If you were one of the many women looking forward to attending future rounds of AdaCamp, the popular empowering “unconference” series for women in tech, you’re out of luck: The Ada Iniatiative, a nonprofit networking and support initiative for women in tech, has canceled all future offerings of AdaCamp due to a flurry of staff departures and lack of financial sustainability.
Interim director and Ada Initiative cofounder Valerie Aurora announced on Sunday that the organization had decided to cease running AdaCamps and instead make its toolkit for organizing the meetings open source for anyone who may want to run a kind of AdaClone in the future.
It will reportedly also be shutting down its mailing list and IRC channels.
The announcement comes shortly after the departure of its brand-new executive director Crystal Huff after only two months, and days after the departures of two high-level volunteers. Aurora stated the departures had left the organization “without the capacity to run any more AdaCamps in 2015.” At press time, Huff had not returned a request for comment, and Aurora stated in an email that the organization does not “discuss personnel issues with the press.”
AdaCamp was the most visible project of the Ada Initiative, a series of “unconference” workshops for women working in open-source areas that was largely seen as a vital, empowering space for marginalized women in tech:
https://twitter.com/shauna_gm/status/594151714497892352
One of the ideas that came out of #Adacamp: @heartbotapp by @jessamynsmith.
— Rohini Lakshané (@rohini@mastodon.social) (@aldebaran14) April 17, 2015
Use it to fight Imposter Syndrome when it hits.
https://twitter.com/KManion/status/588353707655454720
Ada camp had achieved mythical status for #WomenInTech. I’m so sad to see it go @adainitiative
— Brianne | The Huntswoman (@the_huntswoman) July 1, 2015
But Aurora noted that while the camps were wildly successful, they have “always cost more to run than we could raise in sponsorships, and that shows no signs of changing.” In releasing the toolkit, the organization’s hope seems to be that others will pick up where they left off. Already, members of the Ada community are planning ahead:
. @erika_owens you are welcome to join us at @shesgeekybwe are having 3 more events this year cc: @adainitiative
— Kaliya- @IdentityWoman@mas.to (@IdentityWoman) July 1, 2015
@sauramaia Opportunity for mini informal spin-off events a la ‘AdaX’ perhaps?
— Dilettantiquity ∞ (@dilettantiquity) July 1, 2015
But the sudden cancellation of the camps on the heels of so many prominent departures also has plenty of people worried:
https://twitter.com/OrdQuelu/status/605749706103341057
Wow, 2 surprising announcements from the Ada Initiative: https://t.co/mux9NJ0KkU, https://t.co/h4825vfCgM. Worrisome things happening here.
— Jenn Riley (@jenlrile) July 1, 2015
https://twitter.com/ehashd/status/616061261168533504
https://twitter.com/ehashd/status/616070660792713216
Something weird is up and I want more information, if anyone has any.
— Heidi, Sticker Thoughtleader (@wiredferret) July 1, 2015
But it seems that most people are staying positive and eager to look forward.
.@adainitiative’s Adacamp gave so many of us a radical, groundbreaking sense of community. It can’t help but endure: https://t.co/seBSuLV8aQ
— @molly@hachyderm.io (@mollyclare) July 1, 2015
The toolkit for the workshop planning doesn’t appear to be publicly available yet, but some resources are available on GitHub. Hopefully, AdaCamp’s demise will spark similar movements all over the country and even the world.
Illustration via AdaCamp
