Open Source Sustainability & Philanthropy: Building Contributor Communities

© 2024 Bloomberg Finance L.P. All rights reserved.
Open Source Sustainability
& Philanthropy: Building
Contributor Communities
All Things Open
October 28, 2024
Devpriya Dave | Software Engineer, Electronic Trading
Alyssa Wright | Open Source Program Office, CTO Office

Is Open Source an individual
or community action?

This talk is about creating a community
for open source volunteer contribution.

Agenda
04
Scaling Our Responsibility
Our Collective Call to Action!
03
Sustaining Open Source Initiative
An Open Source + Philanthropy Partnership
02
Open Source as Community
Open Source is a Team Sport
01
Open Source First
Collaboration fuels Innovation

Hi! I’m Alyssa.
Business Innovation
Open Source
Public Good

01
TL;DR: We love
open source
Open Source First
Open source accelerates our
product innovation

Open Source is Our Business
Open source is critical
to our software
development process
Critical
2
Significant parts of our
products utilize open
source software
Ubiquitous
1
Our customers rely on
infrastructure dependent
on open source
Infrastructure
4
Open source is based
on a collaborative way
of working together
Community
3

The question is not whether to use open
source...
…but how to create a culture of open
source collaboration and innovation?
Open Source is
is Unavoidable
Open Source
is Unavoidable

Open Source is a Journey
Consumption
Leadership
Contribution
Participation
Ibrahim Haddad, Ph.D.
A Close Look at Open Source Program Offices: Structure, Roles and Responsibilities

Open Source is a Culture of Contribution
Moving Beyond Consumption
Sustaining Open Source
Vote
Puts decisions about vital funding to
support open source maintainers in
Bloomberg’s employees’ hands
FOSS Contributor Fund
Support
Open source foundations play
a vital role in securing resources and
providing long-term governance
for critical digital infrastructure
Open Source Foundations
Contribute
Individual open source contributions
(hours) are converted into charitable
donations to nonprofits ($$)
Employee Giving
Collaborate
Promote the long-term sustainability of
OSS by partnering with foundations on
team volunteer programs
Employee Volunteering

Tools Alone Do Not Suffice!

Shift the focus from use to responsibility.
Open Source is
is Unavoidable
Collective
Responsibility

Vote
Support
Collaborate
Contribute
Employee Giving

Open Source Dollars For Your Hours
Volunteer Hours
Employees give time to an eligible open source project of their choice.
1
Give Dollars
Corporate Philanthropy matches volunteer time
with a financial contribution for charitable giving.
2
Sustain a Open Source as a Public Good
By contributing time AND money, Open Source Dollars For Your Hours
helps sustain open source for the greater public good.
3

Why we match volunteer hours to open source contribution
I want to share the story of someone well-known in the Python community –
my fellow Bloomberg engineer, Stephanie Stattel.
Each year, Stephanie performs 50 hours of community service and
volunteering. At the end of the year – because of Bloomberg’s Dollars For
Your Hours matching program – Bloomberg was able to donate $5,000 on
her behalf to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation – a cause near and dear to
her and her family.
Over the course of many years, she has had more than $50K donated to
the Foundation through his program!

Coming together as
a community
to contribute to open source.

Vote
Support
Contribute
Employee Giving
Collaborate
Collaborate

01
Tl;dr: We love
open source
Open Source First
product innovation
02
Together, we
build
Open Source as Community
Technology is also people

HI! I’m Dev.
Bloomberg Women in Tech (BWIT)
Philanthropy Community
Engineer
Inclusive Champion

Why Community Matters To Me
Shared Purpose
02
Find Others
05
Resilience & Support
04
Personal Growth
03
Belonging
01

Think of open source as a
community of people.

Social
Impact
Innovation
Growth
Belonging
Knowledge
Trust
01
02
03
04
05
06
Why Community Matters To Open Source

Social
Impact
Innovation
Growth
Belonging
Knowledge
Trust
01
02
03
04
05
06 Diverse perspectives fuel creativity:
Open Source thrives on diversity.
Shared goals foster collaboration:
Working toward a common objective, communities
share knowledge, ideas, and resources.
Continuous improvement through feedback
By openly sharing work, communities can identify
areas of improvement and refine solutions.
Community Fuels
Innovation

01
02
03
04
05
06 Community drives project success:
A strong community is vital for the long-term
success of open source projects.
Diverse contributions drives impact
A welcoming and inclusive community attracts new
contributors, expanding reach and impact.
Diverse feedback drive innovation
Diverse user engagement provides valuable
insights, ensuring a project meets evolving needs.
Community Drives
Growth
Social
Impact
Innovation
Growth
Belonging
Knowledge
Trust

01
02
03
04
05
06
Social
Impact
Innovation
Growth
Belonging
Knowledge
Trust
Learning by doing
Open source projects offer hands-on experience.
Mentorship and knowledge transfer:
Experienced developers guide newcomers,
fostering growth.
Skills enhancement
Diverse projects broaden skill sets and build strong
portfolios.
Community Develops
Personal & Professional
Skills

01
02
03
04
05
06
Social
Impact
Innovation
Growth
Belonging
Knowledge
Trust
Critical building blocks of community.
Open source depends on trust and transparency.
Communities foster trust
Open communication, collaboration, and
accountability are key.
Increased collaboration
Trust and transparency lead to increased
collaboration, innovation, and community
engagement.
Community Builds Trust

01
02
03
04
05
06 Shared purpose
Open source is about relationships and fostering a
sense of purpose.
Stronger together
Communities motivate people to contribute and
support each other.
Increased engagement
When people feel connected, we are more likely to
be – and stay – engaged.
Community Gives Us
Belonging
Social
Impact
Innovation
Growth
Belonging
Knowledge
Trust

01
02
03
04
05
06 Open source for good
Diverse communities can identify and address
global challenges.
Building a better world
Diverse communities come together to build tools
that have global impact.
Inspiring positive change
Open source communities serve as models for
collaboration.
Community Creates
Social Impact
Social
Impact
Innovation
Growth
Belonging
Knowledge
Trust

01
Tl;dr: We love
open source
Open Source First
product innovation
03
Committed
Mentorship for
Sustained
Participation
Sustaining Open Source Initiative
A new framework for supporting
and sustaining open source

Pilot Criteria
6
Incentives
5
Shared Values
4
Community
3 Business Value
2 Mentorship
1
Legal Entity

Pilot Criteria
6
Incentives
5
Shared Values
4
Community
3 Business Value
2 Mentorship
1
Legal Entity
pandas is hosted by NumFOCUS,
a legal entity we can work with!
Mentorship as a partnership.
pandas has community
mentors they could commit to
this initiative and so did we!
pandas matters to Bloomberg.
pandas provides a lot of critical
value to our products and
services.
pandas has a community channel
we could join and learn from.
We care are about diversity,
sustainability and mentorship in
open source. And so does pandas
and NumFOCUS!
The matching of dollars to Open
Source Philanthropy contribution
is an important motivation for our
team!

How was it structured? BWIT Perspective
4
Contribution
Dialogue
5
Feedback &
Iteration
3
Development
Environment
Setup
1
Global
Community
Outreach
2
Work
Sessions

Success Stories
Project Impact
100+ global participants
40+ pull requests created, majority women and
underrepresented
1
Personal Impact
“I've always wanted to try contributing to OS, but
never had that 'push' to get me to do it; this series
was exactly what I needed!”
– Michael Mannino
2
Social Impact
500+ hours contributed!! Employees are now able to
convert their time to charitable donations. pandas was
also awarded a $10K grant from the Bloomberg
FOSS Contributor Fund!
3

“Open source projects … rely on … a large community of contributors, yet struggle to
fulfill the needs of the community …
Through the Bloomberg initiative … contributors was connected directly with some
core maintainers of pandas. This helped community members more efficiently
identify contributions … core maintainers were able to communicate at once with a
large group of volunteers, which streamlines communications and helped draw the most
value out of limited time …
I look forward to [Bloomberg] continuing this program with pandas and other open
source projects in the future.”
– Will Ayd
pandas Core Maintainer
Mentor, Bloomberg Sustaining Open Source Initiative

What Did We Learn?

What We Learned
Take a Leap of Faith
Community can help you be
accountable to more than yourself
It Takes a (Global) Village
Meeting Bloomberg engineers from
around the world
Sharing = Planting Seeds
Talking during work sessions is often
inspiring to peers
Mentors are a Guiding Light
Mentors have shown the path forward
as the community made its contribution

01
Tl;dr: We love
open source
Open Source First
product innovation
04
Find your
framework
Scaling Our Responsibility
Our collective responsibility to
support and sustain open source
infrastructure

Thank you!
● Aram Chung, Bloomberg mentor
● Erik Anderson, Bloomberg mentor
● Leah Silen, Executive Director | NumFOCUS
● Natalia Mokeeva, pandas mentor
● Patrick Hoefler, pandas mentor
● Stefanie Molin, Bloomberg mentor
● Will Ayd, pandas Mentor

This is our framework
Move Beyond Consumption
Vote
FOSS
Contributor Fund
Support
Open Source
Foundations
Contribute
Employee
Giving
Collaborate
Employee
Volunteering

What is yours?

Let’s Talk!
opensource@bloomberg.net

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