Katherine speaks with Demetris Cheatham, the Chief of Staff to the CEO of GitHub, about her unique perspective on the open source landscape. The discussion covers her experiences in various sectors and the impactful 'All In' project created to elevate developers from underrepresented backgrounds. They highlight the significance of community, the power of relationships, and the pivotal role of natural language and AI in making coding more accessible globally. The talk also addresses critical challenges like the digital divide, funding for diversity programs, and the importance of evolving diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts in tech.
00:00 Introduction
00:26 Connecting Through Open Source
02:02 Role and Responsibilities at GitHub
05:06 Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives
09:16 Challenges in Computer Science Education
12:51 Equity and Systemic Change
16:21 The Journey to a Billion Developers
24:07 Building Relationships in Open Source
31:37 Final Thoughts and Takeaways
Sitting on GitHub’s Executive Leadership team, Demetris Cheatham is currently the Chief of Staff for the CEO of GitHub, where she acts as the CEO’s trusted partner to move all of software development forward. Demetris is particularly passionate about the evolving nature of open source in the age of AI. Before her time as COS to the CEO, Demetris was Senior Director for Diversity, Inclusion and Belonging Strategy at GitHub, the Global Diversity and Inclusion at Lead at Red Hat, and was the first woman and youngest Executive Director to lead the National Bar Association, the United States’ oldest and largest international network of over 65,000 predominantly African-American attorneys and judges.