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Outreachy is a paid, remote internship program that helps people traditionally underrepresented in tech make their first contributions to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) communities.

What is Free and Open Source Software?

Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is software that gives the user the freedom to use, copy, study, change, and improve it. There are many Free and Open Source Software licenses under which software can be released.

FOSS contributors work together publicly to build this software. FOSS contributors believe that this is the best way to develop software because it creates a fun collaborative community around a project. Developing software publicly allows anyone to make innovative changes that reach many people.

FOSS contributors do various things: software development, system administration, user interface design, graphic design, documentation, community management, marketing, identifying issues and reporting bugs, helping users, event organization, and translations.

Many people work on FOSS in their spare time, but many contributors are employed by companies and non-profit organizations, including ones that are sponsoring this program!  Experience with FOSS is highly valuable in the professional world because employers can see public contributions and a history of collaboration that will give them confidence when making hiring decisions.

Why Apply to Outreachy?

Outreachy provides an opportunity for an online collaborative environment for learning, and remote mentoring with experienced FOSS contributors, many of whom are employed to work with free and open source software. The Outreachy travel stipend gives interns a chance to network with their community, give their first public tech talk, look for a job, or learn new skills.

But don't take our word for it! Here's what some of our past Outreachy interns have to say about our program:

Blog posts with tips for applying to internship programs:
Outreachy internships were inspired in many ways by Google Summer of Code. By having a program targeted specifically towards people traditionally underrepresented in tech, we reached talented and passionate participants, who were uncertain about how to get started in open source. We hope this effort will help many people learn how exciting, varied and valuable work on FOSS projects can be and how inclusive the community really is. This program is a welcoming link that will connect you with people working on individual projects in various FOSS organizations and guide you through your first contribution.

How to Apply

We're so excited to have you apply! The application process for Outreachy is longer than most internship applications, so we highly encourage applicants to start their application at least 2-3 weeks before the Outreachy application deadline. The application process consists of five steps:

1. Make sure you're eligible to apply for Outreachy. We have strict eligibility rules for people who are students, so it's important that you confirm you're eligible.

2. Pick 1-2 projects. Look at the proposed projects and pick 1-2 projects that look interesting to you. There will be more information on each community's landing page, including community chat channels and mentor contact information if you need to ask questions about the projects. You will need to complete the eligibility check and be eligible to apply in order to see project details.

3. Make small, consistent contributions to the project(s) you've chosen. Each project will have a set of tasks for you to complete to see if you like working on the project. It's less important that you make a big, last minute contribution, and more important that you're in contact with the mentors, asking questions, and sending small contributions at a steady pace.  Only applicants that make at least one contribution, record that contribution on the Outreachy website, and submit a final application will be able eligible to be accepted as an intern. We find that the strongest applicants make multiple contributions throughout the application process, including after the application deadline.

4. Record in-progress contributions on the Outreachy website. You'll need to go to the community landing page linked from the projects listing page. Then click the 'Record Contribution' button. Add links and descriptions to your contributions and the project timeline before the application deadline. You can always go back and edit your recorded contributions. A contribution doesn't have to be merged or accepted to be recorded.

5. Complete your final application. You'll need to go to the community landing page linked from the projects listing page. Then click the 'Update Contributions and and Apply to This Project' button below the project you want to apply for. You will need to submit a final application to each project you've made a contribution to. The button to add the final application will only appear once you have recorded at least one contribution. Also, when applying for May internship rounds, check if there is an opportunity to apply for Google Summer of Code with the same project and complete an application for it as well.

Application process next step: (1/5) Check Eligibility

Copyright © 2018 Outreachy

Free to share and remix: Creative Commons CC-BY, except for the individual organization logos, which are property of their respective owners, and any pictures with additional creative commons attributions.

The Outreachy website is built with Django, Wagtail, bootstrap and deployed with Dokku. The code is licensed GPL v3 and can be found on github.

This program and all offers related to it are void where prohibited or restricted by law or where operation of the program would violate any law or right. All participants in the program must agree to the terms and conditions of the program which will be provided to the selected applicants.

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