Blacktocats turn five

Blacktocats, GitHub's first official Employee Resource Group, began in 2015 as a small initiative to amplify Black voices and talent in the tech community and has since grown to over 60 members from diverse geographical locations. This group has been instrumental in shaping GitHub's culture and products, with notable achievements such as the creation of the Black Octocat, Benjamin Bannekat, in honor of Benjamin Banneker's legacy. Blacktocats also organize events like the FLOSS and Code™ Hack Day to empower Black engineers in open source contributions, and they played a crucial role in inspiring the ReadME Project, which highlights Black excellence in open source. Their efforts are part of GitHub's broader commitment to fostering a community that reflects global diversity and innovation, supported by six other communities of belonging at GitHub.