from our national researcher (CSIRO) for my work in making public service more accessible (it looks great!)
• I'm a trans woman who originally started wanting to work in the creative field
• My grandparents were both immigrants to Australia and I speak German relatively fluently still (yeeees!)

Hopefully, I can start making a habit of posting in the community to give back to this site where I've grown a lot off of it! :)

[Kat Warner]

Welcome to our newest group members!

@Josephine Cheatham @John Gunerli @Isha @Damien Davis @Katie Louey @Rose Spitzer @Nicole Reichert @Erion Peci @Brenda Crompton  - please share why you're interested in this group, and (if you're comfortable) name something about you that's unique, unusual, or diverse! 

[Kat Warner]

Welcome to our newest group members!

@Gema @ruby - please share why you're interested in this group, and (if you're comfortable) name something about you that's unique, unusual, or diverse! 

[Kat Warner]

Welcome to our newest group members!

@Seven , @Helle Friis Pedersen , @Malka Jackson _Isos Technology_ ,@nihal_gupta,  @Jillian Mara , @Lisa Molden  - please share why you're interested in this group, and (if you're comfortable) name something about you that's unique, unusual, or diverse! 

[Malka Jackson _Isos Technology_]

Good day y'all!!

So glad to have found this group. I come from a long line of Jewish women who were civil rights workers in my family (Grandma is a firecracker still at 95) and I am glad to have that foundation to have gotten me started, but I have come to realize that there is still much further to go with inclusion and diversity and I have much more to learn so that I can be an amplifier to those around me.

My background has been in mostly male sectors of work; starting out in the Navy as an Aviation Electronics Tech (AT) and then going into computer hardware in the 90s and following that into software in the 00's. I was a C# developer for about a decade before becoming a Scrum Master. My time has been a mixed bag of experiences and learning how to read my co-workers to learn how to adapt to the unit and team as not to make waves when I was starting out, to learning how to make small waves to stand up for those who may not feel comfortable speaking up.

My husband is also in the Technology field. We actually met 21 years ago working for Gateway 2000 at the same time. He went the route of Database Warehousing and big data while I went the route of developing in transactional applications.

My husband and I have been married for 17 years. He is black, I am white. You wouldn't believe the comments I have heard when people see the picture of us on my desk. I apparently do not fit the mold of this type of relationship for some people.

He is also paraplegic after a bicycle accident at the age of 12 and for the first 5 years or so of our relationship, people used to ask me if he got shot when I would mention his being in a chair. Now they just assume he is the Veteran in the relationship and got wounded in action. 

These are the types of situations I would love to know how to turn into learning opportunities. 

Thanks for reading my ramble,

Malka

[Kat Warner]

Thanks for sharing Malka. It is amazing the assumptions people seem comfortable making and voicing out loud.

[Kat Warner]

Welcome to our newest group members!

@Loo Williams , @Christi Currier @Amy Reed @Laura.Cascarella @Arun Muthukumaran @Petula Neale @Marina Michaels @Ryan @Britta Neugebauer _yasoon_  - please share why you're interested in this group, and (if you're comfortable) name something about you that's unique, unusual, or diverse! 

[Britta Neugebauer _yasoon_]

Hi there,

thank you @Kat Warner for handing over! My name is Britta (she/her) and to make it very short, i think diversity and inclusion are topics which should be handled in every company and in any part of society.

Living in a world of constant change, I want to actively and respectfully change my behaviours and thought constructs to the better. In return, being open and respectful is something I expect from my fellow humans. Be brave, be loud, be kind.

Greetings from Mannheim, Germany

Britta

[Loo Williams]

Hi

I work in DWP in North East of England as a Digital Project Manager.

Diversity and inclusion is really something I feel strongly about and underpins DWP Values.

I was born was a floating hip so have spent time in and out of wheelchairs as a child for several years and again for periods as an adult.

Also spent 3 years living in the South Pacific as a kid in the beautiful Solomon Islands.

I am also a keen advocate of supporting women in technology.

[Kat Warner]

Welcome to our newest group members!

@Nikhil Ballewar @Jeffrey.Knaack @Amina CHAYEB @Mohsen Gol @Laura Protzman @irene @Michiko Singh @Jerald Louis Raja Nicholas Felix @Agatha Monteiro @Pranjal @WW @Bob Byrnes @Jeff Tillett @Andy  - please share why you're interested in this group, and (if you're comfortable) name something about you that's unique, unusual, or diverse! 

[Agatha Monteiro]

Bom dia!

Meu nome é Agatha, sou Analista de Sistemas, moro no Brasil, sou apaixonada por metodologias ágeis, gosto de me relacionar com pessoas e culturas diferentes e acho que aqui teremos uma grande oportunidade de conhecer pessoas novas e gerar um network incrível.

[Marina Michaels]

My name is Marina (she/her).

My family and friends are quite diverse. I have many first cousins of various nationalities and colors. One friend is completely blind, a cousin is deaf and gay, and another friend is disabled. A family member is bi but only semi-out, and a friend is gay and ACE and also only semi-out.

So I've been educated early and often on awareness, accessibility, and equity. I still have a lot to learn.

I'm writing and self-publishing a series of cookbooks with the theme of connecting with each other through our food (Delectable Desserts and the forthcoming Recipes Your Mother Knew by Heart).

I'm a former librarian and kept bees in a small way when I was younger. I enjoy watercolor painting and embroidery, especially counted cross-stitch. I share my house with six cats, with a seventh (a neighborhood stray) working on ingratiating himself with the others. It would be cruel to discourage him, so I treat him with love and kindness.

Most of my working life, I've been a senior-level software tech writer and professional indexer.

I now work as a Development Editor at Manning Publications, where I work with authors in different countries and with various cultures. Several are LGBTQ.

[Chris Annal]

Thanks for sharing your story. TIL what ACE means. I had to look it up, but that's part of expanding our knowledge of the diverse community. 

[Marina Michaels]

Thanks, Chris! I've learned and am still learning so much. I belong to a few Facebook groups that might, on their surface, not seem to be related, but in fact are.

For example, the Facebook cross-stitching groups I belong to are inclusive. Because people can create cross-stitch projects with any topic, they do. Then they share their work. That always starts sometimes lively discussions about the topic. (Diversity flags, Black Lives Matter, and so on.) I'm always touched by how kind and respectful people are in those groups.

[Kat Warner]

Welcome to our newest group members! It's a big group this time!

@Bryant Holmes , @Deg Oge , Çiğdem Büyükaşik,  @Jenn Landefeld , @Chris Annal , @Laura Holton _ACE Rotterdam_ , @Rebecca Topps , @Leema A , @Sarah Shoop @Ale Ziliotto , @[deleted] , @meshack musembi , @Christophe Ovaere , @Agatha Acacia , @Silvia Devison , @lisa_donato, @Juanjo Torrico @Rosemary Benny @Lisa Malden (She/Her) , @Kholoud Aldaffar @M.v @Sarah Preston @Laurie Egbert @Sarah Leonhardt @AlvinaSLuer @Pedro Silva @Cristina @Stacey Salamon   - please share why you're interested in this group, and (if you're comfortable) name something about you that's unique, unusual, or diverse! 

[Laura Holton _ACE Rotterdam_]

Thanks for the warm welcome @Kat Warner I'm thrilled to be a part of this group!

I'm particularly interested in this group because it's something that's a part of my day to day in marketing as well as something that is very close to my heart due to contending with a chronic illness. I look forward to getting stuck in more here 😃

[Pedro Silva]

Thanks for the fabulous welcome @Kat Warner !

I really love to be here. It´s a matter of personal experience. I'm responsible for the  diversity & inclusion here in the company, so I love to receive feedback from wherever i can.

[Laurie Egbert]

I've reached out to our HR asking if we can develop a committee or task force. I'm new with this company and would like to stay connected with others who are currently active and working toward change. I'm in a tech industry and it seems to be changing more slowly than some. Decades old references to hardware using master/slave for example must be eliminated. So, I'm hoping to connect to others with the same goals. 

[Cristina]

@Kat Warner @Monique vdB @Laura Holton _ACE Rotterdam_ Thank you for the warm welcome! 

[Chris Annal]

Hi everybody,

My name is Chris (he/him) and I'm getting ready to retire in August this year. As an older person (63) in the tech field, I know that I sometimes feel a little outdated. I know also that when I entered the field, I was a late-comer, going from working in a factory and going to college in the evenings, to finding a love of technology and deciding to pursue a career in that field. I think what I learned from all this is that we all at one time may have felt the weight of being the outsider or the "other". 

Reading your stories and backgrounds is inspiring. There's plenty of diversity here, and thanks for including me!

[Laura Holton _ACE Rotterdam_]

Welcome @Chris Annal, it's great to have you here 😃

[Deleted user]

Hello everyone! My name is Thomas and I am currently residing in Ohio. I have been in Agile for 9+ years, and I always find myself looking for new fun things to do with my teams to make sure I am creating a positive impact for my teams and each member individually. It is hard to think that the world can be unkind to those who may not fit the mold of the masses, but this is the reality we live in. I feel that diversity and inclusion truly sets the tone for establishing the best talent available, and also gives people the opportunity to learn about people that may not have come from the same background. I have been in environments where people have made assumptions based on one's gender or ethnicity, and it never does anything but isolate the one's that you need most. Thank you for having me here!

[Laura Holton _ACE Rotterdam_]

Welcome to the Atlassian Community and the Diversity & Inclusion group @[deleted] 👋

[Marina Michaels]

Welcome, Thomas! It's sometimes hard, but always rewarding to bring a team together and help them work productively with each other. It helps to read up on group dynamics, diversity, and accessibility. And, for that matter, to read everything you can on working with many types of folks.

Regards,

Marina Michaels

[Stacey Salamon]

Thank you @[deleted] ! I am a technical writer and looking to really make D&I part of my processes. I feel that things like accessibility are too often an afterthought rather than part of planning/designing itself. So, I'm here to learn and share!

[Capi [resolution]]

Welcome @Stacey Salamon !

[Svenja Lorenzen]

Hi everyone!

My name is Svenja and I'm from Germany.

What makes me different is that I have a very very pale/fair skin.

Every single summer, my friends would start to get tanner. And, without fail, they would start to notice that I didn't really get tan. This amused them, so they would hold their arms next to mine to see just how dark they'd gotten since the winter.

People that don't know (even strangers!) also like to give me good advice. I can't tell you how often have I heard the sentence: "go out and get some sun". Yeah... well... I can only go out with sun blocker/SPF 50+ because otherwise I'll get sunburned within a couple of minutes. ☀️ But of course people don't stop telling me, that I would look better if I would get tanned.

Also it is very hard for me to find matching make-up. And, if I don't wear makeup, everyone thinks I'm sick. This was helpful in school though, because it was way to easy to get a medical certificate when I wanted to skip school. 🤣

Oh, and of course I can perform magic. ✨ If somebody uses the flash when taking a photo, my face literally disappears. 📸 But no worries... I'll of course take the photo of you, so you have a great memory!

[Marina Michaels]

Welcome, Svenja!

I'm quite pale, too, and friends used to urge me to get tanned, but, like you, I burn when the sun say's "boo," and I've always wanted to be cautious about my skin health. You're doing the right thing to protect your skin!

Is your skin sensitive, too? I never wore makeup because it would give me a rash, until I found powdered (mineral) makeup. If you can find your own ingredients, you can make a perfect match for your skin. Just avoid anything with bismuth oxychloride in it--when I tried that, it felt like a thousand ants biting me. I still don't wear much makeup, but the mineral makeup can be soothing.

I'm so glad you've joined this group!

Regards,

Marina Michaels

[Stephen Edache Paul]

I got overwhelmed with these introduction threads. 

I'm still putting mine together.

[Mike Rathwell]

Hi. My name is Mike and look like "generic old white guy". However, a variety of life experiences have me not really fitting any of the currently available demographics. 

I have joined the Diversity & Inclusion group and bring a mindset that "Diversity" is what we are and "Inclusion" is what we must strive for.

This thought was driven home by the tributes and accolades I was gifted with upon leaving my last job. They were summed up by a woman in HR who noted, "It's not lost on me that most of these comments are from women. You don't mansplain. You see us. You treat us as equals." She, who has delivered implicit bias training, commented on my going away zoom call happy hour that she sees no implicit bias in me at all.

That hit me between the eyes. I can't remember a time (for all I grew up in a racist and misogynistic household) that I have not seen humans as... humans. Period. If the skies open and a big spaceship drops in making "humans" not a simply inclusive term, I'll pivot to "beings" (and don't use it currently as many look at me like I have 3 eyes when I do use it). I know this is not typically the case but those comments hit home. 

To my tiny mind, there needs to be a way to really emphasize the ampersand in the name of this group. Diversity is wonderful. Inclusion is sublime. 

[Darryl Lee]

Hi y'all, it's Darryl and I am new here. :D

[Jodie Vlassis]

Hi everyone - my name is Jodie and I work in Atlassian's Trust Organisation (Cyber Security)

Inclusion and Diversity is super important to me and something I hold very close to my heart. I'm a huge female empowerment activist and support the cause of building up women, individuals who identify as women and the LGBTQIA+ community in the cyber security space. Unfortunately we still have a long way to go, but having community groups like this help support individuals that want to enter into our space, it gives me hope!

[Airyn]

Hello, everyone!

[Ros Carrido]

Hello! I'm Ros, an AI/ML software engineer from the Philippines. I have yet to dip my toes further down the deep waters of the tech industry—and even the Atlassian community. As a newbie dev and as a woman navigating the tech industry, I wish to be part of conversations on making tech more diverse & inclusive (especially towards women).

I'm left-handed and I can write backwards (both in print and in cursive). I can be too fastidious and so pedantic at times that even I consider myself annoying 😅 (but I also consider it one of my superpowers).

[Ankush Bora]

Hello All,

My name is Ankush.
I am interested in doing more in the Diversity & Inclusion space.
I am from a sparsely exposed part of North-Eastern India and I presume that is diverse about me.
I believe diversity is more than just gender-based and there is a lot happening to change this.
I want to be a part of that change!

[NazZ]

Myself Naaz Mahvy, good to be connected here. i enjoy speed cubing as a hobby and like to learn and solve different variety of cubes.