 Hi, my name is Fatima Sara Khaled and I'm a developer evangelist at GitLab. So when I was eight years old, we moved to Fresh Meadows and I met my best friend Gloria. Gloria and I met over our love for the swings at the park. We played every day after school and in the summers we had picnics where we ate ramen noodles raw because we really liked crunchy things. But a year later, after I met Gloria, 9-11 happened and our friendship totally changed. The next time I saw her was on this golden dusky autumn afternoon. I remember because I was wearing my favorite dress with a big sunflower on the top. Gloria came to me, gave me her half of our friendship bracelet and an unopened pack of noodles and said, I can't play with you anymore because my mother says that you're a terrorist. It wasn't the first time that I felt this otherness, but it was definitely one of the many experiences that led me towards allyship, towards realizing how important it was to speak up for others. When being an ally goes beyond penning pronouns to our badges or pronouncing our co-workers' names correctly, it's about putting actions behind our words and commitments, even and especially in situations where we feel uncomfortable. And it's about acknowledging that for many people, systemic oppression is constant. When learning about allyship and privilege, you might come across the invisible knapsack metaphor by Peggy McIntosh. It's a metaphor that describes unearned privileges that individuals can carry due to their social identities, such as race, gender, or class. I was thinking a lot about what an allyship knapsack might include, what kinds of tools or provisions an ally might carry to support their work, and I think it begins with commitments like these. To educate ourselves about injustices, to speak up when we hear something wrong, and to use our privilege to help benefit the underrepresented. But sometimes commitments like these feel really abstract. It's hard to apply them in your day-to-day lives. So I wanted to share with you five examples of allyship that I've experienced, really quick, rapid fire style, so that you have a reference for when these opportunities appear in your life. So after a late night at a conference, my co-worker offers to walk me back to my hotel to make sure that I get there safely. His allyship shows that he cares about my personal safety, it builds trust, and it's supportive. In team meetings, my manager notices that sometimes I'm shy to speak up and interrupt. He encourages me by acknowledging my ideas, creating space for me to share, and inviting me to speak at meetings. His support makes me feel really valued and heard, and it also sets a really great example for the rest of the company. At an airport boarding lane, a young black woman stands up for me when an older man makes immigrant slurs. She confronts him and physically puts herself between us to defend me. Her allyship demonstrates solidarity and a willingness to stand up against discrimination. On the subway, someone harasses me about my hijab and a stranger intervenes, stands up for me, and addresses the harasser defending my rights. This sends me a strong message and a public space that he doesn't tolerate discrimination or harassment. A white male co-worker noticing a conference's lack of diversity withdraws from the speaker lineup. He educates the organizers about the importance of diverse representation and recruits underrepresented speakers to speak at the conference. His allyship is impactful because he's making a personal sacrifice to raise awareness and create tangible change towards a more inclusive professional community. I still think about Gloria sometimes, especially when I'm making noodles. Before I cook them, I definitely eat a piece of raw. The memory is a symbol of resilience. It's a reminder to move forward in a world where oppression is constant and to move forward with courage. And it's one of many intersectional pieces of my identity that make up who I am, child of immigrants, young Pakistani American, public speaker, open source contributor. And as we journey through life, we'll continue to build and shape these identities. But what I hope is that today onwards, all of us can commit to embracing allyship as an essential component of our intersectional identities. Because we all have the power to make positive change in our communities with the choices that we make. And allyship is also a choice. So let's choose to be allies. Thank you.