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Open Source Summit + Embedded Linux Conference North America... has ended
May 18-20, 2026
Minneapolis, MN
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Note: The schedule is subject to change.

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Wednesday May 20, 2026 11:55am - 12:35pm CDT
Open source has made progress in recognizing neurodiversity, but most conversations remain at the level of awareness and good intentions. What happens on Day 2, after we agree that inclusion matters?

We will examine what is still missing in the open source neurodiversity conversation, critique the narrative of neurotalent, and evaluate whether framing neurodivergent contributors as inherently gifted helps inclusion or creates new pressures. We need to ask: are we reinventing existing initiatives, or does the real gap lie in how our contribution models, communication norms, and governance structures are designed?

Our goal is to tackle structural questions rather than proposing a new label or movement. How can open source communities reduce cognitive friction, clarify expectations, and design processes that support a wider range of thinking styles? What concrete steps move us beyond fundamentals and into sustainable practice? Join Merge Forward to help move open source from a culture of good intentions to one of engineered accessibility.
Speakers
avatar for Ryan Etten

Ryan Etten

Senior Architect & Team Lead, Red Hat
Ryan Etten builds cloud-native systems and rebuilds the communities that run them. A Senior Architect and Team Lead at Red Hat, Red Hat Certified OpenShift Architect, global speaker, and certification exam developer, he leads secure cloud-native digital transformations across the... Read More →
avatar for Diana Todea

Diana Todea

Developer Experience Engineer, VictoriaMetrics
Diana is a Developer Experience Engineer at VictoriaMetrics. She has worked as a Senior Site Reliability Engineer focused on Observability. She is an active member of the OpenTelemetry CNCF open source project, co-organizer of Cloud Native Days Romania, co-lead of neurodiversity working... Read More →
Wednesday May 20, 2026 11:55am - 12:35pm CDT
200J (Level Two)
  OSS Enabling & Management, Project Leadership

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