Tech is building the future, so it should set the example, right? While it could always do better, the tech industry does do better than some more traditional sectors at attempting diversity and inclusion. And D&I all comes down to the words we choose and the people we call out to make it happen.

In this episode of The New Stack Makers, our Founder & Publisher Alex Williams talks to two women who’ve taken non-traditional paths to the tech industry. This episode features Kate Milligan, who went from selling mobile phones to global ISV alliance manager for DevOps at Red Hat, and Sara E. Davila, who journeyed from the oil and gas industry to senior manager of partner marketing at GitLab.

They dive into how they’ve witnessed an embracing — and lack — of inclusive language and actions and how GitLab and Red Hat are proactively contributing to a more inclusive future. After all, the core values of open source collaboration should be core to any future.

“In a COVID world, the key to success or, you know, what’s really driving digital transformation, is communication,” Davila said, “just really open, transparent and honest communication.”

While we are all in kind of a holding pattern of tentative re-emergence, we are also all sharing in virtual fatigue. What started out as a novelty of online sharing and learning back in March and April has become, as summer closes, what Davila calls “an over-saturation of webinars.”