With the completion of the LGBTQ+Press Empowerment Grant, we ran a survey and wanted to share some high level results both for more public accountability and so any future folks who want to run the same or similar program can learn from what we did. The questions below match the questions asked in the survey with 4 out of the 6 grantees responding. I’ve anonymized the results to avoid identification.
What suggestions or ideas do you have to improve the program for the next cohort?
- Announce the grant earlier and to a wider audience.
- Compiled notes or a resource doc from the LGBTQ+ contributor and grantee calls.
Would you recommend folks apply to this LGBTQ+Press Empowerment Grant in the future?
100% said yes.
How did the LGBTQ+Press Empowerment Grant impact your ability to participate in the WordPress mentorship program?
Two folks mentioned the financial help is what allowed them to participate and continue to participate while the other two saw it more as an extra bonus that helped encourage them to do the mentor program now.
Please rate the following opportunities and options to connect.
As part of the program, we had three different “outlets”:
- A private, async contributor channel where folks from the grantee program could opt in to talk with other LGBTQ+ contributors who also opted in to join.
- Two calls with LGBTQ+ contributors and grantees that existed to have more real time communication outside of the async channel.
- A private grantee channel where questions could be asked, resources shared, etc.
With this information in mind, I’ve been reflecting on what we can do differently and have a few things:
- Double check to make sure the survey is properly open for all (I messed this up for a period of time when we first launched).
- Ensure a link is shared once more in the overall mentorship application to help with visibility.
- Find more outlets to share about the grant opportunity in the WordPress space and beyond, since ideally this can bring more folks into contribution in general.
- Hold more calls in more timezones to help folks connect/offer ways to “sign up” to chat with someone.
- Draw clearer lines between what the LGBTQ+ grantee space can provide and the mentorship program (some mentorship questions were asked in the grantee realm).