Open Source Community Africa (OSCA) was created in 2018 because there was a need for an inclusive and diverse community for open-source, contributors, creators, and enthusiasts in Africa. We knew that open source was incredible and would have a positive impact on the African ecosystem. So we decided that our goal for OSCA would be to increase the rate of credible contributions and creation of open source projects by African software developers, designers, writers, and every other relevant technologists both locally and globally thereby changing the perception from just the billion users to the NEXT BILLION CREATORS.
To achieve this goal, we recognized that we couldn’t reach everyone in all the countries in Africa or the different local tech communities in each country. So we decided to create a Chapter Leads community program, where selected community builders will create, grow and support vibrant local OSCA communities in Africa. Our Chapter Leads, represent a global network of organizers responsible for growing and supporting vibrant local OSCA communities across cities in Africa.
Quick Recap of #OSCACLS24
After years of dreaming and months of planning, we hosted our first Chapter Leads Summit (#OSCACLS24) to equip our Chapter Leads to fulfil their responsibilities even more, share new changes to the program, and help them build deeper team connections amongst each other. With 30+ chapters in nine countries across South, East, and West Africa, we brought almost all of them together with help from our amazing partners. The event was a success as you can see from the happy faces in the pictures below :).
The event was anchored by the Community Managers of Open Source Community Africa (Bolaji Ayodeji and Edidiong Asikpo) and started with a special welcome message from the co-founders of Open Source Community Africa (Samson Goddy and Ada Oyom).
Up next was a keynote speech from the wonderful Juan Pa (Student Program Manager at GitHub Education) who reminded the OSCA Chapter Leads how important the work they do is, the value of building computer science related communities, the complexities of building communities, useful tips from his years and wealth of experience, and lots more!
We also had another keynote speech from Adewale Abati (Staff Developer Advocate at Block and Creator the MadeInNigeria project) who also reminded the OSCA Chapter Leads how important the work they do is, how his career journey grew due to the efforts of communities like OSCA Chapters, and why they should keep doing even more!
We also had one of the Chapter Lead Alumni's, Velda Kiara from Nairobi, Kenya, give a talk from her previous experience leading an OSCA Chapter on how Chapter Leads can improve their strategy to find local and international partners.
We then had more deep dive sessions on topics like:
New changes the program and operational reminders.
Challenges that the Chapter Lead's face to create impact in terms of OSCA’s vision.
Building open source projects in their communities that solves a local problem.
How their community can leverage more on open source and contributions.
How they can motivate their community members to be more active in open source.
There were other team bonding activities, community building and diversity and inclusion interactive sessions, brainstorming sessions, feedback sessions, Q/A sessions, good food, and lot's more!
Conclusion
The OSCA Chapter Leads Summit 2024 was definitely a success and we look forward to even more in the coming years. In the coming months we will also be showcasing more success stories and the impact of these amazing chapters through our directory and on our different platforms. If you'd like to find and join an OSCA Chapter near you, do well to join our community Discord server and we will connect you.
While we're not ready to start a new batch of the Chapter Leads program, we are slowly expanding the program across African countries where we have less representation to ensure we can help more people leverage open source for the good of their careers and the world at large. So if you are in a country in North, South, and East Africa where open source literacy and development is low, and you have the relevant experience to lead a group of people with shared struggles, please ensure to reach out to us; we'll like to talk to you. Cheers! 🧡
