Making Space for Diverse Mappers

Alyssa Wright, MapZen
Wednesday 15:00 - 16:00
Session 3, Track 0, Slot 1

Diverse communities provide the space for different points of view to find voice. Historically open source communities have balanced the contribution of various perspectives and expertises. We are often industry examples of remote cultural collaboration. But the nature of collaboration is changing, where diversity must stretch further across geographies to foster a wider scope of difference. One that includes the other sides of privileged space. In this session, I will present on why ideological diversity can be at the forefront of community structures by introducing three personal cornerstones – Mapzen, Maptime, and GeoNYC. This interactive session highlights how embracing a range of cultural perspectives and technical expertise allows communities to create the unexpected. We’ll review success and challenges while performing our own mini GeoNYC complete with 3-word introductions and mapping fun.