What is RailsBridge?

RailsBridge puts on technology workshops as a free and fun way to get started or level up with Rails, Ruby, and other web technologies. Our events focus on increasing diversity in tech, so that people of all backgrounds can feel welcome and comfortable in our industry.

We teach people to code because we believe that the people making technology should accurately reflect the diversity of those using it. We want to push for all kinds of diversity in tech: gender, race, sexual orientation, ability, and class. We value acceptance, enthusiasm, and hard work. The RailsBridge community thrives on optimism and a love for making great things.

We Want You!

We have one immediate opening, and two more open board positions beginning June 1st. Start dates are flexible, but we’re hoping to have some overlap between outgoing and incoming board members, so new members might invited to join as soon as April.

You might enjoy working on the RailsBridge board if:

• You enjoy big-picture thinking, but also really like getting things done.
• You want to help increase communication between RailsBridge chapters and reduce volunteer burnout across the whole organization.
• You care about creating sustainable processes to keep the RailsBridge board effective beyond your tenure.

Although there are no financial expectations to join the board, we do ask that you meet the following criteria:

• You have organized or participated in at least 2 prior RailsBridge workshops
• You’re excited to understand and help improve our mission and strategies, policies and programs, strengths and needs.
• You can actively participate in the board and are able to chair or co-chair one committee.
• You can attend a minimum of three quarters of board meetings per year.

The board is currently made up of four women, but we are definitely happy to have new board members of any gender identity! We’re also looking for people with a wide variety of experiences and backgrounds, so even if you haven’t been involved with RailsBridge for years and years, we’d love to hear from you if you think you’d be able to make a positive impact.

RailsBridge Board

RailsBridge’s continued success depends on the personal commitment and active involvement of our board members who are advocates and enthusiastic communicators of the organization’s mission and vision. Our current board is made up of 4 people: Lillie Chilen, Sarah Mei, Rachel Myers, and Bianca Rodrigues.

What does the board do?

The current iteration of the RailsBridge board got started during the summer of 2014, and officially announced its existence in January 2015. Since then, we’ve worked on a wide variety of projects, including:

• Working with our parent organization, Bridge Foundry, to establish a better expense reimbursement process for organizers and volunteers;
• Establishing committees and recruiting volunteers to work on important cross-chapter functions, including Finance, Chapter Outreach, and Fundraising;
• Commissioning a new logo for RailsBridge;
• Creating the RailsBridge Advisory Board, so that a larger group of dedicated volunteers could advise the board;
• and importantly, figuring out how to work effectively as a distributed, busy team of volunteers.

How does the board work?

In addition to our monthly meetings, we have a monthly Slack check-in, where we discuss ongoing projects and make decisions. Asynchronously, we communicate primarily via a private Slack channel within the Bridge Foundry Slack org, and also through email.

We have an annual board retreat during the North American summer, where we reflect on our past efforts and make plans for RailsBridge for the next year.

Join us!

If you’re interested in joining the board, please fill out our Board Application form. If you know of someone who would be a good addition to the board, please share this post with them.

Lastly, please pass this post along to your RailsBridge community — we’d love to consider candidates beyond the current board’s networks! Thank you so much for your help in spreading the word.

 

 

We’re excited to announce that Nicole Amos and Sharon Siegel have joined the newly formed Chapter Committee. They are joined by existing RailsBridge Board members Ana Castro and Bianca Rodrigues.

This group will streamline the process of starting a new chapter as and manage our existing chapters as we continue to expand throughout the world. We’ll be sharing more information on proposed changes in the next few weeks and months.

In the meantime, please read on below to learn more about our rad new volunteers!

NICOLE AMOS is an Operations Analyst and recent bootcamp graduate from Atlanta, GA. She loves the idea of facilitating complex issues between software engineers and business analysts. For the past six months, she has been getting acquainted with her local tech scene and spreading praise of programming to all who will listen. She is looking forward to learning more about Ruby by teaching new students.

Nicole spends her spare time watching movies with subtitles, dragging her two two daughters to tech meetups and sampling as many flavors of small batch ice cream every place she visits.

SHARON SIEGEL is a teaching assistant at Skillcrush where she helps students with various programming topics and languages. She loves challenges and learning new things. She is also a Chapter Leader of Girl Develop It Fort Collins. It was through Girl Develop It where she first learned of RailsBridge. She is passionate about education and tech and is excited to help the growing RailsBridge community.

When she’s not coding or learning something, you can find her reading a good book, playing board games, or taking walks with her dogs. You can tweet her at @acodeinprogress or connect with her on LinkedIn.