The _R_ community suffers from an underrepresentation of women* in every role and area of participation: whether as leaders (no women on the _R_ core team, 5 of 37 female ordinary members of the _R_-Foundation), package developers [around 10% women amongst CRAN maintainers, @forwards; @CRANsurvey], conference speakers and participants [around 28% at useR! 2016, @forwards], educators, or users.
As a diversity initiative alongside the Forwards Task Force, _R_-Ladies’ mission is to achieve proportionate representation by encouraging, inspiring, and empowering the minorities currently underrepresented in the _R_ community. _R_-Ladies’ primary focus is on supporting the _R_ enthusiasts who identify as an underrepresented gender minority to achieve their programming potential, by building a collaborative global network of _R_ leaders, mentors, learners, and developers to facilitate individual and collective progress worldwide.
Since _R_-Ladies global was created a year ago we have grow exponentially to more than 4000 _R_-Ladies in 15 countries and have established a great brand. We want to share the amazing work _R_-Ladies has achieved, future plans and how the _R_ community can support and champion _R_-Ladies around the world.
