Coraline Ada Ehmke facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Coraline Ada Ehmke
Coraline Ada Ehmke
Born	Germany
Occupation	Technologist, software engineer, speaker, writer
Known for	ethics, advocacy
Notable work	Culture Offset, Contributor Covenant, Post-Meritocracy Manifesto

Coraline Ada Ehmke is an American software developer and a strong supporter of open source technology. She is the founder and Executive Director of the Organization for Ethical Source. Coraline Ehmke is also the author of a book titled We Just Build Hammers: Stories from the Past, Present, and Future of Responsible Tech, which was published in 2025.

She lives in Chicago, Illinois. Ehmke started her career as a web developer in 1994. She has worked in many different fields. These include engineering, consulting, education, and healthcare. She is well-known for her work with the Ruby programming language. In 2016, she won the Ruby Hero award at RailsConf. This is a big conference for Ruby on Rails developers. She is also known for her work in social justice. She wrote the Contributor Covenant and the Post-Meritocracy Manifesto. She also helped make codes of conduct common for open source projects.

Coraline Ehmke's Career Journey

Coraline Ehmke began writing computer programs in 1994. She first used the Perl programming language. Later, she wrote software using ASP.NET and Java. In 2007, she discovered Ruby.

Contributions to Ruby and Open Source

Ehmke has created 25 Ruby gems. These are like small software packages for Ruby. She has also helped with big projects like Rspec and Ruby on Rails. She often speaks at software conferences around the world. She has given important speeches at events like RubyFuza in South Africa and RubyConf Brazil.

In 2014, Coraline Ehmke created OS4W.org. This website helps women get involved in open source projects. It connects them with mentors and partners for pair programming. It also helps them find open source projects that welcome diverse people.

Creating the Contributor Covenant

Also in 2014, she wrote the Contributor Covenant. This is a code of conduct that sets rules for how people should behave in a project. Over 40,000 open source projects use it. This includes projects from big companies like Google, Microsoft, and Apple.

In 2016, she received a Ruby Hero award for her work on the Contributor Covenant. This award recognized her important contribution to the open source community.

Culture Offset and Other Works

In 2014, Coraline Ehmke and Betsy Haibel created a service called Culture Offset. This project was featured in Wall Street Journal and Wired Magazine. Ehmke also wrote the Post-Meritocracy Manifesto. This document shares ideas about how communities should be fair and welcoming.

Ehmke was one of the first people on the Greater Than Code podcast. She also served on the boards of directors for Ruby Together and RailsBridge.

Working at GitHub and Beyond

In 2016, Coraline Ehmke joined GitHub. She worked as a senior developer. Her team developed features to help manage communities and prevent harassment on the platform.

In 2018, Ehmke took part in a discussion at the United Nations Forum on Business and Human Rights. This event was in Geneva, Switzerland. The debate was about whether tech companies could be a threat to human rights.

Ehmke created the "Hippocratic License." This is an ethical license for open source projects. In 2020, she founded the Organization for Ethical Source. This organization works to make sure technology is developed in a way that is good for everyone.

Coraline Ehmke's Personal Life

Coraline Ehmke has shared her experiences publicly. She hopes to help others by talking about her journey. She has given several interviews about her experiences. She also gave a talk called "He Doesn't Work Here Anymore" at conferences like Keep Ruby Weird and Alterconf.

Ehmke also enjoys writing and recording music. She has released several albums under the names A Little Fire Scarecrow and Sudre’s Violin.

See also

In Spanish: Coraline Ada Ehmke para niños

• Sage Sharp
• Valerie Aurora