This is a part of the Mindshare Elections Interviews series. Voting is open to all Fedora contributors. The voting period starts on Thursday, 28 May and closes promptly at 23:59:59 UTC on Thursday, 11 June.

Interview with Maria Leandro

  • Fedora account: tatica
  • IRC nick: tatica (found in fedora-social – fedora-latam – fedora-ambassadors – fedora-design – fedora-diversity – fedora-women – and several others bridged on telegram now)
  • Fedora user wiki page

Questions

Is there a specific task or issue you think that Mindshare should address this term?

Contributors burnout. Tho usually all communities plan on grow on each term, truth is that, without a solid, happy and efficient base, new contributors wouldn’t find solid ground to join the community, won’t find motivated mentors and the drop off numbers would increase faster than the join.

Understanding what keeps contributors motivated, what are their current needs and find good incentives to keep them engaged in their tasks, will definitely attract new members, the way that has always been and should. Our “people person” programs (ambassadors, design, marketing, documentation, translation, etc) need to work as a gear instead as separated teams. Fedora has always a been a huge family, and that approach + the technical level of their members, is what makes us a welcoming and inviting community for new contributors.

Please elaborate on the personal “Why” which motivates you to be a candidate for Mindshare.

My biggest motivation has always been to provide as much help as I can. I could name some reasons that I believe could make me a good fit for this role, but the biggest one would be people’s trust. It’s the nomination itself what puts me on the scope for this role and what makes me think that contributors and members of Fedora are the ones that think I could be a good fit for it.

Understanding people, be willing to listen, enjoying the diversity and helping people shine are my main motivations inside this community and has always been. “An old fox” who seems to still be useful and motivated to help as a gear piece to make the full motor work as one. I do believe that the simpler the better, however, sometimes having too many “simple” process can also be overwhelming.

What are your thoughts on the impact (as an individual and then as a Mindshare group) that the group will have on the Fedora Mission?

Just as FAmSCo was at their time, Mindshare role (as a team and as their individuals) is to facilitate and incentive the work of the members of the community with solid strategies that help spread, understand and grow the team. Having individuals who care about the general health of the human assets in a community is a “must” that has to grow, evolve and always be willing to keep the community working as a one.

On a more personal level, since I’ve worked for the past 12 years as member of different teams (design, marketing, diversity, translation, LATAM, women, etc) can probably give a wider input on the diversity that surrounds our community, probably helping expanding the general view and with it, expanding the options for better solutions to common and difficult issues that our community is facing currently and might face in the future.