A couple of weeks ago, I had the honour of representing the Eclipse Foundation at OSCAFest 2025 in Lagos, Nigeria, where I spoke at the Women in Open Source Brunch on August 16, 2025. This was not only my first public presentation, but also a milestone moment: the first time the Eclipse Foundation sponsored an African open source conference. Alongside three of my colleagues, I was deeply proud to represent our Foundation’s commitment to building bridges with the Global South, a region that is shaping the future of open source with energy, creativity, and community. This sponsorship represents a big step forward in our global journey, and I am grateful to have contributed to it in such a personal way.
To open my talk, I chose to honour three inspiring women whose stories continue to shape technology and inspire resilience:
- Ada Lovelace, the world’s first computer programmer who imagined the possibilities of programmable machines in the 1800s.
- Katherine Johnson, the brilliant NASA mathematician who broke barriers and calculated the trajectories that took humanity to space.
- Nadia Aimé, a Kenyan-born cybersecurity expert at Microsoft whose journey from homelessness to tech leadership proves that resilience, courage, and curiosity matter more than titles or degrees.
Their legacies remind us that women have always been at the heart of technology, even when history has not always recognised it.
As someone who does not write code, I shared my personal journey of working in tech for the past decade, from event operations and marketing to now leading the global events team at the Eclipse Foundation. My message to the audience was simple: you don’t need to be a coder to belong in open source. Open source thrives because of the diverse contributions of people who promote projects, design experiences, translate content, organise events, or simply share their stories. Every act of participation strengthens the community, and every voice matters.
One of the most powerful insights we shared at OSCAFest came from our State of Open Source in the Global South Report. While globally only 14% of contributors are women, in the Global South the number rises to 34%, proving that Africa and other parts of the Global South are leading the way in representation and inclusion. This higher participation is not only inspiring but also vital: it shows that open source diversity is possible when opportunities and community support are accessible.
This was reflected in the number of women who attended OSCAFest. In Europe, it is still rare to see such strong female representation at open source conferences, but in Lagos the energy was different. Women were not only present, they were active, visible, and leading important conversations about open source. As a European woman, this was deeply inspiring for me to witness, and it reinforced how much we can learn from the Global South when it comes to inclusion and participation.
Standing in that room filled with over 100 women in Lagos, I felt humbled by the incredible feedback I received from participants and proud to represent the Eclipse Foundation’s values of openness, diversity, and collaboration. OSCAFest was more than just a conference; it was a celebration of how open source connects us across cultures, languages, and continents.
You can view or download my presentation from OSCAFest.
I am grateful for the chance to be part of this journey and even more determined to continue supporting our global community, especially in regions where open source is driving both innovation and empowerment.
At OSCAFest, I reminded the audience of a truth that I hold close: “You are not just the future. You are the present. Open source needs you now.” I look forward to continuing this journey with the Eclipse Foundation, building stronger connections around the world, and inspiring more people, coders and non-coders alike, to join the movement.
