Open source has widely grown to allow different tech career paths to enhance projects with their skills & provide jobs for those interested in working with open source. Open source contribution programs provide & build interested persons' capacity to become professionals.

Active community participation helps enhance career growth.

Outreachy is a paid and remote internship OS program that empowers, grows talents, and prepares them for career growth. Outreachy provides internships to people subject to systemic bias and impacted by underrepresentation in the technical industry where they are living.

At the end of this session, beginners and persons on the intermediate level will have enough knowledge of how they can build a career in open source; experts will also get more insights on how they can contribute to the advancement of open source contribution by giving back to the community as a mentor helping new contributors understand the open source ecosystem and contribution.

This session aims to empower attendees with different ways to contribute to open source and how the community behind open source can be a tool for their career development and growth.

Community participation is the secret sauce to career growth. I will highlight how to use the community effectively, the skills members can gain, and how to best position oneself for professional career growth in a community.

Open source contribution is one of the easiest ways to build and gain relevant skills needed to make a career. I will give insights on the what, why, and steps to achieve this.