Stephanie Morillo‘s (@radiomorillo) keynote speech is Opening Up The Current Open Source Blueprint, on accessibility, diversity, and open source holding itself accountable to its own standards of what it means to be an open community.
She’s a Dominican-American musician, writer, and technologist hailing from the Bronx, New York City. Stephanie frequently writes about race, class, her experiences learning to code, and working in tech. She helps others learn to program, sings melancholic songs, and dreams about well-written documentation because the world needs it.
We asked her a few questions about her insights on open source via email.
What got you into open source?
I got into open source at a conference for women software developers this past winter. I’d been interested in getting involved with OSS but had no idea where to start and felt like my technical skills weren’t strong enough to make a meaningful contribution. In November of 2014, I made my first contribution—line editing copy for a website that shows young kids how to code. But it wasn’t until I attended Write/Speak/Code conference in March that I felt confident enough to use my writing skills to add to an open source project.
Who do you want to reach?
I want to reach techies and non-techies alike with my talk. I want everyone to feel empowered enough to communicate their needs and communicate with others!
What sessions are you excited about?
I’m really excited about the “User Research for Non Researchers” and “Write It Down: Process Documentation From The Ground Up” since they’re both relevant and applicable to my technical writing work.