Hola! My name is Yuli from Mexico, i´m frontend engineering, i joined as Reps in year 2016, I am a volunteer since 2014. Currently I participate as a TechSpeaker, and I’ve participated in some firefox campaigns, with my local community. I am part of Women Who Wode Mexico City, where we create activities so that more women get involved in STEM.
What is, in your own view, the Mozilla Reps program’s biggest strength and weakness?
Strength: The program has a lot of potential and a great reach within the community, it can reach commited people who then acquire responsibility and manage to position themselves as local referents; the people who become Reps are moved for the pleasure of wanting to contribute to something they believe in, and offer their talent and dedication to the cause, which allows to have true leaders who can empower more people within Mozilla.
Weakness: Disorientation, sometimes one does not know what to do or how to participate, this is a common problem that as Reps we should work to solve. To take the role of a guide and help other volunteers grow within the community should be a role that every rep should play, but that something that doesn’t happen often. Being a Rep is more to just hold the title, it is our duty to take care of the community and help it grow with its members.
Identify something that is currently not working well in the Mozilla Reps program and which you think could be easy to fix. How would you approach a possible fix?
Mozilla changes constantly, there are so many projects that dissapear or start that makes it hard to be up to date. We have information to create new events or to publicize product launches, but, what happens after that? Without continuity we can’t engage or make new active collaborating members.
We have OKRs and we know our objectives, we just need to create a plan of how the community can help to achieve those goals.
What are the top three issues you want the Council to address in case you get elected? Why? How would you approach these issues?
Reps training
Although at this time to integrate as a new member to the Reps program, you need to take a series of webinars and a few extra steps, the program forgets the reps that are already registered on it. That’s why I see necesary to have a constant and continuous training program for these representants who have been giving their time to the organization. This would help to keep them updated and always be up to date on the new objectives of Mozilla, or how could they can integrate to new projects.
Reactivation
Work with the reps, obtaining information by region on the problems and situation in which their local community is located, and be able to create initiatives for the reactivation of members.
Visibility
Visibility program for reps and volunteers. The rep program of the month is good, but sometimes the vote can be won by who has more friends, is better known or the big community, there are communities that are very small and these people may not have the opportunity to become a rep of the month, work in a gamification program based on your reports and work.
How do you believe you can support regional community health? - Can this be applied to Reps program too?
Teamwork, all communities need a mentor to achieve our goals, this mentor becomes the person who motivates the community to continue participating. It is not necessary that it be only one, in the local community roles should be assigned among the reps that become the mentors of those areas and can help the process of onbording for new volunteers.
What are the specific qualities and skills that you have that you think will help you be an effective Council member?
I do not have the experience of having been in a council before, what I can contribute is:
Diversity and inclusion: Working with women who code and the cohort women and open source, I have learned to work to create a more inclusive community, both with members and in the events that we organize.
Process for resolving conflicts: After going through some unfortunate events, I took on the task of investigating and seeing how we can avoid this type of conflicts within the communities and the follow-up that occurs with the people involved.
Mentor: In my time as a volunteer, I have enjoyed working closely with the community with the intention of helping and guiding new people; knowing that i can help them to collaborate and grow within Mozilla fills me and makes me feel useful within the community. I think I have good ability to listen to people, guide them and help them find solutions to their problems, if I do not have the experience to solve it, I know I can guide them with the right person, because I know that the main thing is collaboration and teamwork.
Mobilizer: I like to interact with people, organize activities with the community where I know we can reach more and I love creating alliances with other communities with wich we can work to achieve objectives together on technical or social issues where Mozilla strategically tries to work. I do a good networking and I encourage other mozillians to also become leaders of the projects that they are passionate about, giving them the tools that I have at my disposal and that I know that can make their work easier for them.
Which of your contributions from the past 18 months had the biggest impact on the Reps program on a programmatic level?
I have been collaborating with other local communities that have similar goals to our community.
I have participated with the local community in SUMO campaigns to help respond to users in the playstore.
We participate with the community in the Firefox video figth for you.
Which past achievement as a Rep would you tell your best non-Mozilla friend about?
Create the community of Rust in Mexico, help make the community visible, make the first big workshop and part of the core team de rust was present, it is reason to create the communities of rust in Spanish, now the community of mexico is a big community and active.
Solution :
. I have been a volunteer since 2009, a rep from 2013 and was part of the 6&7th council some time ago (2013-2014).