I do have a large part of the answer formulated, but as it involves the community, ultimately it has to be a collaborative process.
The first part would be to make the meanings and terms clear enough for meaningful engagement.
Let me clarify that: I take “marginalized” groups to fall under 2 main categories.
- “Self-Identifying”: The “feeling” of not-belonging somewhere, not being accepted easily. That’s a general, but real, category. It is mostly transient, meaning it can last a certain period of time.
- The “socially excluded” people. Some examples would be, depending on locality and culture: Immigrants, unemployed, of divergent sexual or religious orientation, people with disabilities…This category is more resilient and permanent in time.
The second part is setting up general purposes and targets. What we hope to be achieved. The “goal”.
- Community membership and engagement. Attracting more people in the community.
- Promotion of “Ubuntu”
The third part is to break it up in meaningful engagement actions. They don’t have to be big, or costly, I would suspect that if everything is done in good faith and spirit, that they would most likely be free (time consuming perhaps).
Let me clarify that a bit further:
An “action” would be something that has a positive impact. That is
a. It promotes awareness of “Ubuntu” as an inclusive place. Publicity can be requested (for example a simple logo created and promoted i.e. by YouTubers, or Podasters, can go a long way.
b. It offers a technical solution to a real problem. In this case a “solution” could be a software-based solution, an application created, a feature added, or a service proposed. Different group organizations can be contacted, information collected and processed, and suggestions presented. For example, a questionnaire can be created as a means of collecting information.
c. It could also simply be the “feeling” of being accepted, or included by a group.
d. Another type of action could be “practical”. Take for example being in a space station and having limited resources. People can learn to use these resources in a more productive way. It could be a school with many students, but few resources (suggestions could be made on how to best utilize them)
They would also have the ability to attract funding and investment, if done let’s say under EU projects. But essentially this is both a marketing, or part of, strategy and promoting real values in a meaningful environment. What this mainly involves is that under the umbrella of technology, and software, everyone has a place and is accepted. If we are about software, development, and growth…what’s the problem ? The community can handle that framework.
I hope that it is clear enough to serve as a starting point. I can elaborate more on specifics, but it would turn it into a more personal direction at this stage.
