In 2016, R-Ladies started their effort for a global expansion, with the help from the R-Consortium. Back then there were only 4 active chapters (San Francisco, Taipei, Twin Cities and London) and the goal was to expand to 5-10 cities within the next year. The enthusiasm within the R community for local R-Ladies chapters far exceeded any possible expectations! As of March 2018, the organization has over 90 chapters and almost 19,000 members.
There are R-Ladies chapters in 45 countries around the globe, with many chapters hosting monthly events.
With this fast growth, it became apparent to the R Consortium ISC that this project needs long term investment for success. The diversified voice of R-Ladies, speaking not only as a group representing gender minorities in tech but also a group attracting new R users, aligned with the R Consortium’s defined Code of Conduct and its desires for building a more diverse and inclusive R community.
R Consortium ISC is pleased to announce and welcome R-Ladies as a top level project. R-Ladies has shown a big commitment within the R community and becoming a top level project will provide them a longer term budget cycle (3 years instead of 1 year) to support their community. R-Ladies will also have a voting seat on the ISC (represented by Gabriela de Queiroz).
We invite all in the R community to congratulate R-Ladies on this milestone, and look forward to ensuring they have the infrastructure and funding to bring more diversity to the R community.