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Hi, I'm Pat and I have a bit of a long story for you. I work at California State University, Chico. I'm "new" to the library world. I don't have a MLS. I don't have a degree in computer science, computer engineering, or management systems. I have a BS in Biology. When I got my degree the biology program was fairly diverse and extremely friendly. The "honors" society was very welcoming, inclusive, and supportive. I then went to get a teaching credential because I thought I wanted to teach high school science. That program was very diverse and extremely unfriendly. It was full of mean, petty, judgmental students and teachers. After I figured out that being a high school science teacher was not what I was going to be good at, I went to get a Masters in computer science (spoiler: I didn't finish). There was no gender diversity. There were two groups, white males (of which I was one) and Indian males. The students from India mostly stuck to their own group. They claimed a lab and made it their own. Looking back, I'm sure I could have done a lot more to reach out, but I didn't. I had my small group of good friends and I put my head down and tried to get my classes done. Before I finished my MS, I took a job with a startup in San Francisco. I did four years in the bubble/bust days. The company I worked for had good gender diversity, even at the founder level. The surrounding environment was pretty much what you've heard or experienced. Fast-forward to now and again I work where there is above average gender diversity. I feel we have a good environment where people can speak their mind and contribute to always making our environment better. Having seen a number of different environments and communities through the years, I think that code4lib has a pretty good thing going. Can we be better than we already are? Of course. Does the desire to make things better constitute a condemnation of the present status? Of course not. I salute everybody trying hard to make code4lib better. I just also wanted to say that I think this group is at the top of my list for communities that are welcoming, supportive, and embrace diversity. Thanks for "listening", Pat