Launching the ADA initiative

The Ada Initiative is a non-profit organization dedicated to increasing participation of women in open technology and culture, which includes open source software, Wikipedia and other open data, and open social media. Co-founders Mary Gardiner and Valerie Aurora each have ten years of experience in open source software, open social media, and women in computing activism with groups like Geek Feminism, Systers, and LinuxChix. The Ada Initiative is focused on helping women get careers in open technology through recruitment and training programs for women, education for community members who want to help women, and working with corporations and projects to improve their outreach to women.

For more on our programs, see our projects and services pages for more information.

The Ada Initiative supports the work of women in open source, open data, and other open technology and culture organizations, like Geek Feminism and Women & Mozilla. The Ada Initiative is not a replacement, competitor, or umbrella organization for these groups, and does not represent the women in open technology movement as a whole. The founders of the Ada Initiative are past or present members of several of these groups, but the Ada Initiative is a separate organization. We deeply value the work these groups are doing and will continue to collaborate and partner with them.

The Ada Initiative is named for Countess Ada Lovelace, widely acknowledged as the world’s first computer programmer. She is also the world’s first woman open source programmer