Stuttering and Speech Diversity

The Stuttering and Speech Diversity Initiative seeks to empower community members with diverse speech abilities to become more active and visible in cloud native and open source. Too often, people who stutter or who speak with atypical patterns encounter barriers, whether through inaccessible tools, biased perceptions, or the pressure to mask their voices. Our goal is to shift that narrative: to create spaces where speech diversity is recognized as part of human diversity, not a limitation.

Our initiative is part of Merge Forward, a Technical Community Group focused on building a cloud native community where everyone feels welcome, represented, and heard. We aim to highlight the experiences of contributors with speech differences, advocate for accessibility in events and tooling, and provide resources that encourage authentic participation without fear of stigma.

Do you stutter, clutter, experience speech blocks, live with apraxia or dysarthria, or sometimes find speaking in certain spaces difficult, like with selective mutism? Or maybe you're an ally, passionate about fostering a thriving open source community where everyone is welcome. Join our effort!

How to join

• CNCF Slack channel: #stutterring-and-speech-diveristy

• Stay connected: "Join" this group above to receive updates

Why a Stuttering and Speech Diversity Initiative?

In any community, if you don't see individuals "like you" thriving in a particular field, it can be difficult to envision a path for yourself. Without visible representation, they may not even know that such opportunities exist.

To cultivate greater representation for all communities, we must establish pathways that enable individuals with specific disabilities to enter the cloud native and open source space. By paving the way for a critical mass of people with speech impediments to succeed in these fields, we can inspire and empower them to become role models within their own communities. In turn, these role models will serve as catalysts, motivating a new generation of engineers to join them on this journey.

Our goal is to foster a more welcoming and vibrant tech community, where everyone has the opportunity to contribute their unique perspectives and talents.

Our goals

• Empower individuals who stutter or have a speech impediment to become more visible members within the cloud native community

• Build a community of stutterers and speech diverse individuals to network, learn from, and support each other

• Empower individuals with diverse speech patterns, including those who stutter, clutter, experience speech blocks, or have other speech differences, to become more visible and active members within the cloud native and open source communities.

• Build a supportive and connected community of people with speech differences where members can network, share experiences, exchange knowledge, and learn from one another.

• Raise awareness and drive inclusion in cloud native spaces by advocating for accessibility, equitable participation, and recognition of speech diversity as part of broader community diversity initiatives.

• Create mentorship and growth opportunities that help people with speech differences develop leadership, technical, and community skills while providing pathways to contribute meaningfully to open source projects.

• Amplify voices and experiences by sharing stories, resources, and best practices to inspire allies and normalize speech diversity in tech environments.

Leads

• Lead: Onyedikachi Hope Amaechi-Okorie