TL;DR - if my work in open source has helped you in some way, which supports women in open technology and culture. Not convinced yet? Here's why I donated.

There's a world out there to patch. I love the universe of open technology and culture where I've built much of my career and friendships. It's a wonderful world that can be wide and welcoming -- but it also has along with many more that haven't been reported out of fear and shame. I've lived a few not-so-good stories myself; some I've told, some I haven't. What saddens me most, though, isn't the bad stories that have happened; it's the good ones that never will -- stories of women and men working together to hack the universe in marvelous ways. If we want to see these stories happen, we've got to make a world where they can happen, a world where it's safe for them to happen. Don't WONTFIX that ticket; do something. When you care about something, you want to make it better.

We change the world with millions of tiny patches. I'm a grad student; money is tight, and my $64 contribution represents half a month of groceries. I was initially ashamed of my "tiny" contribution, even if it's a nontrivial one for me. Then I remembered: our world of open technology and culture is built one patch, one line, one edit at a time -- and that's precisely why it's powerful. It brings billions of tiny, ordinary moments together to transform the world. If we teach it for our code, we can preach it for our giving. If you'd buy me a drink, or treat an open source newcomer to dinner, send that $3-$20 to the Ada Initiative tonight.

Someone's got to integrate these patches into a whole... and it'd be nice if they didn't burn out in the process. Honestly? I support the Ada Initiative because it does this work so I don't have to. I'm young and energetic, but I'm often wiped out just being a woman in open technology and culture. It's not just physical and mental exhaustion; it's emotional and psychological, which is worse. And being an activist is harder still. Do I agree with everything the Ada Initiative says or does? Nope. But it's a job I want done, and I don't want the job. This is why we hire maintainers for Free Software; we give them the gift of bandwidth so they can help us contribute more for a project with less effort by supporting and connecting our patches with the bigger picture. Val and Mary are good maintainers for feminism in our open universe -- and I'd like more. After all, it's a big world out there that we've got to work on.

The last day of their fund drive is tomorrow. (I'm coming late to the game; summer travel + school year start + RSI = no internet for Mel.) But it wasn't too late for me to throw in my $64 patch this morning -- and it's not too late for you to contribute your patch today. If my work in open technology and culture has touched, helped, or inspired you in some way, please help me pay it forward and create a supportive, welcoming environment for everyone in the open world.