Episode 35: Marie Nordin and Helping the Under-represented in Open Source

Jan 10, 2023

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Guest

Marie Nordin

Panelists

Richard Littauer | Memo Esparza | Django Skorupa

Show Notes

Hello and welcome to Sustain Open Source Design! The podcast where we talk about sustaining open source with design. Learn how we, as designers, interface with open source in a sustainable way, how we integrate into different communities, and how we as coders, work with other designers.

On this episode, we are excited to have joining us Marie Nordin, who’s the Code of Conduct Specialist working out of Red Hat’s Open Source Program Office. She was introduced to FOSS the Fedora Project and Open Source Design through an Outreachy internship, and we’re going to talk more about how useful this internship is at getting people into open source. You’ll hear Marie’s passion for supporting underrepresented people into open source, especially in project management, graphic design, and mentorship, and explains how she utilized the Outreachy program, and shares advice on where to begin if you’re interested in becoming a mentor. We’ll also learn about the Fedora community and how that works for interns and new designers, and she speaks more about the need for project and program management at Fedora. Go ahead and download this episode now!

[00:02:20] We hear Marie’s journey of how she got into open source and how she got involved in Outreachy.

[00:09:06] Marie tells us how she pays it forward by being a mentor to people who may be in a similar spot.

[00:12:39] Marie discusses the interactions she had working at Fedora, the Code of Conduct she implemented at Fedora, what her focus is right now, and what she’s excited about.

[00:16:35] Django brings up rough jobs being very important and taking an intense roll, and Marie talks about putting mental health at the forefront in community care taking and how she’s focusing on this in the future.

[00:20:02] We learn how delegation and prioritizing are key things to have to take care of yourself and the community well-being.

[00:21:02] We hear more about the mentorship process and how Marie utilized the Outreachy program, and she tells us about the Fedora design team mentorship.

[00:23:25] If you’re interested in mentoring people but not sure where to begin, Marie shares some advice on how you can do that.

[00:24:47] Marie explains how the Fedora community works for interns and young designers to get involved, the teams, active designers, and internships they have. Also, we hear about the need for people at Fedora doing project and program management.

[00:32:39] Find out where you can follow Marie online.

Quotes

[00:16:47] “I just jumped into this community management world not really having a ton of experience with community management. Luckily, I’m empathic and intuitive by nature but that also brings on a lot of emotional weight especially when you’re in a position like this.”

[00:17:23] “You can’t take care of other people without taking care of yourself.”

[00:17:37] “You have to be able to set boundaries, like not getting notifications on your phone.”

[00:18:02] “There’s work-life balance, but if you do something you love, it’s hard to stop. But if you don’t stop, you’re forced to stop.”

[00:23:51] “I’m trying to pass on the mentorship skills to other people. It doesn’t come naturally.”

Spotlight

[00:30:29] Django’s spotlight is Penpot.
[00:31:09] Marie’s spotlight is Outreachy.
[00:32:05] Memo’s spotlight is Metalabel.

Credits

Produced by Richard Littauer
Edited by Paul M. Bahr at Peachtree Sound
Show notes by DeAnn Bahr Peachtree Sound
Monica Ahyens-Madon
Ruth Ikegah
Amy Marrich
Leslie Hawthorne
Karen Hixson

Special Guest: Marie Nordin.