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CNCF’s mission is to make cloud native computing ubiquitous. In support of this mission, CNCF provides a globally inclusive forum for the world’s technologists to collaborate. CNCF will not make political statements, support political causes, or take other actions of a political nature except when doing so is directly related to CNCF’s mission.
Please see the FAQ below for more information:
Why won’t CNCF take a political stand? Why did CNCF adopt this policy?
CNCF believes that the best use of our time and energy is to focus on enabling our global community to build cloud native technology open source software.
Although we used to make occasional public statements about political causes in the past, we have decided to stop doing this. This is for 3 primary reasons:
- Public statements about political causes are outside the scope of CNCF’s mission. Our mission is to make cloud native computing ubiquitous, and we do so by supporting open source communities and ecosystems that deliver great software and open up technology access around the world.
- Our community is a global one, and one that has a diverse range of political opinions and perspectives. There is no single political viewpoint that represents the entire CNCF community, and therefore it is not possible (nor is it our place) to adopt a position that is representative of the entirety of our globally diverse community.
- And finally, when political topics unrelated to technology have arisen within the CNCF community, they have often resulted in fierce disagreements and in some cases antagonistic behavior, disrupting community technical efforts and distracting us from focusing on our core mission. This has become a huge drain on resources, energy, and time for both our staff and CNCF governance bodies and committees (e.g., Governing Board, Technical Oversight Committee, and Code of Conduct Committee), and have negatively impacted morale for much of our community.
Does CNCF consider diversity & inclusion to be “political”?
Ensuring that CNCF projects and community spaces are welcoming and inclusive to all participants–regardless of age, race, ethnicity, national origin, gender expression or identity, sexual orientation, or any other dimension of diversity–is aligned with CNCF values and directly supports our chartered mission and activities. For example, providing All Gender restrooms at our events ensures that our event spaces are comfortable and accessible to all community members. This is consistent with our responsibility to produce world class events that bring people together to collaborate on technology.
Similarly, supporting the health and growth of the cloud native ecosystem is directly related to our mission. Thus, we may collaborate with other organizations (e.g., Black Girls Code) on initiatives designed to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion in the technology sector. Programs that help people from diverse backgrounds learn about cloud native technology and advance their careers in cloud native technology contributes directly to the long-term growth and health of our ecosystem.
Although we support DEI efforts that impact our community and ecosystem, it’s simply not our place to take a stand on legislation, policies, or political issues–even when related to diversity, equity & inclusion–in contexts that do not relate to technology, the cloud native ecosystem, or the CNCF community.
How does this policy apply to regulatory matters?
CNCF may take a position on proposed laws and regulations, but only to the extent those laws and regulations directly impact technology, the cloud native ecosystem, or CNCF.
With regard to applicable laws and regulations that are already enacted, complying with applicable laws and regulations is not a political statement. Applicable laws and regulations may include restrictions on events due to local laws or engagement with entities that are subject to sanctions. Furthermore, the policy does not affect CNCF projects’ ability to make their own technical decisions, including decisions related to encryption, whether or not such decisions are mandated by applicable laws and regulations.