Announcing Alfred P. Sloan Foundation award to advance The Carpentries Equity and Inclusion goals for training researchers of color.

It has been exactly two years since the release of The Carpentries Equity, Inclusion, and Accessibility Roadmap. Over the last two years we have:

• improved the way we operate and engage with communities around the world
• developed accessible pathways for community contribution
• supported infrastructure for lesson development in non-English languages
• improved Membership onboarding to include strategies for equity and inclusion
• launched the Community Facilitators program to support community belonging

We have much more to do to support our diverse community, and to live up to our vision of being the leading inclusive community teaching data and coding skills. What we know from experience is that achieving equity takes intentionality and deep collaboration. For that reason, we have pursued grant funding to advance our equity and inclusion goals.

I am delighted to share that The Carpentries has been awarded an 18-month grant to collaborate with a group of U.S.-based professional organisations to run Carpentries workshops, increase the number of certified Instructors who are Latinx, Black, and Indigenous, and develop culturally-relevant training for data literacy and computational skills. We are extremely grateful to the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation for supporting this essential work.

Grant Activities

The Carpentries will partner with four U.S.-based organisations serving Black, Latinx, and Indigenous researchers: the National Association of Multicultural Engineering Program Advocates (NAMEPA), the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), the National GEM Consortium (GEM), and the Society for Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). This partnership will enable us to bring diverse perspectives to research through training in foundational coding skills. Our approach will inform evidence-based and culturally responsive teaching in open education.

Creation of an Equity Council

To advise on the implementation of this program, we will establish an Equity Council. The council will be composed of 1-2 persons per partner organization, one member of The Carpentries Executive Council, and 2-3 Core Team members. The establishment of an Equity Council is one step toward achieving goal #2 in The Carpentries strategic plan for 2020-2025: Intentionally incorporate equity, inclusion, and accessibility to support a diverse community. We will use this work as a template to create similar efforts across our community to understand equity and inclusion needs beyond those in the U.S.

Intended Outcomes.

Our grant term begins 1 July 2021 and runs through 31 December 2022. As always, stay tuned to learn more about the work of the Equity Council, and the impact we are making in communities of color. Through this work, The Carpentries will:

• Train 100-120 Black, Latinx, and Indigenous researchers from institutions across the U.S. in foundational coding skills for conducting efficient, open, and reproducible research.
• Increase the diversity of The Carpentries Instructor community.
• Develop and implement equity and inclusion metrics for data skills training.
• Develop robust learning objectives for an Instructor Training module on culturally responsive teaching.

We cannot and will not complete this work without your support. We invite you to get in touch to share any resources you would like the Equity Council to be aware of that would support this work.